Living to another country can be a source of inspiration. And you could meet kindred spirits that make you feel like you belong. My guest, Luke Cuerden, talks about finding a welcoming creative community and how much that has inspired him creatively and professionally. We also talk about the music scene in Tokyo, and what jazz and metal have in com…

Oh the places you’ll go. Dr Seuss's poem nicely describes the post-JET life of my guest, Sam Baldwin - journalist, start-up techie and author. A desire to live the outdoor mountain life led him to living and working in Slovenia in a 300-yo cabin. He chronicles his journey and love for his adopted country in his upcoming book, Dormice and Moonshine:…

Many of us go through several restarts and pivots. For Natalie Hamilton, it's been a full circle going back to teaching and finding her passion and purpose (including time to publish a textbook on kanji). Join us for a discussion on what that's like, and why finding purpose is an ever-changing destination.Footnotes:Natalie's book on kanji can be fo…

Along with anime and J-pop, the Japanese game industry is another influential export of the country. My guest, Catherine (Cat) Dinh now works at Ubisoft Osaka, and we talk about the industry, work practices and a valuable trait that a non-Japanese worker can bring to a Japanese workplace.بقلم After JET

In Japan, given how available alcoholic beverages are, everyone on JET has at least one grog-related tale. My guest Colin Johnston has turned his practical experiences into a career in the distilling and brewing sector. Join us for a fascinating and educational look into the movement that is the craft beer industry, and what makes its beer, well, s…

It may come as a surprise to some of you that Osaka is actively promoting itself as a queer-friendly holiday destination. But that is the line of work that Jonathan Lucas is in - helping to create an inclusive place that welcomes all visitors, not just on gender or sexuality. In this discussion, we talk about his work, and expand it to discuss in g…

J-Pop for some of us forms the sonic background to our lives in Japan - AKB48, Arashi, SMAP, Greeen (and just like that, you can already guess my vintage). My guest Juvia Chua went further than belting out her favourite J-Pop tunes in karaoke - she worked as a coordinator in the Japanese music industry, travelling with anisong talent overseas. She …

My guest this episode is a maelstrom of talent, ideas and energy - one episode on this teeny tiny podcast is not enough to cover all the stories from one life well led. And storytelling is the work of Eirene Tran Donohue. As a screenwriter, she has worked in Hollywood for over a decade, with her most successful movie to date being Netflix's A Touri…

In this episode, I speak to Alex Barnett. We get into the world of video (and film) editing - what the life of a freelance video editor looks like. Making art or making bank - how does one make a living, following your dream in an industry that's competitive and moves between boom and bust?Fun fact: Alex won the first JET Programme Video Competitio…

Cara Lam is probably one of my more popular guests I've had on this podcast. As a content creator, she vlogged about her JET experience and life and continued with writing blogs about her life after. So it's not surprising that she went into content design and strategy as a career. This being an After JET podcast, we talk not just careers, but also…

In 2011, I was a JET living in Fukushima. From that opening sentence, you can probably guess what this episode will be about. A decade on, my friends and I will be recounting our experiences during that time and after, in this special 2-parter that's meant to mark the 10th anniversary of the Tohoku disaster (yes I know I'm a couple of years late).M…

Continuing on from Part 1, this time we talk about coming back to Iwaki. In Part 2, we describe how our local communities were impacted, what we saw and what we did. And how it continues to leave its mark on our memories and lives, 10 years on.My thanks to John Auyeung, Cathy Hawker and Caitlin Lee for taking this trip down memory lane with me.You …

After JET, many would continue on in careers in education, community building or public service. For my guest, he has managed to combine all of these into an international career that has covered areas such as health, disaster relief, gender inequality and the empowerment of minorities in the community. Mark Flanigan's career has always been about …

Does the marketing and PR industry have, well, bad PR? My guest, Alex Varney, and I discuss this in a deep-dive into the industry. It may be a question of semantics, and a fine line between positive promotion and outright propaganda, but it does make for a fascinating discussion as Alex discusses the nuances of what he does for a living. Also, we'l…

If you've ever laughed at a Youtube clip, or played a video game, then chances are you've come across the work of my guest for this episode - Michael T Coleman. He's helped write and/or performed on some of the funniest online content, such as School of Thrones, and is the voice actor for Cody, a character from Capcom's Street Fighter. This is a pr…

We head to the arts for our next theme, with our guest, filmmaker Gavin Hugh. In addition, we'll be getting into some political discussions, as Gavin also works for a member of the Scottish parliament, making this episode feel totally like, real grown-up and stuff. Film, politics, Nazi zombies, and Scottish independence - what more could you want?F…

Continuing with the theme about the meandering path of life, our guest has certainly done her fair share of travelling and career paths (diving instructor, tour manager and marketing director, recruitment) and now currently runs a non-profit greenhouse program in a converted ice hockey stadium in Canada, in a town located in the Arctic Circle - mak…

If there's a theme for the next couple of episodes, it will be about the meandering journey of life, ending up in unexpected but wonderful places. Our guest went back on JET the second time, and with her husband and children, stayed on to build a life in Japan, start up a non-profit... and find a home living in the grounds of an ancient temple righ…

Our guest Amanda Chau works as a recruiter and HR consultant in Japan, and recently was a speaker/mentor at the After JET Conference for JET leavers in 2020. So she is in a unique position of knowing what it's like on both sides of the job seeking process. While this episode is about her work, in another way, what we're really talking about is choi…

When one finishes JET, sometimes the next step is... more JET. In concluding the theme of past JETs working in public service, we fudge the definition a bit and feature a JET unicorn: our guest Matt French has applied for the programme three times (successfully), and is currently going into his 5th year, the first ALT to do so in his town in Hirosh…

Tourism is one of those careers that is a good fit for JETs - after all, we are passionate advocates for our second homes in Japan, and have explored every nook and cranny, probably more so than locals who have lived there all their lives. Continuing with the theme of ex-JETs who now work in the Japanese public sector, we'll be speaking to our gues…

What's it like working in the Japanese public sector? We'll spend several episodes talking to guests who work in different government and non-profit organisations. Our guest Rafael Villadiego worked for several years at the Consulate of Japan in Sydney, and gives us a look at working at a diplomatic office, learning on the job, how to "read the air…

Hello everyone! It's been a while. A short update about our podcast.بقلم After JET

The closest description that one can use for what our guest does for a living, would be "life coach", though Andy Chaleff would agree that it's usually hard to quantify. In this episode, we talk about his philosophy, his very eventful life, from JET, to high flying corporate executive, to penniless boarder in a leaky attic, to where he is now. Andy…

Our second of our 2 part episode and this time around we get down to talking about life after JET. It can feel like a step "backwards" in some sense, going from having your own apartment and independence, to going home and starting over again. But it's not all bad, really we promise.FOOTNOTES: - Rebecca Chen on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in…

What started out as a conversation about documentary film making quickly moved into discussion on refugee and asylum seeker issues in America, particularly with the current administration. While job searching after coming home from JET (and therefore having plenty of free time), our guest, Rebecca Chen, decided to embark on a documentary film makin…

Despite the economy, state of the world, etc, it's never been easier to pursue your dream job, even if it means creating your own unique job title and career. Being an entrepreneur however can be a challenge. I talk to our guest, Raelene Morey about this, the importance of standing up for yourself and how every situation is different when figuring …

In this episode I return to the discussion of teaching as a career, this time with a trainee teacher, and another who is a tutor at university. We talk about the differences between pupils in Japan and in Australia, the satisfaction of teaching and why all those class games are more useful than you might think.In the Australian state of New South W…

We've talked a lot about turning hobbies into a career, and my guest Julius Pang (ALT 2004-2007 Kitakyushu) not only became a professional photographer, he combined it with his love of Japan and started a photography tour business (Incredible Photo Tours). We talk about the work, photographing Mt Fuji (i.e. much harder than you'd expect) and wrangl…

Do you have the write stuff (I had this pun, I needed to use it)? A passion for writing, reporting on social issues and events (and yoga) led our next guest, Shannon Lough, around the world and into a career as a journalist. One time she interviewed an ex-astronaut (true story).- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shannonlough/- Portfolio: http:…

Being an artist is not just a job, but a way of life. Many of us may have once dreamed about a creative career - drawing, painting or writing, but usually feel that the reality of paying bills and eating regularly outweigh the fantasy. But for Mr David Piper, there was simply no choice to really make once JET was over. - To see David's work: http:/…

Content Advisory Warning: In this episode, we talk about the work and experience relating to forensic investigation. If you're uncomfortable with talk about autopsies, etc, you might want to skip from the 20-min mark.Mention forensic investigation, and you'd be thinking of shows like CSI, Bones and Dexter. Our guest actually credits the X-Files for…

The vast majority of JETs work as ALTs, or Assistant Language Teachers. Therefore it's no surprise that some would continue that into an actual career in education. However, being a teacher can open up some opportunities and challenges in surprising ways, as our guest, Anna-Marie Prohaska, proves.Anna-Marie Prohaska is on LinkedIn: https://www.link…

We speak to Andrea Jacques, who was involved with the After JET conferences in the 90s as a careers and life coach. She is also the founder and head of Kyosei Consulting, and has published a book, Wabi Sabi Wisdom (available on Amazon). We talk about her book and its themes on not only finding job satisfaction, but also finding meaning and purpose …

In 2016, CLAIR began the first ever work experience placements at participating companies in Kansai and Kanto area, for a period of a week, open to CIRs from 3rd year and up. We speak to two JETs who participated in the internship, Joshua Leong and Paige Norris (thanks you two!). ?Note that we can't divulge certain details like location and company…

We continue with our discussion on content marketing - this time co-host David Reiling talks about his experience and his circuitous but highly eventful track to content marketing.بقلم After JET

Content and digital marketing - some of the hottest jobs right now are in this area of online writing and promotions. We talk to Misty Ahmadi who works in content marketing at IBM, about her job and what she did to get into it. Along the way, we share some JET stories because that will happen when you gets JETs together in a conversation. Thanks ve…

Roll of the Dice: The OPC - 2In this second part, we get into the more fun, geeky aspects of our discussion - about how Magic: The Gathering gets made (content-wise), and what's fuelling the boom of the analog games industry (hint: nostalgia and small kids becoming big kids with disposable incomes). We also talk about what are some good games to tr…

Analog games! We've all played them - board games and card games, famous examples being Settlers of Catan and Magic: The Gathering. A good board game can be addictive - last year, at Oz Comic Con, my friends and I were so invested in this game called Carcassonne that we decided to skip one William Shatner's appearance and spent the rest of our time…

We talk about what it's like to work as a game master for a Tokyo mobile gaming company. See ma, playing games instead of studying CAN get you a job. Guest: Leslie (Game Master) and introducing David Reiling as co-host.For more details see: http://www.jetaainternational.org/serious-play-the-game-master?…

Part 2 of our discussion about the IT industry and working in Japan. In this 2nd part, we talk about online job searching, the intricacies of preparing a Japanese-style resume, and also the interview experience.Thanks to John Littlefair-Molin; Evan Storer; Andy Shartzer and Tierra Tank.For footnotes and references: http://www.jetaainternational.org…

Job hunting in Japan? Looking for IT roles? So you want to work in Japan, but what's it like? We discuss whether language proficiency is important (watch out for keigo!), IT career options, on the job training, working conditions in Japan. We also discussed different contracting options, and the importance of checking your work contract, and about …