Yeah !!! I'm now officially Unemployed !!!

[Yakumo]

Yes, that's right. Finally got the boot from my last job after 5 years of loyal service but all that means nothing to the head who thinks a change is good. Good my arse !! What about my life? Fucking arse holes. Anyway,I'm off out to party all night in celebration with my Ex Co-workers who left last year. Please wish me luck in finding a new job :smt022

Yakumo

[SilverBolt]

Welcome to the club, i've been unemployed since i gratuated and can't find a job anywhere because they only want experienced people.

Well how the hell am i supposed to be experienced if i can't get a job to get experience in the first place :Hangman:

[Greatsaintlouis]

Silverbolt, welcome to my world. The majority of jobs around here are retail jobs, and I've never worked retail because I don't have experience because nobody will hire me because I don't have experience because nobody will hire me.... :smt076

Yakumo, sorry to hear that you're out. :smt009 Here's wishing you a speedy journey to another job! And don't party too hard that you regret it the next morning...

Hey, if anything you could start a webservice to compete with Rinkya, Celga, and the like, with all the experience you've had shipping stuff out for others...

[Blur2040]

How to get into retail:

If you're a female: Just apply, they'll hire you half of the time.

If you're a male: Start low. Start so low that you're pretty sure you're a slave....like McDonalds or Wal Mart or something...work there for awhile for "experience" and try moving up to something slightly less low, like a Best Buy...and if you have one of those college "degree" thingees...well, move on from there.

So far, I'm at stage two, I don't make minimum wage, but my job still blows the legendary giant penis.

[LeGIt]

I've been unemployed for years - granted msot of the time I'mskint :(

What i found was when I was employed - I was working all the time to buy cools tuff but had no time wahtsoever to enjoy it.

Now I'm unemployed, I'm flat broke but got all the time in the world!

You got a giant games colelction I bet you haven't completed all of em - time to get cracking on em? :smt023

[GaijinPunch]

Yakumo:

What do you do exactly, if you don't mind me asking? I've never gotten shitcanned from a job since I got out of college. I've had bloody awful jobs, but I stuck w/ them, b/c I knew that they not only built character, looked good on a resume.

I take that back though -- I got laid off about 1.5 years ago. My severance package was huge, and started a job 3 days later, so it was a very good thing.

I'll give you some pointers if I can. The first one, is make sure you get a good severance package. As stupid as it sounds, they're technically "not allowed to fire you", especially if you're a seishain. 5 years --- you should get about 7-8 months salary as compensation. Every laughs... I don't. PM me if you want some help... there really are laws about this here. Japan is very pro-employee, and not pro-employer.

[madhatter256]

Japan is very pro-employee, and not pro-employer.

Unlike the US who lets companies like Enron shaft about 50,000 employees, with families who relied on the company, and let the CEOs get away with over $450million in severance pay and stocks.

Just recently the Equal Oppurtunity Committee who caters to the employees of America, not employers decided to let be legal to let employers to not give over-time pay to people who have technical jobs who still get paid by the hour. A lot of network administrators get paid by the hour and most of the time do have over-time but according to this the employers don't have to pay them the extra cash they owe them. This country is in need of a serious reform.

[Greatsaintlouis]

And let's not forget our wonderful Affirmitive Action laws (or Affirmative Blacktion as some call it) where if two people with nearly the same qualifications apply for a job, the person who is of some minority demographic will nearly always get hired.

And Blur: I'm not female, so there goes the easy in on that one, and it's the stage one that I am honestly having problems getting into - I lived in a very rural area before coming to college, and so all my previous experience, barring a stint at a company where I was the assistant IT manager ($10 an hour to fix computers - THAT was a dream job) all my stuff has been manual labor type jobs. And the not getting hired in the low slave job is not for lack of trying, I'm starting to think there's something unhirable.

God bless The United Fucking States Of America, Inc. Now plublicly traded on the international stock market. :smt076

And yeah, Yakumo, try to get that severance thingie GP was talking about, that will really be a help to you! Good luck! :smt023

[crissybwoy]

Depending on what sort of work your looking for - in the UK doing volentery work is one of the best ways to get experience. The way I got experience was to join a company as a casual member of staff ie they phoned me if someone was ill & I'd go and cover their shifts. Now I have a reasonably well paid job.

Yakumo, sorry you lost your job & good luck with the job hunt. Have you asked if there are any jobs going in Hard Off!!?

[Greatsaintlouis]

Yeah Yakumo, try that - you're probably there more than some of their employees anyways! :smt023

[AntiPasta]

Yakumo, arent there any institutions that are in need of native English speakers? I remember reading thru staff ads in a UK tabloid (that called itself "the world's greatest newspaper - striving for a better Britain" :p), and there were several ads from banks looking for native speakers of various languages, got tempted to apply for a Dutch one :smt043

[s0urce]

If you don't know what to do just start teaching english to people who won't learn it anyway :smt023 They always got some slavery contracts for foreigners ;-) What did you work before?Do you have an university degree or didn't you need one because you married your wife?

[ASSEMbler]

You have ANY idea how shitty it is to teach english in Japan. That is slavery my friend.

[Yakumo]

I don't want to teach English in japan. That's a right shitty option.

Yakumo

[GaijinPunch]

Yakumo: There are way worse options, and almost all of them pay WAAAY less than teaching English. I'll admit -- Teaching English is by no means a fun job, but you can get some decent classes. I have friends that do it professionally. They basically pick their students... and they're in the same bracket as me, working in securities.

Sorry if I don't whip out my violin, but I worked in the OFFICE of a business English school filing papers and grading tests (actually running them through a machine). Then, I taught a 2 hour class from 6 to 8PM 4 times a week. This, all for the ripe salary of minimum wage (for foreigners on a working visa). I had no time for private students or any other way to make money. It sucked shit.

You're definitely entitled to your opinion, but if you can't swallow a bit of pride, then you gotta face the consequences.

First things first though -- get your severance package.

[s0urce]

You have ANY idea how shitty it is to teach english in Japan. That is slavery my friend.

That's why I said slavery contracts :smt023

[Yakumo]

I think that you miss understood my point GaijinPunch. I worked as an English Teacher for 5 years almost. It's not that bad as a job but what is shitty is that Teaching English is always going to be a yearly contract affair. That is something I don't want. So I'm on the look out for a "Real" full time job. Some people may say that I'm being picky but look at it from this point. say I work as an English Teacher and get paid great money but every year face the same horror of having my contract terminated. This may not be such a big deal now but can you imagine what it would be like if I was 35 to 40 ? It's not going to be easy to get a new job then, is it? Also as you know foreigners who work on yearly contracts pay far higher insurance than people who have "real" jobs plus there are normally no bonuses or wage increases as your age increase. So at the end of the day, getting paid much more than your Japanese salaryman rival doesn't really add up to much.

Yakumo

[GaijinPunch]

I see where you're coming from. Having played on both sides of the fence, I can say that both have their upsides. On the sensei side, you know what you're getting. On the otherside, you don't. Believe me - I was eluded to some fantasticly huge bonus that just never came (2 years in a row). The 2nd one was absolutely laughable. The wage increases? Same thing. I got butt-fucked on those as well on multiple occasions. Hell, I even got laid off after my department was the most financially successful group in our branch!

Yearly contracts do suck as you get older, I agree. You're essentially getting paid more for having less security.


Also as you know foreigners who work on yearly contracts pay far higher insurance than people who have "real" jobs

Do you mean this literally, or figuratively? Literally, it's not exactly true... at least for health insurance. It depends on your monthly in take. I make abou 50% more now as a full time employee than I did when I was contract scum, so my health insurance is damn expensive (and it is compulsory for you people not in the know). Since I can do surgery better than 90% of all Japanese doctors, I also have to pay for US insurance (that covers me in any country) out of my pocket. All in all, I think I drop $350/mo or so just on health insurance. Then I got Social Security, unemployment, kick backs for government officials, then even some US taxes on that. Everyone gets a piece of me. :snipe:

[sayin999]

I am sorry to hear you are losing your job. In the U.S. teachers have a similar contract you have depending on what they teach(although if they work distirct schools you just change districts, or do find work for the summer with summer school teaching). Although is it possible to get a temp job for something like retail? Or does that pay shitty? From what i heard from my brothers japanese friend, in japan your ussually have job where your pretty much steady and you stay with it, sorta like a permanent one. But i'm guessing it might be harder since they would consider you a foregnier huh? By the way I do really apreaciate you gettiing the games for me despite the circumstances. I wish you the best of luck.

[madhatter256]

I see where you're coming from. Having played on both sides of the fence, I can say that both have their upsides. On the sensei side, you know what you're getting. On the otherside, you don't. Believe me - I was eluded to some fantasticly huge bonus that just never came (2 years in a row). The 2nd one was absolutely laughable. The wage increases? Same thing. I got butt-fucked on those as well on multiple occasions. Hell, I even got laid off after my department was the most financially successful group in our branch!

Yearly contracts do suck as you get older, I agree. You're essentially getting paid more for having less security.


Also as you know foreigners who work on yearly contracts pay far higher insurance than people who have "real" jobs

Do you mean this literally, or figuratively? Literally, it's not exactly true... at least for health insurance. It depends on your monthly in take. I make abou 50% more now as a full time employee than I did when I was contract scum, so my health insurance is damn expensive (and it is compulsory for you people not in the know). Since I can do surgery better than 90% of all Japanese doctors, I also have to pay for US insurance (that covers me in any country) out of my pocket. All in all, I think I drop $350/mo or so just on health insurance. Then I got Social Security, unemployment, kick backs for government officials, then even some US taxes on that. Everyone gets a piece of me. :snipe:


Japan has Social Security?? You pay US taxes in Japan??? :smt017 :smt017

I'm still in college. So I don't know how its like to get butt-fucked by employers in a high position. Thats why if I'm successful in marketing my game (which I have yet to start on), I can make enough money to where I don't have to answer to no-one except me. Well that is a little bit too optimistic. Ultimately, I'm gonna try to make good friends with some of the people here are deep in the game industry and simulator industry here in Orlando, FL. If I also do great in college, I'll probably get picked up by Lockheed Martin and start off making a nice $45k/year with tons of benefits. If I do get that, I have to prove myself though because every 5 years, they do a sweep of the place and get rid of people who don't put in the extra effort and hire people fresh out of college. Overall, I just want to work hard enough to where I don't have to worry about losing my job. I don't care what everybody says, I'm gonna keep at it.

[GaijinPunch]

Japan has Social Security?? You pay US taxes in Japan???

Yes, they do. It's called Kouseinenkin, and just like US Social Security, I'll never see it. As for US taxes in Japan, it's only after $X0,000.00 per year. Most people don't hit it, but after getting shit-canned last year, I went over and then some. You have to declare your income every year, whether you make under the foreign earned income exclusion or over it. That requires a 1040 and a 2555. Yakumo is English - he doesn't have to do this. US is the only country that has bullshit like this.

I did save a fortune by filing jointly this year though. Marriage has already paid for itself.

[Yakumo]

Japan has Social Security?? You pay US taxes in Japan???

Yakumo is English - he doesn't have to do this. US is the only country that has bullshit like this.

That's right. Being British has it's advantages in Japan when it comes to tax. I'm now paying voluntary National Insurance to the UK because the Japanese system just can't be trusted. What this means is that if I ever go back to the UK i'LL STILL BE Able to use the public health service etc. Plus no matter where I live in the world I'll still get my British state pension. The even better thing is that if I would be living in the UK I'd have to pay in the region of 335 pound per year but since 2000 the British and Japanese goverments made some sort of deal which alows me to get away with only paying 106.60 pound a year. Not bad indeed I'd say.


Yakumo

[PrOfUnD Darkness]

Very interesting discussion. I intend to try my luck in Japan one day, but the Brazilian foreigns are not so well welcome like American and English foreigns. All we got are the shity industry jobs...


PD

[AntiPasta]

Japan has Social Security?? You pay US taxes in Japan???

Yes, they do. It's called Kouseinenkin, and just like US Social Security, I'll never see it. As for US taxes in Japan, it's only after $X0,000.00 per year. Most people don't hit it, but after getting shit-canned last year, I went over and then some. You have to declare your income every year, whether you make under the foreign earned income exclusion or over it. That requires a 1040 and a 2555. Yakumo is English - he doesn't have to do this. US is the only country that has bullshit like this.


Say... does said bullshit apply to all American citizens making money abroad? Even though I have never lived in America and was born in Holland I am a US citizen, and this sounds pretty worrying :smt009

[GaijinPunch]

Say... does said bullshit apply to all American citizens making money abroad? Even though I have never lived in America and was born in Holland I am a US citizen, and this sounds pretty worrying :smt009

Yes, it sure does. You can Google it (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=2555+Foreign+Earned+Income+Exclusion&btnG=Google+Search) to find out more. Technically, you're supposed to at least declare your income each year. If you make under the income exclusion for each year though, it doesn't really matter. Before you go back to America, you can just fill out all your forms since you were 18, mail them in, and since you don't owe America any tax, you don't pay any interest.

Re: Brazillians in Japan:
There's actually a pretty large population of Brazillians here, so it can't be too bad.

[A. Snow]

Social Security in the US is bullshit. Big Brother takes my money (which I could invest and make far more than Social Security will ever give me) to provide for the idiots who can't learn to save for retirement. A lot of people my age don't even think it will be around when it is time for us to retire. It's never going to change either. They call it the third rail (meaning if you touch it you get fried) of politics. No politician will go near it because the largest voting block in the US is senior citizens collecting (surprise surprise) Social Security. Why should they care anyways. Congress has their own very generous pension plan. If that doesn’t say the system is fucked I don't know what does

[Greatsaintlouis]

If that doesn’t say the system is fucked I don't know what does

What about the fact that our leaders aren't really elected by popular vote, but by a smaller group of people (the Electoral College) because our founding fathers thought that allowing the population to select the President was a reckless action?

[A. Snow]

I don't think that they saw it so much as wreckless action but that the country was still new and needed to get it's berings. At the time the Found Father decided that there had yet to even be a census yet.

[Greatsaintlouis]

You may be right. However, don't you think over 200 years is enough time to get our bearings and have some sort of stability take hold?

[Paulo]

You may be right. However, don't you think over 200 years is enough time to get our bearings and have some sort of stability take hold?

Because its not a huge issue... Its becomethe norm that the college votes for the winners and even then to change would take many many years and alot of money. Too much to go into to!

[kstyle25]

The electoral Col. is agreat system thats worked well for a couple of hundred years...the most populous states get more electoral votes...at some point (1 election out of every single election we've had) it was bound to be an issue...getting rid of it after one mishap is like cutting of a limb after it cramps one time. :smt040

[madhatter256]

Things are going ok with the system we have now. It has its losers. You just have to be smart enough to not be the loser in this system.


As for social security. Yes, you could invest that money into the stockmarket, etc. However, I'm very sure that our generation will actually benefit from Social Security, the way it was meant to be used in its conception.

Overall, you just have to be rich to live a nice life. Or have good friends in every industry to get freebies from them.

[Greatsaintlouis]

Not to veer this TOO far off topic, but yeah, the Electoral College is a beautiful idea if you want to prevent your president from being elected by the actual voting populace while at the same time wasting untold amounts of government money on said voting sham while the leaders are really elected by less than 250 people. :smt120 I mean, it's a GREAT idea if you're some sort of fascist state or something, but we're one of those, what do you call them..... AH! A democracy! Of course, with the current election system, we're just one step above some of the cold war Communist countries - they got to vote, but there was only once candidate for any position. :smt017

[A. Snow]

I agree that the Electoral College is outdated and should probably be abolished but I'm also not that worried about it either. What worries me more is the political parties running to the courts every time their canidate loses.

[GaijinPunch]

As for social security. Yes, you could invest that money into the stockmarket, etc. However, I'm very sure that our generation will actually benefit from Social Security,

Perhaps, but we (Generation X) will be fucked. The Baby Boomers may very well use it all, and the government may very well do away with it.

In other words, you should invest several hundred grand in a retirement plan over the course of your working career (18-65) and hope that it gains value. Otherwise, you'll be out on the street when you're old, pending your offspring help you.

[madhatter256]

All in all, the game of life, there are winners and losers. If you lose, and you are still alive, get back in there and try to win. Thats what I have to say.

[GaijinPunch]

All in all, the game of life, there are winners and losers. If you lose, and you are still alive

We must have different rule books.

[Alchy]

I mean, it's a GREAT idea if you're some sort of fascist state or something, but we're one of those, what do you call them..... AH! A democracy!Actually, the US isn't a democracy. It's a federal republic. Representatives are required to uphold the constitution, not enforce majority rule. Democracy is where every citizen has a direct say in the running of the country, and where the majority decision is the one that is chosen. Neither of these are in effect in the US: you elect representatives who have to uphold the constitution, not represent wishes. As far as I understand it, anyway.


What worries me more is the political parties running to the courts every time their canidate loses.What worries me far more is when political parties lose and are still given control of the country. If legal action is the only way to resolve such glaring deficiencies in the electoral system, then so be it.