20230708_What I Gained from My First Job Change Activity (May 2023)_Impressions and Process

Introduction

Hello, I'm Kei.

A few years have passed since I started working. I decided to engage in job hunting to understand the reality of "my value as seen from outside the company." This was my first time job hunting. I feel like I gained a lot from the experience. In this post, I will summarize my "impressions and the process" of tackling job hunting for the first time.

Impressions of the Overall Job Hunting Process

Honestly, it was very tiring. I already felt that my daily work was demanding, but in addition to that, I had to create application documents, coordinate schedules, research industries and companies, and prepare for interviews. I deeply felt the difficulty of job hunting while working. However, I also felt that it was an opportunity to grow myself. I thought that anyone who can keep this up is a very capable person. Since there is so much to learn through job hunting, I think it is a good idea to do it even if you are not thinking about changing jobs. If you lose your sense of composure, you cannot make calm decisions, and I think you might end up having to choose a job even if the conditions are not very good. I felt it is better to start while you still have
some breathing room.

Purpose of Job Hunting

The purpose of my job hunting this time was to know "my value as seen from outside the company." I believe this is what is called market value. A few years after joining the company, I wanted to know how I am perceived from the outside. Specifically, I wanted to know if my current environment and compensation conditions are favorable, average, or mediocre for my current abilities. I thought that if I felt they were favorable, my loyalty to my current company would increase. If I felt they were mediocre, I was prepared to change jobs depending on the conditions.

Overall Flow of Job Hunting

Job Placement Agencies

I registered with multiple job sites and agencies to obtain information. Since it was my first experience and I didn't have an image of how to proceed, I had interviews with three agents for the time being. After explaining that I was not necessarily committed to changing jobs, one person helped me by keeping the number of applications low, with
getting a job offer as a benchmark. I think they were very sincere. Throughout the process, they helped me edit my resume and job history, and even provided interview preparation. Thanks to this person, I think I was able to create decent documents. The other two people recommended a process of
applying for everything for now without considering my intentions. I got tired of dealing with one of them, so I decided not to use that person. There was no document editing or interview preparation at all. In the end, I used two agents, and I was surprised at how different their approaches and responses were. I think there is a matter of personal compatibility, but I was not very keen on the "apply for everything for now" approach. If only agents of this type exist, I might not use agents in the future.

Document Screening

I was rejected by quite a few companies. I realized my lack of skills. I learned that if a company is looking for someone who can contribute immediately, I am not yet at that level. I decided to use this as energy to improve myself in the future. Some companies also had tests separate from the document screening. Along the way, my motivation for job hunting dropped, and there were several companies where I left time after passing the document screening without taking the tests. Regarding the drop in motivation, I think this is a big difference from when you are job hunting with the mindset of "I definitely want to change jobs." In my case, I wasn't that desperate.

Interviews

As a result of the document screening, I ended up having interviews with a handful of companies. Although the number of interviews was small, every company was attractive. They were all companies I would want to join if I received an offer. Since I decide whether to apply based on the job type, the industries of the companies were all different. Before the interviews, I researched the industries, what the companies value, and how they differ from their competitors. The more I researched each company, the more I wanted to go there. I had never seriously researched industries or companies in my life until now. Honestly, I didn't understand what was interesting about researching. When I was job hunting as a new graduate, I barely did any research. Through this job hunting experience, I was able to learn the
fun of researching industries and companies. I think I can also deepen my knowledge about society. It is also significant that since becoming a working professional, I have become able to imagine things related to numbers such as sales and profits. I would like to research various industries and companies when I have time in the future and write articles about them. In the interviews, there were companies where I was able to express myself well and others where I couldn't. As a result, I am grateful to have received an offer from a company where I was able to express myself well. Regarding the companies where I couldn't express myself, I lost confidence as the interviewer gave me somewhat lukewarm reactions, and I fell into a negative loop. I still haven't come up with a solution, but I felt that some improvement is needed in this area.

Conclusion

Because we live in a rapidly changing world, I felt that we need the ability to survive no matter what the situation. I thought job hunting is a good opportunity because you can get objective evaluations. Even if you are satisfied with your current situation, I don't think you know how long it will last.
Let's aim to be people who can survive no matter what the state of the world is, while improving ourselves every day!

I hope this will be helpful to someone.

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