A History of the Procedures I Followed, Benefits I Received, and Mistakes I Made After Becoming Unemployed

I resigned from my company at the end of last year and have happily become unemployed starting this year. This is the fifth time in my life that I have been unemployed.

Every time I quit a job, I have engaged in various 'unemployed moves'—getting rowdy, hiding, or running away—but during my last period of unemployment, I got a little smarter and scrambled to get unemployment benefits, thinking, 'I have to get back what I’ve paid into employment insurance.'

I would like to look back on the history of this era called 'unemployment,' which will never be engraved on my resume.

<The First Unemployment>

The first company I joined as a new graduate was an education-related firm with just the president and me. Early on, we were on edge due to differences in musical tastes, and after I got sulky and started neglecting my duties daily, I was fired one day, two months after joining. It was only natural.
However, at the time, I was 100% in a victim mindset. I vented my grudges against the president who fired me on Twitter and got scolded by many people. That was a mistake I made. Thanks to the generous support of my friends, I recovered my mental health and social skills.

In the case of a company-initiated dismissal, the company is obligated to pay the employee for two months after resignation, so I continued to live a lazy, shut-in life at home with that money for a while. I got bored after about a month, started job hunting, and found a new job in about three weeks.

<The Second Unemployment>

I voluntarily resigned from my second company after two months because my mental health was severely affected. At the time, I was commuting from my parents' house, and I couldn't face them after quitting two jobs in a row after only two months each... so even after quitting, I continued to leave the house at my usual time every morning and head to the station, only to spend the whole day hiding in a large nearby library.
Miraculously, I found a new job three weeks after quitting. When I told my mother for the first time, 'Actually, I quit the other day and will be starting a new job next month,' she pointed out, 'Well, I noticed you quit. You were coming home early and crawling into bed, weren't you?' My cover was weak.

<A Resignation That Doesn't Count Because I Wasn't Unemployed>

I quit my third company after a year and a half and started working as a freelance writer immediately after, so strictly speaking, I wasn't unemployed.
As an aside, I remember a friend who switched from being a company employee to a freelancer in their late 20s saying,'I should have been able to get unemployment benefits, but I didn't know they existed, it's so frustrating.'At my third company, I was a contract employee for a year and a full-time employee for half a year, so I brushed it off, thinking I wouldn't have been eligible anyway. But when I thought about it, if the 'eligibility requirement: 1 year or more of employment insurance coverage (regardless of employment status)' was met, I was absolutely eligible. When I realized that, I was so frustrated I could have bitten through ten handkerchiefs.

<The Third Unemployment>

To return to being a company employee from freelancing, I became a temporary employee for a limited time as a form of rehabilitation, and after finishing my nine-month contract, I became unemployed for the third time.
As a reaction to the life of a company employee where I had no freedom of time or movement, I thought, 'I want to go somewhere far away, anywhere!' I scoured listings for 1-2 month agricultural jobs with housing or resort jobs, and spent a month as a live-in helper at the guesthouse 'Hitotomaru' in Takeno, Toyooka City, Hyogo Prefecture, spending the richest and most fun summer vacation of my unemployed life. My memories from that time are here→My Unemployed Summer Vacation: Working as a Guesthouse Helper by the Sea in Takeno, Hyogo

After that, I thought about working in relaxation massage, so I applied to a certain shop in the Kansai region. I entered technical training with the intention of being hired, but I was terrified by the training room, which had signs plastered all over the walls saying things like 'Endurance is a given at work,' 'Push yourself for the sake of the customer,' and 'You should work during year-end, New Year, and long holidays.' It reminded me of the sports-oriented company I used to work for and gave me a stomachache, so on the second day of training, I apologized profusely and declined the offer.

Immediately after, I found a temporary job with very good conditions and ended up working as a temporary production staff member at a Web production company again.

<The Fourth Unemployment>

After breaking up with the boyfriend I was living with in Osaka, I thought about my future life and decided, 'I really want to live in Okinawa,' so I asked to end my contract at the company in my ninth month. A month after quitting, I was in Okinawa.

With the firm intention of 'I'm going to get unemployment benefits this time for sure,' I clutched the separation notices from my previous and second-to-last jobs and went to the Hello Work office in Naha. It seems that even if the companies you worked for are different, you are eligible if you meet the condition of having been enrolled in employment insurance for 12 months or more in the two years prior to the date of separation. Yay.
If you resign for personal reasons, there is a waiting period of about three months, but perhaps because mine was a temporary employee contract ending, I remember the first unemployment benefit payment being deposited about a month after the procedure. (This part is a bit fuzzy.)

I found a new job a month after starting the unemployment benefit procedure, so I applied for the 'Re-employment Allowance' at Hello Work. I received the remaining two payments of unemployment benefits that were scheduled to be deposited (though it might not have been the full amount).
Furthermore, six months after joining the company, I also applied for the 'Employment Promotion Retention Allowance.' I believe it was a system where if your income dropped compared to your previous job, you could receive the difference in monthly salary multiplied by six months. My salary was higher than my previous job, but since the first three months after joining were at a probationary price, when I calculated it, I found I was eligible.

I feel like I received a total of just under 600,000 yen including unemployment benefits, re-employment allowance, and employment promotion retention allowance. I felt deeply once again that 'being a company employee is a very protected existence.'

<The Fifth Unemployment>

I am here now. I am writing this article at Raku-en Cafe inside the Ryubo Department Store, and as soon as I finish, I plan to head to the Naha City Office across the street to apply for a switch to National Health Insurance. I will also take care of the paperwork to scrap my moped while I am at it.

I worked at my most recent company for two years and three months, so I have once again qualified for unemployment benefits. However, since I will be becoming a sole proprietor rather than a company employee next, things will likely be a bit different from last time.

You are not allowed to earn income while receiving unemployment benefits, so it is a bit of a problem if I cannot work for a while... I mean, isn't the support for people transitioning from company employees to sole proprietors a bit weak...?? I was venting these commoner-like frustrations, but after looking into it carefully, it seems there is a route: 'Receive unemployment certification -> Apply for business startup & re-employment benefits afterward -> Receive confirmation of business continuation about a month after the benefit decision -> Benefits are transferred once continuation is confirmed.' Hooray. Since I plan to study abroad in February, I intend to proceed with various applications and starting my business after I return to Japan.

Being unemployed five times is not something to be proud of, but since the beginning, I have become quite knowledgeable about various systems and procedures, have received considerable benefits, and have developed a habit of checking various national and municipal systems, thinking that I should make full use of social systems as much as possible and learn about every system for that purpose. You become stronger with every tear, and you become wiser with every bout of unemployment.

Lastly, a quick promotion.

I will be selling a collection of work essays at the Literature Flea Market.

A 10-year work essay collection starting from being fired as a new graduate: 'Where Did Your Career Start? Mine Started with Getting Fired'

1/14 (Sun) 11:00–16:00
Scheduled to be sold at Literature Flea Market Kyoto @ Miyako Messe.

Booth is 'Ko 13'
Booth name is 'Yokohama and Masaki'.

▼ Click here for details on the Literature Flea Market

▼ Click here for the 'Yokohama and Masaki' Web Catalog

We plan to sell a total of three books at our booth. For details on each book, please see the Web Catalog above or the note I wrote the other day'Ossu, Ora Mushoku!' (Hey, I'm Unemployed!).

I hope many people will come to visit and I would be happy if you could pick up our books◎