Monthly Archives: October 2012

Having enough skills is not eough

Having skills and experiences is one thing.  Getting hired is another thing.  This article introduces tactics that I did not imagine.

The New Science of Resumes – And Why Yours Sinks to the Bottom of the Pile

Is this fair?  Answer: it does not matter.

For your information, SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, i.e., how searchable your web site is when relative keywords are entered in a search engine such as Google.  For your reference, if you google “hiro shibata”, you will probably find my portfolio web site on the top.  If you google “hiroyuki shibata”, you will probably find my LinkedIn profile on the top.  Google your name and see what happens if you are interested.

I am looking for a product design job, and I know I have an obvious disadvantage; I do not have mechanical engineering background.  This must be surprising for those who met me in the industrial design program.  In the program, I was known as an engineering guy who can design, and many people assumed I was a mechanical engineer because I can design mechanical components.  But in fact, my background is electric engineering.  Does it matter?  To call myself product designer, it does not matter.  But to get a product design job, it does matter a lot.  I cannot be found as a qualified candidate.  By the way, in the engineering design program, I found not all mechanical engineers are capable of designing mechanical components.  They can calculate, period.  But they are probably searchable as product designers.

Getting a job seems more tactical matter than doing a job.

October 20, 2012Permalink

Let’s see how a looser will fail

Recently I sent a message to some people to ask advice for my career path.  I met them in Calgary, and it’s been four years since I left there, but they are still my mentors.  They gave me some pieces of advice, and now it’s my turn.  What should I start with?

Some of them told me like “to do this, you need to do that”.  Now an optimistic side of me tells me “OK, I am a positive thinker.  I can do this if I do that”.  Then a realistic side of me tells me “no, you are not a positive thinker but only an optimist.  You cannot do this because you have to do that”.  Now a desperate side of me tells “OK, let’s do it and see how I fail”.

Today the recruiting agency sent me a contract form.  I just need to sign it and send it back, then I will be a contract Japanese interpreter from next month.  How close is it to my goal?  If the goal is Calgary and I start from Hamilton, I will be in Montreal next month.  Am I a looser?  Apparently, yes.

Now, what should a looser do?  Use any opportunity.  If there is no opportunity, make opportunities.  It’s up to me.

October 18, 2012Permalink

Familiarity continued…

Today I drove a car outside of Japan for the first time ever.  Driving on highways in the rain without anyone else in the car was not a beginner friendly situation.  Yesterday I wrote about familiarity, without expecting I would experience it on the next day.  In Japan, cars keep the left side, so the driver’s seat is on the right side.  Can you imagine how unfamiliar it is to me to drive a car in Canada?  I often get on my friend’s car, and driving the right side is not very unfamiliar to me.  But the problem was the turn signal.  In Japan, for some unknown reasons, the turn signal lever is on the right side, and the windshield wiper lever is on the left side of the steering wheel.  Fortunately or unfortunately, it was raining this morning, and my right hand quickly learned “I take care of the windshield wipers”.  However, I don’t remember how many times I moved the windshield wipers when I needed to give a turn signal quickly.

Because I was so nervous, I payed attention to everything I did in first some tens of minutes, and found that a driver has to do so many things at the same time to drive a car.  Intuitiveness and familiarity help a lot to let a driver drive a car without hustle.  Turning the turn signal lever upward to give a right-turn signal is about intuitiveness, and having the turn signal lever on the left side of the steering wheel is about familiarity.

Why did I drive a car today?  Because I went to Orillia.  Why did I go to Orillia?  Because I had a job interview there.  Did it go well?  Yes, it did.  Is it good news?  Well, that’s a long story.  I’ll talk about it later.  This is it for today.

October 17, 2012Permalink

Familiarity

Many people assume that product designers and engineers can easily understand how to use many products.  I think this is good and bad.  Why bad?  Because if we understand everything easily, it is difficult for us to see what many other non-technical people feel when they use not-so-easy-to-use products.  Ideally, products should be understood intuitively with a help of common knowledge.  Common knowledge is often referred to as familiarity, e.g., green means go, a right-pointing triangle means play, and so on.  However, many engineers forget what is familiar to many people, and design products with tricky functions.

Today I used my BlackBerry to use a telephone service, and it went “…press the pound key”.  Guess what happened.  I took some time to find the pound key.  I looked for “#” key near “0” key, which is familiar to many people.  But in fact, the # key is located at top left on the BlackBerry keyboard.  It is good to see a non-technical-people side of me!?

October 16, 2012Permalink

Domo-arigato Mr. Roboto

I was born and raised in Japan.  My parents are 100% Japanese.  So, I am Japanese.

The first foreign country I landed was the Kingdom of Tonga, a small developing country in the South Pacific.  I lived and worked there for two years.  Tonga was too different from Japan, and the locals saw me as a guy from an industrialized country rather than as a Japanese guy.  On the other hand, Canada is close enough to see the difference between Canadians and Japanese, and Canadians usually see me as a Japanese guy.  Some things that I thought was normal seem uncommon for Canadians; they find it Japanese style.  It’s good and bad; even when I do something very me, many Canadians say “wow, Japanese do bla bla bla“.  No, I did it because I am me!  But it is kind of understandable.  Japanese people generally do things differently.  Dedication to the details is one example, and it can be found in product design.

RoboXero

By the way, I did not know how to pronounce “robot” <róHbαt> correctly, because one of the 80s icons, “Mr. Roboto“, goes as we Japanese say robotto.

October 14, 2012Permalink

Inventions that Shock the World

Yesterday, I wrote about reality that used to be a dream.  Today I had a chance to watch an interesting TV show, Inventions that Shock the World by Discovery Channel.  One of the stories was camera phone; it was not someone’s dream but an engineer’s urgent matter.  His wife was giving birth, and he wanted to send photos of his wife and their baby to his family and friends immediately.  He had a laptop computer (which was as big as today’s slim desktop computer), a digital camera, and a cell phone (which was as big as conventional telephone receiver), but did not have internet access.  He decided to connect the devices.  While his wife was in the labor room, he was in the waiting room and created a mechanism to send photos from his cell phone.

Peter Drucker describes the practice of innovation; innovation is not all about inspiration but there are the principles of successful innovation.  The camera phone story tells that, besides the systematic practice of innovation, people need skills and the ability to take action in order to make an idea reality.  I think there are two types of dreamers; those who dream about something and talk about it, and those who dream about something and take action on it.  Which one do I want to be?

October 12, 2012Permalink

Reality that used to be a dream

Today I missed a phone call from a recruiting agency when I was on a bus.  I forgot to set up voice mail (I forgot that I had forgotten to set it up), so she sent email to me.  I got her email on my blackberry, and it said “please send your resume in Word format immediately”.  What?  Immediately?  I’m away from home!  Luckily, I had saved my resume on my online storage JUST IN CASE.  I accessed the Word file from my blackberry and send it to her.  I wonder what would have happened if I did not have a smartphone or had not saved my resume on the online storage.

One of my favorite songs in the 80s goes “car telephone, spaceship, so many things around you. Do you notice the reality that used to be a dream?”  At that time, people did not use cell phones, and private phone away from home was car telephone!  Who dreamed about today’s technology then?

October 11, 2012Permalink

Being a rolling stone is tough

Since I graduated from my university, I have lived in four countries, done two full-time jobs, one long-term volunteer job, three contract-like jobs, one freelance job, and some occasional part-time jobs.  Now I have two master’s degrees.  Many people are impressed, and enjoy listening to my story.  But being a rolling stone is tough.

Today I visited a recruiting agency to talk about the contract Japanese translator/interpreter job.  The agent seemed to be impressed by my experiences, and found I am one of few people who have enough skills, experiences, and capability to do this job.  I have not made any decision yet; I still need to have an interview with the employer.  But, apparently, being a rolling stone helps me to get some types of jobs.  However, the point is, this is not the profession that I want to pursue.

I’m just wondering; when will my rolling stone story lead me to a dream job?  For now, let’s assume it lets me learn many things that other people have never imagined; otherwise it’s tough to avoid getting discouraged.

October 10, 2012Permalink

Going a long way around…?

Tomorrow, I will visit a recruiting agency to talk about a Japanese translator/interpreter job.  This is not a type of profession that I want to pursue in Canada.  But I’ve found it is not easy to get a product design job in Canada with my background…  In Japan, I have an advantage; I can speak English, and it is easier to get an English-related job.  In Canada, I have a different advantage; I can speak Japanese, and it is easier to get a Japanese-related job.  I’ll talk about a 5-month contract job, and hope it will give me extra time to explore design job opportunities.

When I graduated from U of C, international students had only three months to look for a job after graduation, and had to get a job in the area of study, i.e. industrial design job in my case.  That’s why I had to go back to Japan…  Now the regulation has changed, and we have one year to look for a job in any field.  Let’s use this advantage.

Let’s assume going a long way around will eventually lead me to a dream career path.

October 9, 2012Permalink