News Letter

News Letter – International Hopefuls+ #11

International hopefuls+
Issue 11
March 3, 2020

1. I-HoP News (by Mariko Katagaki)

-On Feb. 27 and Mar.2, I-HoP held seminars for “Business email seminar” and “Preparation for an Oral Presentation”. In addition to the classroom version, online versions of the seminars were distributed by web meeting software “Zoom”. This new format for the seminars were countermeasures for the recent outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19). However, this new challenge made us realize about new possibilities for online distribution.
For example, students who are not in Sapporo or have to take care of their children at home can attend from where they are.
Currently the situation is severe in Hokkaido, however I believe that we can get by through innovative ideas.
Take care and keep safe.

-Last Nov.25th, I-HoP held the seminar “Learning Japanese: Why now and how to start it”.
The lecturer was Dr. Yumiko Enyo, with her acknowledgment we recorded the seminar. The editing has just finished, and we will distribute it through our website shortly.
Those who wish to watch it, please contact I-HoP by email so that we can issue the ID and PW which will be required to watch the video.

2. Information:

-New graduate recruitment has started from Mar. 1st in Japan. It is targeted for those who are expected to start working from FY 2021.
Unbelievably early? Yes, this is one of the unique cultures of Japan.

To M1 and D2 students who are going to enroll M2 and D3 from the coming Apr and Oct. and wish to work in Japan, I strongly recommend you start searching about Japanese Job hunting (Shushoku Katsudou = Shukatsu 就活) right away so that you do not miss out on the recruitment schedule and information.

Many Japanese companies require “Entry (エントリー)” with “Entry sheet (エントリーシート)” for the applicants as the first step of job hunting. You should check and catch the Entry deadline of the companies you wish to apply.
I-HoP will support you to improve your Entry sheet. Contact I-HoP BEFORE submitting it to the company.
*Note: Many companies will offer the job posting in Japanese and require the entry sheet to be written in Japanese.

-General Japanese Language Course First Semester 2020:
The application period is coming, from Thursday March 12th 3:00pm to Thursday March 26th 3:00pm JST.
It’s free, don’t miss the application opportunity!
https://www.oia.hokudai.ac.jp/cier/wp/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/c53e000008ca4b8e36a67478055a49b4.pdf

3. Memo from the Visiting Professor Y. Iida

My dear International Researchers,
Spring is the time of change, and it applies to me, too. Starting from October 2014, I have been releasing this newsletter every month, and this is the last issue from me. Thanks to Katagaki-sensei, my successor, I-HoP has made significant progress over the previous eleven months. Newly introduced programs are; Career Link Meet-up, USA Site Visit in RTP, JLPT Online Practice Half-test, Talk with Global Companies, etc. I was contributing to it by launching a new Business Email Seminar on February 27. If you have missed this seminar, which explained the basics of business communication by using email, please wait for further notice from I-HoP on the video clip of the event.
Although my role as a visiting professor of I-HoP will be over at the end of March, I plan to continue to serve the international researchers of Hokkaido University as a professional career counselor. The counseling can take place either on-line (by using Skype, etc.) or in-person at the I-HoP office. I will announce, through I-HoP, the time-slots of my monthly counseling schedule in which you can choose the access method. The career counseling in English or Japanese is the privilege of international graduate students at Hokkaido University. You may have many questions about your future career, especially when you plan to work for a Japanese company or institution. If you are not yet decided on your future career and consider that it is too premature to discuss, please do not wait until you are ready. For example, if you are currently an M1 student and wish to continue to the doctoral course, you will have more than four years before you graduate. These four years will allow you to learn or enhance your Japanese communication skills or to capture knowledge by attending I-HoP seminars or other events on negotiations, time-management, presentation, etc. The career counseling session may include, but not limited to, provision of information on job hunting, finding companies, open position search for academic positions, discussion on career options, realizing your potential capabilities, or desire through the attentive listening by the counselor. Because I had worked in the US and Germany for 18 years in total during my business career, I am familiar with the business environment and culture of global business, in comparison to that of the Japanese. While I was out of Japan, I was in a similar situation where there is a significant cultural and lingual gap, like what the international students may be experiencing now. I do encourage that you take the opportunity of career counseling sooner.

Your career is yours. But when you have dependents such as your spouse or children, you will have to consider the requirements and expectations of them. Likewise, there are many life roles, such as a child, student, parent, worker, citizen, etc. that you need to play as you live your life. The career, according to the definition of Donald E. Super, the father of career counseling, is like a rainbow of layers of different life roles whose mixture and the combination may change through your life. Being a student is one of the life roles, and you will have many other functions simultaneously or consequentially. Having a dream or vision of what you want to be in the future, in each of the life roles, is instrumental for your career designing. Life, however, is not proceeding as you may imagine or plan. There always are unexpected interruptions and diversions that you may encounter, which is a “turning point.” How can you overcome the difficulties associated with this turning point, and make it beneficial for enhancing your career? Stanford professor John D. Krumboltz depicted in his book “Luck is no accident” that there are five characteristics that most successful people commonly possess. These are; Curiosity, Persistence, Optimism, Flexibility, and Risk-taking attitude. I hope you will enjoy your life by over-turning your turning points to your favor. In closing, I will give you these ten most potent two-letter words by William Johnsen, Professor of English, Michigan State University:
IF IT IS TO BE, IT IS UP TO ME