Words my daughter said to me after finishing her job hunt

Thank you for visiting my note.

I am candy@.

I have a daughter who is a senior in college.

She has been going through various processes for her job search since around last summer.

Last summer, she first participated in corporate internships,

and from there, she proceeded to several early selection processes,

but in the end, she did not get accepted into any of the early selection programs.

I have written an article about my daughter at that time here.

At this point (in January of this year), my daughter was quite depressed,

but since she still had hope that the main selection process was yet to come,

she switched her mindset and worked hard on preparing for the job hunt for Japanese companies in June.

And she actually went through entry sheets (they call them ES, right?),

various tests, group discussions (group dis?),

and managed to clear several hurdles such as group interviews,

passed the second and third interviews,

and reached the final interviews for three companies.

I know I'm a doting parent, but I

thought she would at least get an offer from one of the three companies she made it to the final interview for.

My daughter would call me, her voice full of excitement, saying she felt very positive about every final interview.

However,

the result was that she didn't get an offer from any of the three companies.

At that point, my daughter had zero job offers, so she was incredibly depressed.

Seeing her friends around her receiving job offers one after another and posting about it on social media made my daughter feel even more down.

At one point, it was so painful that she even blocked her social media...

To my exhausted daughter, I said,

'It just wasn't meant to be with those companies, so don't blame yourself.'

'Why don't you take a good rest for a while?'

'If you want, you could even stay in school for another year.'

'If you graduate and come back home,'

'It's a long life, so it'll be okay...' and so on.

I searched for every possible comfort and word I could think of to say to my daughter.

But no matter what I said, it didn't reach her heart or resonate with her.

On the contrary, she started saying things that sounded like a bundle of self-denial.

My daughter lamented her own incompetence and lack of efficiency.

"What did I do wrong?"

"I don't even know what I want to do or what I should do anymore."

"I've been job hunting for nearly a year, and nothing came of it."

"Is there any point in me being alive?"

"Everything is just painful."

She would cry (and sometimes hyperventilate) as she poured these things out to me.

Her heart was in tatters.

Since we live apart, I could only listen over the phone, and there were many times I cried along with her.

If it weren't for the current situation, I would have flown to her side immediately.

You might think it's just job hunting.

I thought so too, to some extent, until I saw my own child suffering this much.

But when I actually became a parent in this position,

I was made to realize how powerless I truly am.

Once she had cried and let out her emotions, and calmed down a little

perhaps having resigned herself to the situation

my daughter continued her job hunt even after that.

Watching her was almost painful.

It seems she was also greatly encouraged and supported by friends who had already received job offers.

I am very grateful for that.

By sharing her worries with friends who, like her, had not yet received offers, my daughter gradually began to recover.

And in the end, she was able to receive job offers from two companies that she had a connection with.

This was in August of this year.

Interestingly, both companies that offered her a position
were in completely different industries from the one she had originally aimed for to fulfill her dreams.

After much thought, my daughter decided on one of them.

Something my daughter said to me recently

"I guess I was just someone who wasn't good at job hunting."

My daughter said with a laugh.

People have things they are good at and things they are not good at.

She says that, as it happens, job hunting was just one of those things she wasn't good at.

It's the same as being bad at running,

or bad at drawing,

or bad at singing,

or bad at interacting with people.

There is no need to blame yourself,

and perhaps it is just something you have to accept.

I'm glad I didn't get a job offer from the company I interviewed with in June.

If I had received an offer back then, I would have become arrogant.'

That is what my daughter says.

My daughter's job hunt, which once had me on edge wondering what would happen, is finally coming to an end.

And today is the informal job offer ceremony.

This year, my daughter's company will also be holding the ceremony remotely.

Yesterday, my daughter asked me, 'Mom, do you want to watch the ceremony? Parents can watch too,' so

I told her, 'Of course I want to watch it; I'll sit properly in front of the computer with you, Dad.'

It's just job hunting

But it's also job hunting

Now that it's over

As a parent, I ask myself what I was able to do, but

'I didn't do anything'

'My daughter achieved this on her own,' and only a feeling of pride toward my daughter remains.

From here on out, my daughter will continue to carve out her own life.

This job hunt is just one page of that story.

Thank you for reading until the end.

I would be very happy if you could leave a like or a comment.