One year since a high school graduate in their 40s changed jobs to a listed company: What has changed, and what hasn't

Hello everyone, this is Ponzu.

At the end of this month, it will be exactly one year since I changed jobs to my current company.

A high school graduate with six job changes, a middle-aged guy in his mid-40s, jumped into a Prime-listed company. I thought I'd take a moment to look back on this past year.

There are many things that have changed. The content of my work, the scope of my responsibilities, and how those around me treat me. But I myself haven't changed at all.

Today, I will write honestly about both of these aspects.

For the first three months after changing jobs, I was an invisible man

For the first month after changing jobs, I had almost no work.

All I did was read internal documents and manuals. While the people around me were busy heading off to meetings, I was just staring at my PC.

A high school graduate in his mid-40s had joined mid-career. It's only natural that those around me were suspicious. I could feel the atmosphere of 'Is this guy going to be okay?' on my skin.

Honestly, it was tough. I had pride in what I had achieved at my previous jobs. But at my new workplace, I wasn't contributing anything. While my colleagues in the same department were leaving their seats one after another for meetings, I was the only one left sitting there. That feeling was quite hard to bear.

But I couldn't afford to give up. I have four children to support, and I had managed to get into a Prime-listed company. I remember constantly telling myself, 'This is the time for sowing seeds.'

That's why I kept asking my boss for work. 'I'm free, please give me something to do,' 'I have plenty of capacity,' 'Should I handle that?' A middle-aged guy in his mid-40s being pushy. It might have looked uncool. But I felt that nothing would start if I just waited.

I have an article I wrote previously that details this period.

Adding a little extra quality to small tasks

Around the time the first month passed, I started to be assigned small, one-off tasks. Excel data analysis, creating simple documents. None of them were big jobs.

I made sure to add a little extra value before returning them.

For example, if I was asked for data analysis, I would turn it into a dashboard to visualize the numbers. If I was asked for a PowerPoint presentation, I would focus on the quality and even go as far as to present it myself. I was always conscious of doing 'what was asked + alpha'.

Also, what I was particularly conscious of was taking the initiative to pick up the tasks that others disliked.

Taking minutes, adjusting meeting schedules, taking on inquiries when no one knew who to ask. These are all low-profile tasks that no one wants to do. But these are the very tasks that are most visible to those around you.

If people think, 'That guy is actually doing something,' then the next job will come my way. It was a cycle of that.

By the way, speaking of the word "embellish," I also have an article about how to embellish your resume. It's about the difference between imagination and fantasy.

Before I knew it, I was a PM (Project Manager)

About three months after joining the company, my department manager asked me, "Do you want to try working on AI?" This was the turning point.

That said, I wasn't the person in charge of AI promotion from the start. At first, I was just a worker. I gathered information, compiled it into documents, and reported to my superiors. That was all.

But as I kept doing it, the scope of my work expanded.

Creating documents for executives. Coordinating with internal and external stakeholders. Serving as a facilitator for regular meetings. I ended up picking up the tasks that someone had to do but no one else volunteered for.

Before I knew it, I was fulfilling the same project manager role I had at my previous job.

I didn't aim for it. I just picked up the work in front of me, coordinated things, and kept things moving, and it happened naturally. My subordinates also increased one by one.

The job of a PM is probably "a collection of tasks that people dislike." Schedule management, groundwork, coordination, facilitation. There isn't a single glamorous task. But if someone doesn't do them, the project won't move forward.

I don't dislike this role. In fact, I think it suits me. Doing mundane tasks silently is my specialty.

Not everything went well

I've written about all the good things, but there were also things that didn't go well.

One is the way I approached AI promotion.

When I was spreading AI to the team, I prioritized "just try using it." I told them not to think about difficult things and just to touch it. I don't think this judgment itself was wrong.

But what happened as a result was a "culture of dumping work." When a colleague said, "Let's have AI make it quickly," I felt uneasy. I thought, "I spent three hours making a proposal with AI, and you just want it done instantly?"

I hadn't properly designed the bridge from the "usage phase" to the "co-creation phase." Spreading tools and cultivating a culture of how to use them were different jobs. I wrote about this in detail before.

The other thing is that a subordinate quit.

The subordinate I wrote about in a previous article who joined after embellishing their resume ended up resigning. It had already been decided before they joined my team, so there was a part of it I couldn't stop.

But if they had joined my team sooner, things might have been a little different. Thinking about that, I still have a feeling of helplessness.

It is a fact that there are many things I can call "successful" looking back on the year. But I want to make sure I remember these two reflections.

In the end, I haven't changed at all

Looking back like this, a lot has happened in a year. The content of my work, the scope of my responsibilities, and how those around me treat me are completely different from when I first joined.

But I myself haven't changed at all.

I tackle the work in front of me with all my might, even if it's unglamorous. I always keep a bird's-eye view of the whole picture. I take the initiative to pick up the tasks that others dislike. This stance has remained the same from my first day on the job until today.

Or rather, it was the same at my previous job and the company before that. When I introduced a core system at a factory in the countryside, I held reporting meetings on my own initiative, involved the relevant parties, and ran it honestly. Even if the scale of what I'm doing has changed, the essence hasn't changed at all.

I previously wrote an article about not having a suit of armor made of pride.

I had no pride to protect. That's why I could ask anyone anything and pick up any kind of work. I think that, as a result, it became my greatest weapon for getting on my feet in a new environment.

What changed were the people around me. "Is this person okay?" turned into "Let's leave this to him." It wasn't that I changed, but that what I accumulated changed how I was perceived by those around me. I think that's probably what it is.

What I want to tell my self from a year ago

If I could meet myself from a year ago, I would want to tell him this.

Hey, me! "Choosing this company wasn't a mistake."

Facing my daily work honestly. Continuing to pick up the tasks that no one else wanted to do. Even if it wasn't cool, continuing to ask for work. All of that has properly led to where I am now.

If there is anyone out there who has just changed jobs and is feeling anxious. Or if there is anyone who cannot see their place in a new environment.

I can't say for sure that it will be okay. But if you do the work in front of you carefully and return it with a little extra quality, and take on the things that no one else wants to do, I think the way those around you see you will change if you keep doing that.

At the very least, that was the case for me.

Summary of "Reflections on 1 year of changing jobs"

One year after jumping into a prime-listed company.

What has changed is the content of my work, the scope of my responsibilities, and the response of those around me. What hasn't changed are these three things.

• Tackle the work in front of me with all my might, even if it's unglamorous

• Always keep a bird's-eye view of the whole picture

• Taking the initiative to do the tasks others dislike

There have been things that went well and things that didn't. But, taking everything into account, the reason I can feel that 'this past year was not a mistake' is probably because I didn't change my own way of doing things.

Therefore, in my second year, I will continue to work in the same gritty, persistent way.

Well then, I'll be heading off now.