Sunday, April 7, 2013

Once more a NEET

So, I left off around the part where I needed to secure my working visa to be able to work full time at Softbank. Let's see how all that went, shall we?

Upon receiving the news that I needed a bunch of additional documents, including papers from my home university which proved I had a degree, I got busy. I mailed my professor and the graduation department and managed to file an application for graduation. Now all I had to do was wait for it to be finished and they would mail it to me by e-mail. So I waited. September gave way to October, I celebrated my birthday despite the anxiety that was starting to build up again, and October eventually turned to November. During this time, my boss frequently asked me about my visa status and when he should expect me to be done with it. I kept telling him "soon" and prayed that I would get my visa quickly.

At this point, I am sure you may have asked yourself: "Did he get the visa or not?" Worry not, dear reader; in the end, I did indeed get it. As it turned out, though, that was only the start of my problems...

Looking back, I suppose it was no surprise that I was fired from Softbank. I had not told them anything about how long it would take to get the working visa, mostly because I myself was not aware of all the facts. My preparations had been insufficient, in other words. But it was still quite a shock that November evening when my boss told me to stay behind after work for a meeting. I was unsure of what the meeting was going to be about, but I did not even imagine what was about to happen. My boss, the store manager and I sat down in a small meeting room, and they told me what was up. "You still haven't gotten your visa, and quite frankly, your performance here has not been good enough to warrant waiting any more. There are plenty of others who are eager to work here, and hiring one of them instead of you would be much more economical for us."

And so, just like that, I was without a job. They didn't kick me out right away, though. I was to keep working until the end of the year, and then quit. After getting over the initial shock of this notice, I concluded that my only option now was to brush up my CV, wait until I got my visa, and then start job hunting again.
A few weeks later, I received a notice in the mail saying that my visa application had been approved, and that I could come pick up my new Residence Card at the immigration office. This news made me leap with joy. At least now I had a fighting chance. With a working visa, there was no reason for companies to hesitate about hiring me. Armed with this new hope, and a do-or-die determination to fight until the end, I greeted the end of the year, and said goodbye to my job at Softbank. My time spent Not in Employment, Education or Training was about to begin.

1 comment:

  1. Ughh... That sucks. But at least you were in the clear now!

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