fall 2002
Volume 8. Number 3
iN THIS ISSUE
The JET Quarterly Update The newsletter for the Japan Exchange and Teaching Alumni Association of British Columbia
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Career Seminar Main Speaker
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Career Seminar Main Speaker Toshimi Ono
Career Seminar Writing a Resume
by Sarah Dakin
SFU Courses for returning JETs
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Book Reviews by Monkey Girl “The Japanophile” Event Photos
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JETAABC Announcements
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Consulate / CLAIR Announcements
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Classified Ads
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About JETAABC UpcomingEvents
About Us
Toshimi Ono is the program director at the David Lam Centre for International Communication at Simon Fraser University, Harbour Centre. She has a wealth of experience in language teaching, translation, cross cultural counselling, career management and providing training and consulting to professionals from a wide range of ethnic backgrounds. Everyone was looking a little sleepy as we wandered in Saturday morning for the Re-Entry and Career Seminar, but Toshimi helped give a dynamic start to the day and soon had us all up, engaged, discussing and learning. Her insight into the changing world of work was excellent, and even though I consider myself settled in a career at this point in time, I was inspired to start thinking about what my next step will be. Some of Toshimi’s key points include: 1. The world of work is changing. We can no longer count on having a 9-5 Monday to Friday job with one company for the rest of our lives. Most of us will need to juggle a variety of contracts, consulting, part time work and entrepreneurship to sustain ourselves. The flexibility of this new way of working can allow for much more integration between our careers and our life vision. 2. Successful candidates in this new world of work will be flexible, creative, and always learning . In this new world of work, the expectations for performance and productivity are increasing. As the pace of change continues to increase, and with increasing technology in our lives, it is more important than ever to be flexible, able to learn quickly and to have a variety of skills one can combine in different situations.
3. Career planning needs to be an ongoing thing. Even when we are in a job we are enjoying, we should always we looking out for the next step. Where would you like to be in 5, 10 years? What skills or contacts could you be developing now to help you get there? It is important to always be adding to and updating our skills. We need to learn to be self reliant and able to market our own skills. It is important to know our own skills and to be flexible and open to situations where we could use them. When looking for work, keep in mind… “What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us” Emerson. It is important to have three points ready to use to sell yourself and to explain to others what you are about. Practice, so that you can speak clearly and articulately about what you are interested in and what skills you have to offer. Remember most of us are working jobs that we never knew even existed when we were younger, so don’t limit yourself, or say combining certain passions of yours is unrealistic. Be clear about what you would like to do, and then be open to opportunities that might come your way. Research finds that the number one thing employers are looking for are interpersonal skills. They are also looking for creativity. The flexibility, teamwork and communication skills we learned on JET are a valuable asset.