Last year, “Job Fairs” were taking place before Christmas, but this year due to the recruitment agreement between the industries and universities, companies are not allowed to begin their recruitment activities until March next year. I thought the slow start of companies’ hiring activities would delay graduating students’ job-hunting, but quite a few students seem to be looking for a job already. It could be because of the “Internship” at companies who try to buy apples before the harvest.
One day I received an e-mail from one of the students who had had his
internship at a company. Basically, the e-mail was a thank you letter for the experience, but in addition to the gratitude there was a “question” in it.
I forwarded the e-mail to the company’s president to ask him what to answer. The president read the e-mail and said he wanted to answer it by himself. The student tried not to be too direct, but in short, he was asking, “How come we have to work?” in the e-mail.
The president was saying, “How a student does well or what a student says during his/her internship period doesn’t affect the evaluation in recruitment screening, but this is a brave question, so I think I should take it seriously.”
“Hello, I was very struck by your question asking the reason to work because I had never wondered why. But I think seeking the true meaning of what we consider a common sense is truly important, so I thought about your question deeply and would like to answer it here.
I had always thought “Working life is very tough and arduous.” Even today, I still feel that way sometimes. Nothing is easy when it comes to work. But I am firmly convinced that what you will acquire in working is a lot greater than you imagine, so let me explain.
1. You will get money
Some people might say, “I don’t need money”. But money is not something harmful to possess and in fact, many of us need it to make a living. Some even say they work for money.
If you work only for money, your working life would be full of pain as you say. Most of us have to work most of our time in life and we all hope to have a happy life, so “knowing how to enjoy your work” is important.
2. You will have a goal
“What do we live for?” I don’t have an answer to the question, but I can give you, if you join my company, a clear objective of “what you have to do this year”.
I believe making efforts towards a certain goal is much more fulfilling and valuable than living a life without purpose or passion.
3. You will meet people
You join society through work because there is a great deal of opportunity to meet people within and outside your company like colleagues, business partners, clients….etc.
I would not say the bond of all of them will become your treasure in life, but a single person could change your life totally. As long as you work, you can expand the possibility for the “precious encounter”.
4. You will learn
You can learn through work. Once you start working, almost everything will be new to you, so you have to study to deal with what you don’t know how. The trend, market, technology etc., you need to acquire new knowledge every day in this rapidly growing world.
You might say, “I didn’t like studying in high school (or university)”. In fact, since I launched my business, I have seen tons of people who say the same thing. But no worries. “Studying at school” and “Learning through work” is quite different.
At school, the focus is on answering questions as fast as possible. At work, you look for a matter, find a solution to it and actually solve the matter in the end. The whole process is so creative that you will definitely feel fulfillment in life through work.
5. You will build trust
Work is all about responsibility. Jobs require responsibilities, so “Having a decent work” is considered as “Assuming responsibility in society” and creates a foundation of your social trust.
More importantly, money cannot get you social trust. For example, you probably do not trust a person standing in front of you for the only reason that the person has lots of money. Why? Because what you have done can only build up your trust over time.
Working sincerely is a first step in achieving trust in society.
6. You will gain confidence
Are you confident? I think confidence in yourself is very important. When I say so, some argue saying, “Being too confident or being proud of oneself is not good”. Actually, quite a few people consider “confidence” as a negative factor.
But I believe “True confidence” is essential for anyone. As a result of your own efforts and accomplishments, you can feel truly confident. That confidence is far from pretending to be greater or being arrogant because those who fake confidence are actually not confident at all but want to look confident. True confidence is only recognized by yourself, not others, when you have achieved something by your own endeavor.
Working is accomplishing something. In pursuit of a goal, you tirelessly work hard, which forms your truce confidence.
These are my personal views, so students like you might think differently, but I hope my e-mail could be one of answers to your question.”
Later, the president received a thank you letter from the student.
Author’s Facebook accout : https://www.facebook.com/yuya.adachi.58 (Except spam account, to approve anyone.)