Chapter 4.3.1

Contents

Marukame Seiso part-time job
1. Part-time job opportunity: "What are you afraid of?"
2. Looking for a part-time job
  1. Café Dropout
  2. Recorded Marukame Seisakusho
Related Resources

Marukame Seiso part-time job

Personally, I eat quite a lot, and sometimes when I am busy, the cost of eating out is even higher. Although I have a scholarship, it is still not enough, but because of my lack of confidence in my Japanese, I was afraid to go to a part-time job, so I could only think of ways to save money, and when I really didn't have enough, I would even borrow some money from my parents. But one day during the summer vacation, my roommate's words made me brave enough to take my first step into the Japanese job market.

Part-time job opportunity: "What are you afraid of?"

During the period of exchange, since the short-term scholarship of PTI was only given for half a year at the most, I was a bit worried about the living expenses after the last half year. I wanted to have a part-time job, but I was afraid that if I didn't speak Japanese well enough, I would make a mistake, so I was hesitant to look for a part-time job.

One day during breakfast, I shared the kitchen with my roommates and talked to them about their summer vacation plans.

"I'm going to start working at the cafeteria next week," said one of the freshman Vietnamese residents. said one of the freshman Vietnamese roommates.

"Wait a minute, didn't you just pass the day exam N3?" I looked at him in surprise.

"Yes, you can try it too, didn't you take N2?" He asked, not understanding.

"True or false? Aren't you afraid that Nichifumi will hear it wrong and do something wrong or something like that?" I asked worriedly.

"If you're wrong, just fix it, you don't know what you're doing at the beginning." He sipped his coffee calmly.

"I feel that if you make a mistake in the Japanese workplace, you will be scolded very badly." I hesitated.

"Senior, what are you afraid of? How do you know whether the Japanese workplace is good or bad if you haven't tried it? Or are you a coward?" He teased me.

A thought flashed through his mind as if he had been hit on the head:

"Right, what am I afraid of? It's better to try and regret than not to try at all."

From then on, I stopped being afraid of the rumored Japanese workplace culture and started my part-time job.

Looking for a part-time job

Basically, for international students, I suggest you to start with the part-time job application on the school's website. For example, there are two types of part-time jobs in TUT: on-campus part-time jobs and off-campus part-time jobs. You can find part-time jobs from the "Related Resources" link at the bottom of the page. Usually, part-time jobs posted on the school's website have been reviewed by the school, so there will not be any discrepancies between the terms and conditions of the job offer and the actual conditions of the job offer. Please check the following points when looking for a part-time job:

Before the interview
- Company Evaluation
  - Investigate the company beforehand, if there are already negative reviews, they will be ranked last.
  - Chain preferred to personal shopper to avoid fraud (except for tutors)
- Salary/raise
  - Hourly wage should be higher than the local minimum hourly wage, too high a wage may be fraudulent
  - Does it pay for commuting
  - Whether there is overtime pay or holiday pay
- transportation
  - Is the workplace within the commuting area or close to home?
At the interview
- Wear the required interview attire (suit or polo shirt).
- If you want to leave your job, you have to inform us a few weeks beforehand (Usually, students can leave when their period of stay is over).
- No more than 28 hours in a week (except for international students, who must inform the store manager of their status).
After passing the interview
- Did the store submit the "labor conditions" to themselves (verbal is not enough, it must be in black and white)
- Beware of fraud if you ask for an initial fee.
- After the training/probationary period, did the salary go back to the normal salary?

Café Dropout

When I first started looking for a part-time job, cafes appeared the most, and many of them accepted international students, so I applied for a café chain. Since I was a candidate referred to me by the website of the Dongbei University of Technology, I was able to pass the paperwork and get an interview very quickly.

On the day of the interview, an amiable female store manager took me to the coffee table in the store, handed me a cup of coffee and started the interview, the following are the questions she asked me:

Where do you live?
Do you prefer the evening shift or the morning shift?
Are you busy with school programs or research?
Do you know anything about coffee?
Do you mind dealing with customers?

Unfortunately, my Japanese was not good enough, and I don't drink much coffee and don't have a lot of vocabulary related to coffee, so the only thing I was able to respond to in the interview was my basic information. Not surprisingly, after the interview, she told me that my Japanese was not good enough and that I had less than half a year left to stay in Japan, so she politely rejected my application.

The legendary "Face Paint".

On that day, I went back to the laboratory and shared my experience of failing the interview with my seniors.

"Think about it, are all the girls in the café cute and pretty, and all the guys handsome?" Mr. Murata suddenly told me.

"It seems like it, the store is full of handsome men and women." I think I understand something.

"Cafes are all about 'face painting', so if you want to go in, you have to pay attention to what you wear, your hair style, and your facial expressions," he responded. He responded.

"Is there really a face voter?" I looked up the word in amazement.

"Yes, in Japan, it's all about the face. That's why girls wear makeup. And guys do hair scrunching and contact lenses." He replied.

"So, face is really that important!" I was surprised.

"That's why there are beauty pageants on many campuses, and those chosen go on to become anchors, stewardesses, or advertisers." He laughed.

"I don't think I'm handsome enough... I'm sorry," I said, looking downcast.

"You've written your information, you're tall enough, but the time you've been able to work part-time is too short, so it's hard for you to get in." he explained. He hastened to explain.

When I think of the May Festival at Tohoku University, I bought a book of beautiful women from Tohoku University for fun with my friends, and I realized that Japan puts so much emphasis on people's appearance.

UT Sweetheart Magazine (up) & Calendar (down)

Recorded Marukame Seisakusho

Apart from coffee shops, I have also applied for part-time jobs at a few ramen and udon noodle chains. The reason is simple: one of their employee benefits is the "賄い (まかない)" (まかない), which saves a lot of money on meal costs for international students.

On the day of the interview, since it was before the store opened, the store manager sat down with me at a table and asked me the following questions:

Is it possible to work on six days outside of weekdays?
Can I work at the end and beginning of the year?
Are you busy with school programs or research?
Do you have any working experience?
In the future, other stores will also need support, can they be deployed? (The store manager has three stores)

I love udon myself, so I showed my love for udon in addition to my questions, and at the end of the interview, the manager of the store asked me to make an appointment for my next contract.

Personally, I think it was because I promised the store manager that I could work at the end of the year and the beginning of the year, so even though I only had less than half a year left on my visa, the store manager was willing to take me on. Otherwise, it would be very difficult for Japanese businesses to accept short-term part-time jobs, because they would feel that all the hard work they had done would be for naught if the employee left soon after the training.

That's how I succeeded in applying for my first part-time job in Japan at Marukame Somen.