Hawaii JOBS and trying to land one.

[nekohead]

I've been looking for a REAL job since I moved here. But, all this place has to offer is Food and travel. Or the car sales areas. I had to take a food job. Also, I work 6 days a week for 8 or 12 hours a day. If you want a higher paying job that is not on the base, you will have to speak JAPANESE.." Can you believe that? My point is, if you ever move to a place LERAN as much as you can before moving their. I thought I did. Also, I was thinking that I would just walk into the NEX job because I worked for them in Japan. NOPE. They are so hard to get in for a JOB that it is NOT even FUNNY. So, I am just stuck working in the food area of HAWAII.

Here is a example or two of what I am talking about

http://www.alamoanacenter.com/jobs.htm
Jobs at Ala Moana
EMPLOYMENT LISTING


EMPORIO ARMANI
Contact: Alden Otani, General Manager
Phone: 951-8475 Fax: 947-3950
Position: Sales Associate
Description/Requirements: Two positions available. Must be flexible and have previous retail experience. Japanese speaking very helpful. Please fax your resume or visit the store to fill out an application.
(Posted: March 21, 2007)


MONTBLANC
Contact: Christy Cowser
Phone: 942-4810 Fax: 942-0740
Position: Part-time & Full-time Sales Associate
Description/Requirements: Experience in luxury sales; flexible schedule; fluent Japanese speaking required; comfortable with computers. Must have clienteleing skills as well as a willingness and aptitude to learn technical information. Watch & jewelry experience helpful. Please fax your resume or visit the store to fill out an application.
(Posted: March 20, 2007)

[atlasien]

Hello Nekohead. I can sympathize because I used to live in Miami. The only industries there are banking, eldercare, drug-dealing, food and tourism.

If you can get a tipping job in the restaurant industry -- even an indirect tipping job such as barback -- it's very likely you will make more money, and face less humiliation, than working in a retail service job. Those jobs at Ala Moana seem nice but probably have crappy pay.

[nekohead]

I do have to say my Pay is NICE :) . But, I miss the reg stores. Food work is pretty easy, but it is a ton of work..."

[Kuroyama]

Not sure why anyone would ever move to Hawaii for the money of it.
For the multi-culture of it - sure.
For family - yep, ok.

But from what I understand economics there are TIGHT.

[nekohead]

Yes sir, They are REALLY tight here.." Most people have TWO low paying jobs here.." It is HARD as heck to land a job.." But, MORE and more OLD folks want to come here to live........"
I wish hubby did not have to come here .." But, I guess it is what it is.." We are here and their is NOTHING I can do to CHANGE it.." But, I will say.." I am just happy to have a job..."


I just found this today!

I knew OTHERS were in the same boat as me!!

http://stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=44978

"Frustrated spouses struggle to find jobs in the Far East"


YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — Ellen Angeles says she is used to starting at the bottom.

But with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and the Naval Facilities Engineering Command clearly visible through her new apartment’s window, she was cautiously optimistic about landing a job when her husband took orders to a 7th Fleet ship.

Yet after more than seven months of knocking on doors, submitting applications and sending a letter to Commander, Naval Forces Japan Rear Adm. James Kelly and other high-ranking officers, Angeles is still unemployed.

She is one of many who left behind professional careers when they moved to another duty station with their active-duty spouse.

Unemployed and alone when their spouses deploy, they say their lives are being stunted.

“How can anyone expect professionals to work at MWR or the exchange for a salary that is much less than even half of an entry-level position in my field?” Angeles asked as she sat at the kitchen table of her meticulously kept home.

Behind her, an aerial photograph of a housing complex she designed back in Texas hung on the wall. As the designer, two of many neatly arranged cul-de-sacs bear the names of her children.

“This is very difficult,” she said.

Throughout housing at Yokosuka Naval Base, other professional spouses are finding similarly bleak prospects.

“I left a GS-6 position back in Iceland,” said Tanya Ramirez, who said she was two weeks from a promotion to GS-7 when the base closed. “I’ve applied for more than 15 positions here throughout the last five months, and I’ve only been called for one interview.”

Despite having a bachelor’s degree in business administration, Ramirez has begun applying for positions in her career field several pay grades lower in hopes of at least continuing Civil Service employment.

So far the well appears dry.

“What really gets to me is that the applications we have to fill out are massive. And after providing all the required documentation, I don’t even get a phone call,” Ramirez said. “No one even acknowledges my resume.”

But what about jobs outside her career field?

She said she desperately wants to work, but if she accepts another full-time job, even in retail, it will void her spouse preferential employment eligibility to compete for a job in her career field.

“It’s like a Catch-22,” Ramirez said. “I can take a low-paying customer service job and lose my eligibility, or I can keep my eligibility and risk not ever getting a job. And if a position opens up and a veteran is applying, I lose.”

For those looking for work in the local community, organizations like the Navy Fleet and Family Support Center offer area-tailored employment assistance programs. But the market is tough.

“Outside that gate, they don’t speak English,” said Bob Long, Yokosuka’s family employment readiness program manager. “Positions are limited, and for the professionals the prospects are scarce. After several rejections, people can get depressed.

“Out in the community, if you don’t speak Japanese your chances of finding a professional position are grim.”

While nursing jobs are easy to find in the United States, Long said he knows of a nurse in Japan who cannot find a steady job.

“I’ve never had a problem finding a job in the past,” Ramirez said. “But over here, there are too many people and not enough jobs. And most of the jobs they do have, they give to host-nation nationals.”

At least in Angeles’ case, there may be a glimmer of hope.

“A Navy captain e-mailed me back regarding the letter that I wrote to the admiral. He said that a position might open up in a few weeks,” she said.

[nekohead]

The title should say

"Frustrated spouses struggle to find jobs EVERYWHERE!!!"