Part-Time Office Work

astronautcowboy3

I'm currently living in Japan and working as an English teacher, but in the summer I'll be moving back to the States with my family. I am planning to attend graduate school part-time, while working...somewhere to pay the bills and keep my wife and daughter fed and clothed.

Finding a(ny) job shouldn't be terribly difficult; my dad owns his own construction business, so I will pretty much be able to work for him as long and as often as I need to, but I am hoping to eventually branch out to something that looks a little better on a CV.

Today I happened across a blog post written by someone that recently spent a few months job hunting in Japan after quitting their teaching position. He said a common theme of his unsuccessful interviews was, "Do you have experience working in an office?" "I was a teacher. Most of my day was spent in an office." "But do you have office experience?"

Apparently, they really like actual office experience here, because otherwise they don't really know what to expect from foreign employees. He figured that they don't want someone showing up and raising hell (and after five years with the JET Program, I've met enough hell raisers to at least understand where they are coming from). Therefore, in case I end up looking for jobs in Japan again someday instead of doing something in academia, I'd like to be able to say, "Yes, I do," when asked the office question.

That being said, I'm going to be a student, so it would have to be part-time. I'm rather inexperienced with job hunting and the business sector in general, though, so I don't really know what kind of jobs or industries might have "office work" on a part-time basis. My work experience up until now has all been teaching as well (and my degree in history) so I'm not sure what positions I'd even be able to compete for.

At the same time, I'd probably be cool with doing pretty much anything, so if this answer is as open-ended as I suspect it might be, feel free to say so; I am being somewhat vague on purpose. I'll be living in New York (Long Island) by the way.

Thank you all very much.

zepherin

Go with what you know. Construction office manager is probably technically correct for something you can add now, if you've helped your dad. Other things that would qualify are data entry, transcription, hell translations can be office work if you are good at that sort of thing. Anything white collar qualifies really, but for the most, part office work is a starting point. Look for warehouses with offices, and consulting firms, or construction again, most businesses over 20 employees need an office of some sort. I am not well versed in the subtleties of Japanese resume writing, so I'm not sure if works in an office is something to include. I've never included that line in spite of working in an office because it seamed like it took up precious resume space which I could be talking about how baller of a project manager I am, but it may be something to add.

astronautcowboy3

Thanks for the advice. I don't really think it's something that needs to go on a resume; I think it came up in interviews. I'll show you what he said:

Having experience working in an office is a huge benefit, too. For whatever dumb reason, for a lot of companies teaching doesn’t count towards this.

And then this:

The concept of a serene office, where no disputes happen and where everyone works together in wonderful harmony is very important in Japan. So when you’re in the interview, your job isn’t really to sell yourself. Your CV did that for you. The interview is a chance for you to prove that hiring you won’t force your new boss and coworkers to put up with weird foreigner nonsense when you join the company. So don’t come in wearing your favourite SkrilleX t-shirt. Don’t come in and demand the creating of a ‘Sexy Fridays’ system. Keep your new buisness concepts (‘Video games… but for dogs!’) to yourself. Show you’re easy to work with.

noir_blood

I really disagree with the second part of that post.

An interview is ALL ABOUT selling yourself. Your CV doesn't do that, it only gets the door open. I'm sure I've gained a few jobs(and lost a few) based on how I was able to sell myself to the interviewer.

I recently moved up to the New York area and are looking for a job. Like you, I have some teaching experience, but luckily, I also have had tons of customer service jobs to put on the resume. From what I've encountered:

Office jobs are REALLY hard to get. There's not a lot of them, believe it or not, and as you can image, there's a lot of competition out for them. Make sure you know the basics: Excel, word, powerpoint, quicken.

Talk about your teaching job in a way that relates to the office setting. How grading shows you can work with documents that are confident in nature, how you used an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of grades, that you know how to use a copier and fax machine, etc.

Also, don't just dismiss the construction job. Maybe work that for a few months, hopefully in an office or administrative setting, and then you can put that on your CV.

Enc

Well, that second part is pretty correct if you are getting hired in Japan. If you are planning on getting employed in the US you should follow Noir's post. Your interview is a time to sell yourself, not as a product, but to prove your degree of competence and that you have something to offer the company in the way of skills, attitude, flexibility, or diversity. Preferably all four.

Being meek in a US interview is an easy way to get passed over. In Japan it's a very, very different environment however.

Deebaser

If you're going to grad school part time and (much more importantly) you have a family, maybe you should be working full time.

You can do 9 credits while working 40 hour weeks. It sucks, but it's doable and keep your career moving forward.

astronautcowboy3

I definitely agree with you there; I don't think 6 or 9 credits would prevent me from working a full week or something close to it, which I really should be doing if possible. However, I defaulted to part-time work (mostly for the purposes of this thread) because I can't say for certain whether I'll be able to find a full-time job that will work around my class schedule.

The construction job will be great for filling in the gaps, though.

schuss

Find the school you want to go to and apply for jobs there, then take classes for free while working full time. My old roommate did this and didn't really have to pay anything for classes. School will take longer, but it will be free and there are typically great benefits to offset your low-ish pay.