This picture is from an aerobatic demonstration of Blue Impulse at MCAS Iwakuni on their “Friendship Day”. It was lovely and so beautiful thanks to the clear sky!
Whenever I introduce myself as a freelancer, one of the most frequent questions is “Why freelancer?”. So, I would like to write about the process of how I became a freelancer in this article. Then, in my next article, I’ll talk about the reasons why I continue to be a freelancer.
From studying foreign languages to a non-teaching job at a consulting firm
After a one-year exchange study in Germany and a BA in German Studies, I was eager to get opportunities to use foreign languages and apply my knowledge outside of the university, especially since I had moved to Tokyo for my MA. Then, I luckily got a job to translate German/English official documents into Japanese in addition to a short internship at a German institution. I was very happy to use foreign languages practically, however, I noticed there are few full-time opportunities for those types of jobs. This led me to think more about different ways of putting the knowledge of foreign languages into practice, aside from becoming a language teacher.
You might wonder “why didn’t you think about what you would do after graduation before starting your BA?” or “why didn’t you study something, which might help you get a job easier?”. Well, I was very interested in languages when I was a high school student. Also, I was (and am) optimistic and thought I could overcome the challenge even if my decision was uncommon. In any case, I’ve never regretted my decisions since they were the best options available at that time.
At any rate, I stopped concentrating on foreign language education for a while and started my first career as a business strategy consultant. I know it might come as a surprise for some of you that I became a business strategy consultant even though I had not studied economics or any equivalent fields. I personally think that it is one of the positive aspects of the Japanese job market. If you have just graduated from university, employers don’t necessarily care so much about what you studied, as they claim that you can be trained through the work itself. The reason why I chose that job was because I wanted to get broader knowledge and experience in the business world, where there can also be opportunities for many language learners.
Working as a business strategy consultant was tough, both mentally and physically, but I was satisfied to learn and experience more about the business world. Actually, even though I didn’t expect it, I had some opportunities to use my knowledge of foreign languages. I attended an overseas training, I used English in some projects, and I even used German once for a global market research. I could broaden my horizons both through the projects which I was in charge of, and also through discussions with coworkers from other divisions and countries.
Then why did I quit? One of the reasons I could work so hard at this firm was because I set personal milestones to achieve. After almost three years, when I had reached one of those, I realized I didn’t want to continue my career as a consultant. I was still interested in foreign language education and I felt that I might regret not changing my career at that point.
Unexpected freelancer
So now, you might assume that I had prepared very well before leaving the consulting firm to become a freelancer, but I hadn’t. To be honest, I hadn’t decided at that time to become a freelancer. I applied for some jobs in the field of global human resources development, got some offers through the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and even looked for language teaching jobs.
At that point, I started to think “maybe I don’t have to work as a full-time worker for just one company”. In addition, the language teaching jobs which I was most interested in were part-time. Then, I received an offer from an educational organization and I asked them if I could accept it, not as an employee, but as a freelancer. Thankfully, they agreed to it. So, I registered myself as self-employed and began my career as a freelancer.
It was the best option for me to balance ‘two hares’: my biggest interests and applying my knowledge and experience. However, during my four year (and counting) freelance career, there were some situations that can be described as ‘if you run after two hares, you will catch neither’. I will mention them and explain why I’m still working as a freelancer in my next article!
