Where to Work?

San Jose is a global city. It feels small but don't be fooled- there are brilliant people from all over the world gathered here in Silicon Valley. And there are a lot of job seekers and not enough jobs for all of us. Happy New Year everyone, from an unemployed, soon to be homeless, Kristin.

But don't worry! I will get back on my feet! Speaking of feet, I was walking to a mall that's about a 40 minute walk from my current place the other day and I smelled something familiar. The stench of rotting ginko under my feet brought me back to the streets of Seoul in the fall and early winter. I never thought I'd close my eyes and take that in as a pleasant fragrance, but I did. I stopped in my tracks on the sidewalk and sucked the stench into my nostrils and was transported to my walk to the subway station from my studio apartment in Gangnam (Yeoksam). I remembered the crowded subway line number 2 and the station two stops away (Samseong) where I worked in Trade Tower above COEX mall. I remembered how in the summer my life was right on track: a great boyfriend, a great apartment, a great job, great friends, walking distance to great salsa clubs.... What happened? Life happened.

Now I widened the radius of my job search to San Francisco and the whole Bay Area. I'd like to live and work in San Francisco because I like big cities. I'm not a huge fan of driving. I'm also semi-secretly looking for jobs in Korea. I have to hold out hope. Actually, I've recently been thinking of just taking a job anywhere in the world and going with it. If any of my readers have connections and would like to help, I'd appreciate it. I'm posting my resume without any contact information for obvious reasons. And for those of you who are just wondering what it is I've done that I can't get a job easily, you can keep reading.


Here's a version of my resume:

Citizenship: USA

Education

2010    Michigan State University

·         Bachelor of Science - Interdisciplinary Studies in Social Science (IDS): International Studies major

·         Psychology cognate/minor

Work Experience

4/2/2012 – 12/7/2012              Global Consultant

• Lundbeck Korea Pharmaceutical Company

• Seoul, South Korea
• Assisted CEO, regulatory affairs (RA) manager, finance manager, and marketing team in correspondence with HQ in Copenhagen, Denmark
• Edited English documents including contracts and assisted in English presentation preparation; gave English classes to coworkers and customers, including presentation workshops
• Often worked in Korean and assisted in translating Korean to English for reports to HQ

11/30/2010 – 1/31/2012          Global Consultant

·         Samsung C&T Corporation Engineering & Construction

·         Seoul, South Korea

·         Scheduled, attended, and evaluated 16 1-hour English business meetings per week; designed and implemented an incentive scheme for higher attendance, effort, and performance

·         Developed and applied other in-house education programs: English speaking and writing, business etiquette, culture, etc.

·         Worked with two other consultants to ensure continuity of programs throughout the Business Unit

·         Edited and produced weekly English newsletter focusing on the construction industry and Samsung’s successes and character, as well as global culture

2007 – 2012                Private English as a Second Language Tutor

·         Self-employed (East Lansing, MI, U.S.A. and South Korea)

·         Tutored students from age 7 to age 50

·         Countries of origin of students: South Korea, China, Saudi Arabia, Madagascar

·         Created an English resource website for students

2008 – 2009                Personal Assistant      

·         Assisted a disabled man with weekly tasks, including laundry and grocery shopping, as well as vacation preparation and minor car maintenance

2006 – 2008                Private Piano Teacher

·         Self-employed (East Lansing, MI, U.S.A.)

·         Created all teaching materials including music theory resource and songs

2006 summer               Cashier

·         Busch’s Grocery Store (Rochester, MI, U.S.A.)

2004 – 2006                Waitress

·         Big Boy Restaurant (Rochester, MI, U.S.A.)

Languages

English (native), Korean (conversational fluency, writing/reading), French (reading), Japanese (novice)

Travel Experience

South Korea (lived for 3 1/2 years), Canada, France, Monaco, Germany, England, Japan

Skills

• Public speaking and presentations (member of Toastmasters International for 1 year)
• Great interpersonal skills
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office (in English and Korean)
• Basic web design using templates
• Basic desktop publishing (e.g. newsletters)
• Conflict resolution (received training)
• Working in a team and alone
• Scheduling and re-scheduling meetings on a regular basis
• Finding the best deal on airplane tickets
• Salsa dancing
• Piano composition