mfurmane 0 Posted February 3, 2005 Share Posted February 3, 2005 Those of you who are not English teachers and have fulltime jobs in engineering, advertising, journalism, etc. in Japan. Do you actually work at work? I spend 7.9 hrs of my 8 everyday finding things to fill my time, i.e., read forums and the news. I think it is more tiring that actually working sometimes. Link to post Share on other sites
woywoy 0 Posted February 3, 2005 Share Posted February 3, 2005 I work and bloody hard, long hours. Starting to wonder how the Japanese do it ... What is your job Furm? I also wonder what all those non-English teachers do out there in the gaijin-community. Let us know! Link to post Share on other sites
mfurmane 0 Posted February 3, 2005 Author Share Posted February 3, 2005 I work for a patent consulting company that prepares patent applications for engineering stuffs...BORING, I know. Anybody else? Link to post Share on other sites
montoya 0 Posted February 3, 2005 Share Posted February 3, 2005 run a tiny web dev shop w/a partner. before that, taught English, did time at a stock brokerage, and then on to a small multimedia firm. if you have the skills, inclination and energy, I think working freelance or starting your own business is the way to go. more stress in somes ways (eg finding and keeping clients), more fun in others (hitting the snow during the weekdays) woywoy, what do you do? Link to post Share on other sites
sakebomb 0 Posted February 3, 2005 Share Posted February 3, 2005 I spent a year working at a restaurant, got treated like a slave with minimum wage (hey that rhymes). I worked as a chef in Australia for 13 years, so obviously this was a bit frustrating so I bailed to teach! Around here it pays more for less hours! Link to post Share on other sites
indosnm 0 Posted February 3, 2005 Share Posted February 3, 2005 I work alot of hours but I wouldn't say it was the hardest job. Anyone here practising as a FP in Jp? Link to post Share on other sites
dizzy 0 Posted February 3, 2005 Share Posted February 3, 2005 i'm an editor. when there r deadlines, we all turn in2 worker bees....otherwise the 9:30-5:30 is not so bad. always get the 2-3:30 dip sitting @ the desk all day :3) Link to post Share on other sites
Sven 0 Posted February 4, 2005 Share Posted February 4, 2005 I'm looking for work now... engineering stuff. Looking forward to it at the moment... might be a lot of hours though, we'll see. Link to post Share on other sites
gamera 0 Posted February 4, 2005 Share Posted February 4, 2005 I'm not sure I am qualified to post some here coz I'm a Japanese. Well, I worked for a bank for 4+ years after graduating from a university. That was almost 7-11 world which means I worked from 7 a.m through 11 p.m. Too much stress to do everything to get new customers, new accounts, new loans etc every month which we called 'Norma' that is originally from Russian, I heard. I wondered if that was my permanent job or not because what for I had to work that hard everyday catching the last train to back home only for sleeping there for 4 hours not getting paid for extra hours. My conclusion was to retire from the bank because life is only once and I thought I should not investigate my time for it. That was in 1988 when economy in Japan was still raising up so no one around me said any good to me about retiring from a bank but my family members. Everyone said I was guaranteed to get paid if I kept working for a bank coz everyone seemed to believe that banks would never get bankrupted. My interest was not there, was about my life and actually banks got bankrupted in the past early 1900s if I remember right. I thought history repeats itself so I didn't mind to retire from the bank. And actually the bank I worked for got bankrupted some years ago, so my choice was maybe right lol... After 1 year I started my business and have been doing until now which is also stressful sometimes like Montoya says but fun in some meanings. What you would like to do doesn't always match what people need. So you always need to research what people need to success in your business field which I am not good at lol....., help! I think I am what we call 'sukui you ga nai' - 'no method to rescue/help ' if I dare translate as is? Probably you could say you can use your time freely when you have your own business, but reality always goes severe. Sometimes you have to work like a slave to satisfy your customers but if you LOVE your job, it doesn't matter I can say About money part, some go good, some don't I guess. Don't ask which I am!! Link to post Share on other sites
brett_jackson 0 Posted February 4, 2005 Share Posted February 4, 2005 What type of WebDev do you do Montoya? I am curious after visiting there as to how much work there is in this area (IT, mainly Web based software development), since most people's internet service resides in their phones. Gamera, good move leaving the 7 - 11 job, those are just insane hours .... that's 57% of your week spent at work (assuming it's 6 days) ... and you have to fit sleep into that 43%!! Link to post Share on other sites
sunrise 0 Posted February 4, 2005 Share Posted February 4, 2005 yeh, good on you Gamera for going against the grain. Especially in "family company oriented" Japan If you're going to work your butt off you may as well do it doing something that has more meaning for you. Link to post Share on other sites
sakebomb 0 Posted February 4, 2005 Share Posted February 4, 2005 I came to the conclusion a long time ago that long hours & stress are not actually worth it! Stress KILLS, no doubt about it. Gamera your right, I am sure you are way happier now even though running your own business is difficult at times. For me life comes first- you only get one (maybe)!! Link to post Share on other sites
brett_jackson 0 Posted February 4, 2005 Share Posted February 4, 2005 Quote: For me life comes first- you only get one (maybe)!! I intend to live forever. So far, so good. Link to post Share on other sites
gamera 0 Posted February 4, 2005 Share Posted February 4, 2005 Voidhawk - yeah, good move leaving but I never thought about 57% part. Actually I felt it almost nearly 100% of my time were spent for that riciculous work. Sunrise - sorry but I don't understand that 'your butt off' part. Any other way of saying? Sakebomb - Cheers! Tossing an oyaji beer glass at you! LOL Link to post Share on other sites
Yuki's Passion 1 Posted February 4, 2005 Share Posted February 4, 2005 work your butt off... work as hard as you can Link to post Share on other sites
brett_jackson 0 Posted February 4, 2005 Share Posted February 4, 2005 Quote: work your butt off... work as hard as you can Funny ... the only thing I can think of that literally involves removing a mass of flesh from your butt is from those Japanese extreme games where a bunch of dudes would get dragged by tractor over a rocky ground along their exposed butts. I remember first being exposed to that sorta thing in the 80's on one of those "Wacky things the Japanese do" type TV shows. Link to post Share on other sites
gamera 0 Posted February 4, 2005 Share Posted February 4, 2005 Oh thanks yamakashi Does it work for any case? Link to post Share on other sites
sunrise 0 Posted February 4, 2005 Share Posted February 4, 2005 thanks yama well, you probably wouldn't use that term in front of the Emperor but then again, who am I to know? Link to post Share on other sites
brett_jackson 0 Posted February 4, 2005 Share Posted February 4, 2005 If working your butt off doesn't suit you Gamera, you can always try working your fingers to the bone. (another western hyperbole) Link to post Share on other sites
gamera 0 Posted February 4, 2005 Share Posted February 4, 2005 Hum..... fingers to the bone.. sounds painful LOL Link to post Share on other sites
kintaro 0 Posted February 4, 2005 Share Posted February 4, 2005 Montoya, any complaints of working with a partner? I'm in the beginning stage of starting up a business with a partner and it worries me a bit. Anything good or bad to say about partnerships?? thanks Link to post Share on other sites
montoya 0 Posted February 4, 2005 Share Posted February 4, 2005 it has worked out really well for us, probably cuz she is my wife. that said, I know of other people with not so happy stories. One guy got ripped for $20k a few years back. if you can, try to set up your partnership to limit your risk/downside. Link to post Share on other sites
kintaro 0 Posted February 7, 2005 Share Posted February 7, 2005 I import and sometimes export lumber. Japan doesn't tax imported lumber. Beware, however, they have huge taxes on coffee. The partnership I'm working on will be a restaurant. Legally we're trying to have it set up as a limited liability corporation (LLC). Link to post Share on other sites
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