And you thought that my job hunting journey was over.
NOPE.
Until April next year, you can expect me to blog about preparing for my job – and this is one aspect of it. The 内定式 (naiteishiki) may or may not be a uniquely Japanese thing. I can’t really find an English translation (hence me thinking it’s unique – but I haven’t worked all over the world so I can’t be sure!), but it’s basically a ceremony for prospective employees, where their job offer is once again confirmed.
Mine was on Saturday, so I decided to quickly blog about it before I forgot! And since I’ll be working for Huis ten Bosch, the ceremony was held there!
When I got there, I was told that we would have to rehearse.
Me: Rehearse?! What are we supposed to rehearse?!
Apparently – Sitting down, standing up and bowing. I can do all three, but the point of the rehearsal was to build teamwork and have us do it as one. That was harder than I expected. After practicing for half an hour, the actual ceremony was held (and it lasted for about half an hour too). During the ceremony, the higher ups talked about how they expect us to be proactive in proposing new ideas (which I am excited about), and generally welcomed us and wished us all the best.
After the ceremony, we were brought to another room where we took a TEST. They did ask us to prepare in advance (and gave us the links to the material), so I can’t say I was surprised, but it was still tough. Luckily, we could discuss the answers so I managed to get a decent score.
When that finished, we were given Sasebo burgers (yum) and then brought on a quick tour of Huis ten Bosch! My group got to go to Palace Huis ten Bosch, where a flower and garden show was being held!
I found a mini-garden by a Singaporean too, and if I’m reading the tiny ribbon correctly, we got 5th! Also, it feels very Singaporean to me, although I might be reading too much into everything :p
When the whole tour was over, we went back to the meeting room for some Q&A time, which I found really informative. But I don’t know how much I can share, so I think I better not share anything. By the time everything ended, it was around 4pm, so after walking around Huis ten Bosch a little with new friends, I took the train back.
And now, school has officially started and I need to figure out my classes (though I’ve more or less fulfilled all my graduation requirements – except for zemi – so I can take it easy this sem)