インターナショナルスクールのキャリアパネルに出てきます【元外交官のグローバルキャリア】

明日は母校でキャリア・デーが行われています。現地にいれば朝食会にも出られたようですが、そのためだけにジャカルタに行くのも何なのでオンラインでパネルに参加します。「政府」パネルです。中学3年生から高校3年生がそれぞれ自由に関心があるパネルに出るようです。
高校のマスコットはコモド・ドラゴンで、私たちはドラゴンです。

Fellow Dragons,

I am a former government official with the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Prior to that, I worked at the U.S. Embassy Tokyo as a Foreign Service National. Not knowing how many of you in the audience are Japanese nationals, I will share with you the choices that I have made in entering the Japanese foreign service, in the most applicable terms to any nationality.

My years at JIS

I entered JIS in 1984, in 8th grade. I had just spent the last three years in the local Japanese school system, after having returned from Germany. I barely spoke English when I entered JIS. I spent a total of five years at JIS - a year in ESOL - English Speakers of Other Languages, and four years of high school, completing the IB Diploma Programme.

Never aspiring to be in government

I majored in Political Science at Waseda University. I was determined NOT to go into the government, and instead into the private sector like my father did. I could not see myself as a Japanese government official and had no interest in taking the public service exam, or the bar exam, or any type of exam that required hours of studying. I wanted to become a corporate professional and create jobs and improve the living conditions in countries like Indonesia. Well, that does not exactly align with the private sector’s goals, but nor was I interested in international development work. Perhaps it was my belief in the power of the free market, growing up in West Germany during the Cold War.

Chance encounters

There is a career theory called the "Happenstance Theory" by John.D. Krumboltz. I am a living example of this unplanned career path. My career has evolved through chance encounters and has taken me from being an Assistant and Interpreter to a giant CEO, to working at the U.S. Embassy, getting my Masters in International Public Policy at Johns Hopkins SAIS, and then joining MOFA.

Even as I was applying to MOFA, I did not think that I was cut out to be a Japanese bureaucrat for their known rigidity. I went to JIS and the few years in the Japanese public school system was confining. Fir that reason, I loved working at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo on national defense issues in a relaxed environment having limited responsibilities. But I wanted to be in charge and an officer, and decided to get a master's degree to stay in the field of public policy, preferably national defense, and international relations. At MOFA, I ended up having even more fun that being at the U.S. Embassy, where I thought I had peaked.

Life of a Diplomat

As a Japanese diplomat, you never know where life takes you, quite literally. I became a lawyer for the government without a legal background and negotiated treaties and International agreements in Paris, Barcelona, and the U.N. I was a cultural attache in Honolulu, Los Angeles, and the Public Affairs Officer in Pakistan, I learned about the Iowa caucus and followed U.S. elections in Chicago. Had it not been for COVID, I would have been traveling to Paris, representing Japan's economic interest at the OECD. I organized the current Emperor's Enthronement ceremony and frequented the imperial palace.

Why I chose the path

My years in Jakarta shaped me. I felt my privilege, seeing poverty with limited social upward mobility up close. I wanted to make the world a better place. I was proud of my country and the power to improve the lives of people around the world. Being in Jakarta in the 80s made me so much more attuned to current affairs. In neighboring Philippines, there was the People Power Revolution. While at JIS, People's Republic of Kampuchea became Cambodia. The Arab-Israeli conflict was our debate topic, as Palestinians in Gaza had an uprising known as the Intifadah. Being in Model U.N. for my high school years probably helped pave the path to Diplomacy.

Stay curious

Krumboltz' Happenstance Theory teaches us to be flexible, curious, and open-minded as we navigate our career paths. So, Dragons, stay curious. Be curious about what it is that moves you, what shapes you, and what life can throw at you. If you are curious and open, you should be able to prepare yourselves in any job, not just government.

Leaving the government early

I was curious about how I could stand on my own feet without my diplomatic passport. I left MOFA in 2020, a job that could have secured me a path until 2035. A job that may have earned me the title Ambassador. I now work for myself, exploring my curiosity in the community, around the world, and the arts with my family. The AI is a blessing for me as I consult. If the IT department would grant its use in the Ministry, so many of my cables of media reporting would have been aided by Chat GPT. The legal translation that I agonized over could have been thrown into the DeepL.

I wish I were in Cilandak right now. May your curiosity take you on whatever path you are open to.