Monday, September 10, 2007
Y'all must've forgot...
Those were the lyrics of a rap song sung by Roy Jones Jr. himself. Although the song meant that he could still dominate the competition in the boxing world, the actual fight that came after kinda made us forget about him as a contender. Well, that song didn't quite work out for him.
In Randy Moss' case however, that song really fit his performance to a tee after reading about his performance in the game against the Jets. I mean, wow! I really boils down to one thing, the Raiders were really that bad. Of course, it's only one game this season so far...
One thing that I will truly miss this season, seeing coaching rants. The last truly great coach tirade came from Denny Green with his "they were...who WE THOUGHT THEY WERE!!!" rant. I don't think we'll ever see another classic like that one, unless good ol' Herm Edwards comes up with something. Some personal favorites:
"Playoffs!? We're just trying to to win one game! PLAYOFFS?!?!?!?!?!" - Jim Mora
"What do you think about your team's execution?" - reporter asking the Tampa Bay coach
"I'm all for it!" - Tampa Bay coach
"We didn't do diddly poo!" - Jim Mora (will have to check on this, I think it's was from his Saint's days)
"WE PLAYYYYY TO WINNN THE GAMMME!!! HELLO?!" - Herm Edwards (it's up to you now Herm!)
In Randy Moss' case however, that song really fit his performance to a tee after reading about his performance in the game against the Jets. I mean, wow! I really boils down to one thing, the Raiders were really that bad. Of course, it's only one game this season so far...
One thing that I will truly miss this season, seeing coaching rants. The last truly great coach tirade came from Denny Green with his "they were...who WE THOUGHT THEY WERE!!!" rant. I don't think we'll ever see another classic like that one, unless good ol' Herm Edwards comes up with something. Some personal favorites:
"Playoffs!? We're just trying to to win one game! PLAYOFFS?!?!?!?!?!" - Jim Mora
"What do you think about your team's execution?" - reporter asking the Tampa Bay coach
"I'm all for it!" - Tampa Bay coach
"We didn't do diddly poo!" - Jim Mora (will have to check on this, I think it's was from his Saint's days)
"WE PLAYYYYY TO WINNN THE GAMMME!!! HELLO?!" - Herm Edwards (it's up to you now Herm!)
Sunday, September 09, 2007
Realization
The moment I returned to the headhunting business after a successful stint in onsite recruiting at a bank, I realized that the headhunting business just isn't, well...me.
I've been doing a lot of thinking lately and I realize now that the root of all my troubles wasn't really about the crazy people I worked in the past 2 companies, nor was it about bad management. The real problem is myself.
You see, the main reason why I decided to get into headhunting was to make enough money to support me and Akane. That very same reason is also why I'm not fit to be a headhunter in the first place. The key phrase here is "to make enough money". When considering a career in executive search recruitment, in order to be successful, you can't be thinking about making just enough money. To be a successful headhunter, one has to continually push themselves in order to make money, therefore, such thoughts are not only meaningless, they are also anti-productive.
Let's imagine that a chef who has created a masterpiece of a dish. Can that chef truly be successful if he says to himself "This dish is great, I don't need to create another one for a while." Or how about a certain wide receiver who admits to "taking plays off every now then when running routes?" In those two instances, they won't be successful. Randy Moss has seen successful years while in Minnesota, but overall, Marvin Harrison has achieved much more through his consistency.
For the headhunter, if you stop yourself short and if money is not the most important goal in life, the odds are stacked against you. That's where I find myself now. I've discovered that, to me, money is not everything. Happiness is my ideal version of success. I don't need 200 grand usd per year. If I make 100 grand we'll be fine.
When I worked in the bank for the past few months, I was extremely happy. Akane saw it too. Everything was good again. And then I it was over and I find myself back to headhunting again. Things are bad again.
So it's settled. I'm looking to settle in the finance industry and hope to leave the headhunting business for good. Happiness is not worth sacrificing for the sake of money. Though I say that I haven't been happy doing headhunting, I don't regret anything.
If it weren't for the first headhunting company, I wouldn't have been able to make some truly great friends who will support me through thick and thin.
If it weren't for the second headhunting company, I wouldn't have been able to learn about financial markets and would never have known how interesting that field really is.
If it weren't for my current employer, I never would've had the chance to work at a bank with some truly remarkable people and most importantly, realize what it is exactly that I want to do for a career. If I can just somehow get hired by a bank, I will be extremely satisfied.
I've been doing a lot of thinking lately and I realize now that the root of all my troubles wasn't really about the crazy people I worked in the past 2 companies, nor was it about bad management. The real problem is myself.
You see, the main reason why I decided to get into headhunting was to make enough money to support me and Akane. That very same reason is also why I'm not fit to be a headhunter in the first place. The key phrase here is "to make enough money". When considering a career in executive search recruitment, in order to be successful, you can't be thinking about making just enough money. To be a successful headhunter, one has to continually push themselves in order to make money, therefore, such thoughts are not only meaningless, they are also anti-productive.
Let's imagine that a chef who has created a masterpiece of a dish. Can that chef truly be successful if he says to himself "This dish is great, I don't need to create another one for a while." Or how about a certain wide receiver who admits to "taking plays off every now then when running routes?" In those two instances, they won't be successful. Randy Moss has seen successful years while in Minnesota, but overall, Marvin Harrison has achieved much more through his consistency.
For the headhunter, if you stop yourself short and if money is not the most important goal in life, the odds are stacked against you. That's where I find myself now. I've discovered that, to me, money is not everything. Happiness is my ideal version of success. I don't need 200 grand usd per year. If I make 100 grand we'll be fine.
When I worked in the bank for the past few months, I was extremely happy. Akane saw it too. Everything was good again. And then I it was over and I find myself back to headhunting again. Things are bad again.
So it's settled. I'm looking to settle in the finance industry and hope to leave the headhunting business for good. Happiness is not worth sacrificing for the sake of money. Though I say that I haven't been happy doing headhunting, I don't regret anything.
If it weren't for the first headhunting company, I wouldn't have been able to make some truly great friends who will support me through thick and thin.
If it weren't for the second headhunting company, I wouldn't have been able to learn about financial markets and would never have known how interesting that field really is.
If it weren't for my current employer, I never would've had the chance to work at a bank with some truly remarkable people and most importantly, realize what it is exactly that I want to do for a career. If I can just somehow get hired by a bank, I will be extremely satisfied.
Sunday, September 02, 2007
Jason takes Manhattan?
Ok, that's a terrible pun, I admit, but there is a very good chance that I will be moving to NYC within the next few years.
How it started was that my wife had been thinking about moving to the states with me for quite sometime, but the outlook in my opinion wasn't really good enough to make me confident in that move. She was thinking that LA would be the best choice and really didn't want to go east considering all the cold weather. I have nothing against LA, it's just that my job prospects don't really look that good there in comparison to NY. At the same time, my wife is really scared of extreme cold weather so I'd have to factor that into consideration.
All that changed once she met up with an old friend of hers who had lived in NY for 2 years. After hearing about all the positive aspects of the big apple, she suddenly had a change of heart and started to become interested. When she told me about her plan, I was at first apprehensive because I didn't have enough time to digest what had just happened.
Several minutes go by and immediately I became excited. Investment banks have made NY their home and that industry is absolutely the one area that I would like to stay in. Having done some searching for jobs in that area, it quickly became apparent that, YES, we CAN do this!
I, for one, am extremely psyched over this. It's not that I don't enjoy Japan, rather, it's really the only place where I have been able to become an independent man and grow as a person. However, if I really want to make that next leap for a truly rewarding career, my chances are much higher in NY. Afterall, I'm still trying to shake off the whole english teacher/headhunter image and it looks like it's a completely uphill battle. Not impossible mind you, just extremely difficult.
Though Japan has been great for me, I've also begun to truly miss certain things that only the US can bring. Thanksgiving dinners with family and friends, NBA, NFL, MLB, cheaper food, more variety in supermarkets, driving, being able to play basketball and tennis free of charge (or at least less than 25 bucks per hour), xmas and new years. All of these things were taken for granted by me and I realize how much I truly miss them all.
Realistically, this idea is at 75% chance of turning into reality. My wife has another 2.5 years of grad school left and my job prospects won't be good until after a couple more years of experience in the investment banking industry. I really do hope it becomes a reality in the near future though.
How it started was that my wife had been thinking about moving to the states with me for quite sometime, but the outlook in my opinion wasn't really good enough to make me confident in that move. She was thinking that LA would be the best choice and really didn't want to go east considering all the cold weather. I have nothing against LA, it's just that my job prospects don't really look that good there in comparison to NY. At the same time, my wife is really scared of extreme cold weather so I'd have to factor that into consideration.
All that changed once she met up with an old friend of hers who had lived in NY for 2 years. After hearing about all the positive aspects of the big apple, she suddenly had a change of heart and started to become interested. When she told me about her plan, I was at first apprehensive because I didn't have enough time to digest what had just happened.
Several minutes go by and immediately I became excited. Investment banks have made NY their home and that industry is absolutely the one area that I would like to stay in. Having done some searching for jobs in that area, it quickly became apparent that, YES, we CAN do this!
I, for one, am extremely psyched over this. It's not that I don't enjoy Japan, rather, it's really the only place where I have been able to become an independent man and grow as a person. However, if I really want to make that next leap for a truly rewarding career, my chances are much higher in NY. Afterall, I'm still trying to shake off the whole english teacher/headhunter image and it looks like it's a completely uphill battle. Not impossible mind you, just extremely difficult.
Though Japan has been great for me, I've also begun to truly miss certain things that only the US can bring. Thanksgiving dinners with family and friends, NBA, NFL, MLB, cheaper food, more variety in supermarkets, driving, being able to play basketball and tennis free of charge (or at least less than 25 bucks per hour), xmas and new years. All of these things were taken for granted by me and I realize how much I truly miss them all.
Realistically, this idea is at 75% chance of turning into reality. My wife has another 2.5 years of grad school left and my job prospects won't be good until after a couple more years of experience in the investment banking industry. I really do hope it becomes a reality in the near future though.
