Boston Career Forum

Had participated BCF this weeked for 2 reasons: to look for job opportunityes in companies which work for social contribution, and to know what other students think about their careers.

I stayed in Boston with my friends from the same scholarship program, Tobitate, and it was a lot of fun taking about their interests. On Saturday night, we had another person who used to work at an interesting ramen shop in Boston and discussed how society changes :) 

Through BCF durations, I felt 3 following points  

• The majority of companies joining BCF didn’t put a large effort in educational contribution.

Since my specialty is education field, mainly explored the companies putting effort on the education program. On the other hand, “education” in business fields is quite different from the one in school education. Even though some of them were taking about education, HR (Human Resource) section occupied the mainstream, which is kinda different from the one I was looking for. Yet, there are many interesting companies in their sectors.

• Some students are searching for their jobs based on people they want to work with

 There are many reasons to choose companies you want to work. It could be the policy, technology/skill that companies have or insurance/welfare they provide. However, I’ve met a lot of students checking whether they can respect the future coworkers, whether they can passionate about it in or whether they can be excited to tackle the job. Many students are focusing on the soft side of the companies.

• Some Companies are looking for independent students in terms of how they boost themselves rather than bilingual students

BCF officially announces that this is the place for company to find bilingual students.

However, I haven’t spoken English, nor submitted any English resume for 2days of Career forum. Companies assume that students coming to Boston have already at least basic English knowledge and/or capability communicating in English. (Seriously) Even when I was talking with some recruiting staffs, they told me that they cannot speak English at all and never experienced study abroad. What they were looking for was those who are passionate, risk takers, motivated, critical about analysis etc. 

I had had many opportunities to explain/express myself, but honestly I wasn’t sure what to say even in self-introduction. For the reason, I’m doubting the relationship between my mind construction and English language acquisition.

I remember that my professor told me it is important to have ambiguity when we learn another language. But I guess usually I haven’t grabbed the meaning in English really much, which makes me think in a general way. I have to be more precise about both way I perceive the information and way I express. In this way, I might be able to unpack my thoughts more and express my thoughts with my deep understanding of myself.

Anyway, I’ve met a lot of people in Boston and it was really fun listening to other ppl :)))) got motivated again.