At last, there is finally light at the end of the tunnel as the job search comes to an end.
Life Updates
As mentioned earlier, I have finished my master’s degree last year and graduated last winter. Since then, I have been looking for a job, which is probably one of the most difficult things for a recent college graduate to do, especially for someone who doesn’t have any work experience. I have been in a tough position since I didn’t have any job experience and I couldn’t get an internship. As a result, I got several rejection and not referred for an interview letters and course it made me upset to the point where I felt like Shizuka from Shirobako who couldn’t get a voice-acting role because a lack of experience.
However, I got really lucky since I applied for a recent graduate position (computer related) through the Pathways Program in the Federal Government and managed to pass the interview since I got a tentative job offer just recently (I will get an actual one once the background checks are done and get cleared). I am grateful to land in a position and get my foot in the door, even if I have to move to Pennsylvania. While it took some time, it just shows that you have to keep trying no matter how difficult it is. Like Shizuka, I eventually got a job related to what I wanted to do.
So, what does this mean for this blog? Although I will have slightly less free time since I have to work during the weekdays, I will likely be able to post at the same rate. When I begin to move, I will have to schedule some posts in advance to avoid a hiatus since I have to get Internet installed at the new place. Afterwards, things should go back to normal.
As for covering other games or buying anime merchandise, it really depends on the budget considering that I have to pay for living expenses and start paying off my student loans. Aside from importing more games, I might try to buy a few Anime figures to put on my bookshelf. Regardless, I will be continuing my Japanese self study, even if I am working and probably plan on studying for the JLPT in the near future.
Aside from that, I will write a formal post announcing the move in the near future, which will probably happen during the summer.
With that out of the way, it’s time to focus on the impressions.
Nisekoi: – Episode 6
Sadly, Haru’s introduction has to wait until next week since it’s Valentines Day. I’m surprised that Raku haven’t received a single piece of chocolate whatsoever since he has four girls in his harem. Yep, he got really lucky since he receives one from Tsugumi, who seems to be blushing red and later, Marika, Kosaki and Chitoge.
Still, it’s sad to see Kosaki get upset and giving up so easily over breaking the chocolate that she wanted to give him. While it’s surprising to see her tell Chitoge that she likes Raku, it was nice to see them help each other with making chocolates for him. I guess Raku has to return the favor and give chocolates for all the girls in his harem for White Day.
As always, I’m impressed by Marika’s dedication for him since she made a huge chocolate statue for him. It’s just hilarious to see her chase after him while rolling the chocolate statue towards him. Too bad it broke into pieces in the end, but at least he ate it all.
DanMachi – Episode 6
As expected from the last episode, Lilly is the focus of this episode as she tricks Bell into going to the 10th floor and steal his equipment, thus leaving him helpless against a horde of strong monsters. While some viewers doesn’t seem to like what she did to him, I can’t blame her considering the position she was in. Her parents were poor and they tried to become adventurers make money. Sadly, they died in the dungeons and Lilly basically became a slave and she was treated poorly. She tried to disguise herself to live a new life, but unfortunately those thugs ruined it. Because of that, she stole weapons (to sell) and money from various adventurers, which she grown to despise in order to buy her freedom.
I can understand why people would be mad at Lilly for the fact that she took advantage of Bell’s kindness and betrayed him. If I were in his shoes, I wouldn’t trust her. However, after learning about the difficulties she went through, most people would probably do the same for the sake of survival, even if it’s not ethical. Sure, she got the punishment she deserved in the end with the thugs doing the same thing she did to Bell, she was lucky that Bell saved her in the end. From this experience, I think that she learned a valuable lesson the hard way that not all adventurers are bad and that bad deeds will eventually come to bite you in the end.
Aside from that, I wonder if Bell will gain enough courage to talk to Aiz, who is the focus in the next episode. We’ll see.
Last Week’s Anime Power Rankings
- Fate/stay night Unlimited Blade Works
- Hibike! Euphonium
- Nisekoi:
- Danmachi
Yay, you got a job. Yes, for newfound job stability! It reminds me when you bring up blogging habits. I actually personally decided for myself from the ginning of when started blogging that no matter what happens to me in life be it work or something else I will be continuing to regularly update my anime and manga blog. I am so not going to turn out like some other anime bloggers that let “life” happen to them and then abandon their blog. I mean what would be the point of all that work. But, hey, that is only me.
I plan on moving close to work, but even so, I don’t really socialize with people and spend majority of my time on the computer, which is why I still have the time, even during my college years, where I spent most of my time doing homework and studying.
But I see it this way, while I will be working 8 hour workdays, it won’t be any different from the amount of time spent in college and I don’t plan on getting in a relationship anytime soon until I finish paying off student loans and make enough money.
I am pretty much like that too. I am not really worried about ever marrying since I am really interested in a future family life or significant other. I am an academic at heart and invariably more concentrated in finding a stable job in the future. So keeping up blogging should be something pretty easy.
Correction: I am not really interested in a future family life or significant other.
Congratulations and welcome to the club. I was lucky enough to find employment in my area, especially with the cyber command center and other similar position opening up here recently. Ended up getting a position at the same office I had the training opportunity at midway through March as a data analyst. The only downside is that the hours aren’t that great and still have required training every other week until the end of this October, but at least it something for the time being. Still would like to see if I can get a position on the military base when the cyber command facility begins the hiring process, since that was my original plan. Unless requested or its an emergency, I usually have weekends off (like today) and use that time to work on post, so I can send them out through the week. If I don’t somehow get writer’s block and end up starring at the screen, that is…
With so many games getting announced for the West that I’m interested in, I gave up on importing a long time ago and rather just wait for sales, since they are bound to happen and the bills always come first. I would also like to go on a small trip during the time I get off in July, so been saving money for that as well.
Wishing you luck on your new endeavor.
I do have callback with my job too for the fact that the position I got is a database management position, meaning that I will be managing and working with databases, which I have some experience with from college and also managing the server this blog runs. While the pay is less in federal government compared to the private industry, especially since I took a Recent Graduate position because I don’t have any work experience, there are better benefits and they will be providing the training, so I have to take classes in order to do the job. But the challenge for me is to survive the first year of probation so that the position will get converted to a competitive permanent position, which shouldn’t be too difficult since I plan on doing my job correctly and not slack off. I had to apply to a position that is in a rural part for the fact that everyone applies to all the locations in the cities. I couldn’t even get a position in Philadelphia since I wasn’t ranked high enough due to the high volume of applicants. The drive doesn’t look too bad, so I can visit my parents sometimes.
But yes, it seems that there are a lot more games being released in the west for the fact that Kotei Techmo and Idea Factory have been pumping the releases a lot quicker. Of course, there are some games like the Level 5 JRPGs like Yokai Watch that takes years to get a localization. They already announced that the first Youkai Watch game will be coming to the west soon, which originally came out in 2013 while the 2nd game is already came out in 2014 in Japan. Still, I prefer playing the games in Japanese, even if they take a little longer to finish so that I am actually utilizing the language instead of forgetting most of it. Plus, I know full well that Bandai Namco will never localize Idolmaster to the west, so I guess it’s my only reason to keep importing games.
But when I start working, I plan on getting some of the Cinderella G4U packs and solid state drive upgrades in the coming months, depending how much I have left over after expenses.
DBMS related position was my 3rd choice, but no positions were actually vacant anywhere around here. Federal positions aren’t all that bad, especially with ones that offer the student loan repayment program – if you can work for the company for so many years…or whatever the agreement might entail. Great if you took out a sizable loan. Judging by your attitude and experience you spoke of, getting the position shouldn’t be that difficult depending on the competition. Even though the area I live and work in is about as rural as it comes, most of the more experienced applicants haven’t started to move in yet or already with the military base here. I wouldn’t actually mind moving out of state since I don’t like where I live all that much, lol.
I won’t mind picking up imports again…there just isn’t anything I’m dying to play or that unlikely to see the light of day in English…with some expectations. Seems like the industry is slowing down or something. Lol, true that Idolmaster has no chance making its way over here…but I do remember hearing news that Bandai Namco filed a trademark for The Idolmaster: Cinderella Girls. I know that filing a trademark means nothing and it was just for the smartphone game…but who knows. I would like to think they would be interested in expanding into other markets, since people have been asking for stuff like that and Digimon for years now.
SSD’s actually kind of slipped into reasonable price ranges…well depending on the brand and storage size. Also sorry for the wall of text 😛
There is a Public Service Loan Forgiveness program as well, but I have a sizable, but not a huge student loan, although all of it is federal direct loans.
But I have some experience with SSDs since I have one on my Surface 2 and they are fast. I experimented with mSATA SSDs with ATA converters on older Powerbook G4s and it’s still an improvement despite the limited ATA bus. I plan on upgrading my two Macbook Pros with SSDs when I can afford a 480/512 GB Sandisk Extreme Pro or Samsung 850 Pro and then move the hard drive to the optical bay. Would like to go all SSD, but that is somewhat impractical due to the high costs of 1 TB SSDs.
But outside of the Cinderella G4U games and the main series games, I don’t really have any interest in smartphone games since I hate mobile games in general.
Same. Although, I had to borrow a little bit more from another company.
Last time I checked (like a week ago), I think I saw Newegg running a good deal on the 480GB Sandisk SSD. I believe it was marked down to $157 considering they are usually around the $250 range or higher. Not sure if that is still going on. I’m interested in one, but the Win8 laptop I got last year (and even older Win 7 desktop 1TB HDD ) boots quick without one. I just use an EXHDD for anything I need stored.
I don’t necessarily like mobile games, I just haven’t played enough to hate them. Ones that I have played like P&D and Love Live are actually kind of decent…when they aren’t killing the resources on my tablet.
Congrats on getting the job! I know you haven’t actually started yet and don’t know what it’ll be like, but I’m sure you’ll be fine. Will they be paying for your moving expenses to PA or will you have to put out the money for that yourself and get it back when you start working?
Database management is something I recently got a bit interested in…I’m currently finishing up a class in beginning Microsoft Access & SQL and am planning to continue next semester with more advanced database classes involving Oracle in spring. So I wanted to ask you, where are some places to look for jobs in the database and web design field? Either regular paid jobs or internships that could lead to jobs? The only places I know to look for jobs are places like craigslist and Monster.com, and I know there must be better sites to look for jobs in a specific field like IT. I don’t know if a lot of these jobs require a Masters…hopefully an A.A. plus certificates in the field, and a B.A. in another field, will be sufficient.
Thanks. I assume that I will have to pay the expenses, although my parents will help me out a bit, in which I will pay them back later unless the concrete job offer said otherwise after I passed the background check. But aside from that, they are helping me find a apartment or condo to move into.
Personally, I only looked into federal government jobs and haven’t look at all in the private industry. If you are interested in getting a federal government job, I highly suggest looking at USAJobs.gov as all government agencies, except a few are required to post the job there too. Just do an advanced search and look for “All Information Technology” and specify the location and series grade (GS-5 is a bachelors, GS-7 is for bachelors with superior academic achievement and GS-9 is for a master degree). Note that you have to build a federal resume if you apply for a federal government job, but a simple search on Google should help you on that.
Also, you might be able to apply for a Recent Graduate positions through the pathways program since you are getting a certificate. Depending on the amount of people applying and amount of positions, it should be easier than applying for a regular position and the position will usually get converted after a year of successful performance and meeting the requirements of the program.
Of course, I also suggest checking the career services at your college too. Also, creating a Linkedin account is probably a good idea.
Hopefully this will help you out and of course, keep applying as there are usually a lot of applicants and good luck.
“I felt like Shizuka from Shirobako who couldn’t get a voice-acting role because a lack of experience.”
We all do, man. At least for me, I personally felt like that too when I was job-hunting, although Shirobako wasn’t around at the time, lol.
And Raku being sad that he’s never receiving any chocolates is funny, considering he’s got such a huge harem of dedicated girls xD
And as for Danmachi, yea, I think I certainly like Lilly more after her arc ended.
Depending on your major, finding a job can be either very hard or easy… but of course, it’s a bit harder without work experience, especially in a tough economy or a field with a lot of competition such as the voice acting industry, especially with female voice actors (I bet males have a slightly easier time since there aren’t as many, maybe).
But I haven’t watched the next Dungeon episode, but Lilly does look really cute in the next episode.