I’ve been on a hiatus from this blog since I left Japan. At the end of February I finished my intern as a JET International Relations Coordinator in Saga City, Japan. Now I am working as an English News correspondent for Kyodo News, a major Japanese newswire that publishes in Japanese, English and Chinese, with a daily readership of 30-50 million.
The job can be hectic and fast paced depending on the events of the day. I get to work on both hard news and feature stories; the latter is usually more enjoyable because it allows for a greater degree of freedom and creativity. Hard news is simply a matter of getting information out using the most efficient means possible.
I’d like to spend some time talking about job transitioning while searching for direction in life or career.
Transitions can refer to anything from physical transitions that include: short term (traveling) and long term (moving). But as the term is often used, transitions can also refer to non-physical movement from one stage of life to the next. The non-physical transitions usually consist of a combination of mental and psychological changes of state. An example would be the mental transition from childhood to adulthood, or the move from being single to being attached or married.
One of the types of transitions most often referred to in daily conversation refers to job or career transitioning.
I faced two significant challenges in moving from Japan back to NYC: the first was culture and the second was financial. Culture shock usually becomes a problem when you spend an extended period of time, usually a minimum of 2-3 years, in a foreign environment and then return to previous environment. This was not a problem for me because I only spent about seven months in Japan with previous experiences moving back and forth.
What got me was the financial challenge and that is what prompted me to take a job as a news correspondent. My choice was motivated by my fear of financial instability. Otherwise I would have returned home and given myself more time to transition from my life in Japan to one in New York City. Though in retrospect the transition may have been hastily executed, the principles upon which I based my decision helped make the choice a relatively positive one.
I did not take the job intending to make a career in journalism, rather I was looking for a job that would give me an introduction to the world of media and also provide an opportunity to build my verbal and written communication skills, and the opportunity to meet a diverse set of people. While I work, I am actively searching for direction not only in terms of career paths but also life goals.
Searching for direction is, for most people I believe, a lifelong journey. It is lifelong in that we are not limited to one direction in life. While I actively pursue my passion for writing at work and during my free time, I am also constantly considering business opportunities and developing extensive financial literacy. The age of the one size fits all careerist is gone.
It’s good to play to your strengths, but that doesn’t mean you have to limit your focus to just one. Most people have a number of strengths they can develop and hone. Personally I find my primary strengths are in communication, written and verbal, and business development. I’m also very good at digesting large amounts of information and formulating decisions and new ideas from the data.
Having now worked as a news reporter for two months covering arts, culture, education, business, politics and specifically the United Nations Security Council, I’ve come to realize that I have no interest in becoming a journalist.
I love writing, don’t get me wrong, but a journalist’s job, especially a news wire reporter, is much, much more involved than just writing.
But I don’t regret my experience. Because of it I have learned more about the media and news industry and have a better understanding of how news and information is reported and transmitted.
Although there was the temptation to take a more lucrative job, I made the decision to be a news reporter on the principle that experiential compensation is more valuable in the long run than monetary compensation. The latter being more important because it allows for greater growth potential and development.
*June 2008 Update* - I no longer believe that experience is more valuable than monetary compensation. Reason being, most time lucrative opportunities tend to be chock full of good experiences. Job’s that don’t pay well have to pitch to rely on the, “But you’ll get great experience,” card which, I’ve learned, works for some industries. *Cough* News and print media.
For people who are currently in the process of switching to a different line of work, my advice would be to carefully consider options that offer generous experiential rather than monetary compensation both good experience and potential for growth in responsibilities and compensation.
Money is important and great to have, but when it comes to searching for direction in career or life in general, it is the experiences you have, not the amount of money you make, that will most guide your decision. But if you can have both, that’s even better!
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< ![CDATA[[...] wrote an article a few months back entitled Job Transitioning While Searching For Direction in which I described my move back from Japan to NYC and my new job as a news [...] ]]>