Archive for May, 2007

Failure #1 - getting laid off

Published
by
cloneofsnake
on May 30, 2007
in Work
. 0 Comments

I wonder if I should count it as a failure, as I’m getting a hell of a good deal with the severance package and unused vacation time. Still, I guess when the news was first delivered to our group, I was a little disappointed. Considering that the weeks before I had consistently worked till the wee hours of the night (3-4 am) to meet the needs of the data migration project, and then the next week, we were notified that our positions were to be eliminated! Yeah, we were all a little pissed.

In my case, I was offered to either move to California to join our Business Intelligence team, or to take a severance package and leave. Considering that all my stock options are all vested, and the severance means extra cash. I couldn’t find reason why I should continue to stay. I guess a lot of us feel the same way as Yahoo! has been suffering heavily from “brain drainage” in recent years. A lot of old timers had left and joined Google. Well, for me, there was one position that could’ve made me stay, unfortunately, I lack the Japanese Language skills so I didn’t qualify. (That should be failure #1 actually!) So, I happily took the loot and leave!

I’ve always wanted to open up a business and work for myself, I kept telling myself to spend some time setting shit up online… but Continue reading ‘Failure #1 - getting laid off’

Japanese Business Intelligence Analyst

Published
by
cloneofsnake
on May 30, 2007
in Work
. 3 Comments

Here’s the job description for the Japanese BI Analyst position. Since I’m leaving Yahoo soon, I contacted the hiring manager as she still hasn’t been able to fill the position yet. The managers who interviewed me and I all agreed that it’s an extremely challenging but fun position. Unfortunately, they are looking for a Japanese person who’s fluent in Japanese. This is the only position that I’m interested in enough that would make me stay with Yahoo. So… I guess it’s time to say good-bye… :(

    Position: BI Engineer
    Location: Santa Clara, CA
    Job ID: RX1000018910
    Job Function: ENGINEERING / INFO. SYSTEMS
    Department: Intl YST HQ Expense-Site Ops & Streaming
    Department Number: 505530-120

Continue reading ‘Japanese Business Intelligence Analyst’

This is a blog about many failures (and hopefully a few successes)

Published
by
cloneofsnake
on May 30, 2007
in CurryStar News and wisdom
. 0 Comments

There’s a Chinese proverb - “Failure is mother of Success” 「失敗是成功之母」, I’ve known it since I was a little kid but I’ve never really lived according to these words of wisdom… until now.

I’ve read numerous books and articles on famous people, I’m intrigued by the charisma that only a person who had overcome hardship can possess. People are always attracted to the successfuls’ achievements and social status. However, one thing I noticed is that when they talk about how they became successful, every single one of them would tell stories of immense hardship, yet their expressions were not of pain or disgust, but rather joyful! Almost seemed reminiscent of the hard times! Why do you think that is?

Words of wisdom that I heard from Hiroshi Tasaka, a Professor at Tama University and President of Thinktank SophiaBank, the other night at Japan Society’s “U.S.-Japan Innovators Project Symposium: Improvisation, Creativity, Collaboration: Fueling Innovation in the 21st Century“. “When do you think we grow as a person? Do you think we grow when we’re living life smoothly? No. We grow when we encounter hardship.” You can try to plan ahead in life, but while you’re planning, life is happening. Some would even say that it is all the mishaps and failures that forces one to adapt, that shapes a person’s life.

Hardship makes a person grow, builds a person’s character, shapes a person’s life. Hence when successful people tell their stories, they reminiscent of those hard times, as it was the hard times that pushed them to work harder than everyone else and brought them to where they are today.

Through this blog, I’m going to document my journey from the USA to Japan. My goal is to go to graduate school in Japan, and ultimately, live and work at one of the big internet companies in Tokyo. I have already endured a few spectacular failures! (Don’t worry, I’ll be sharing them with you shortly.) This blog will be my almost live reality show. :) You’ll all be able to watch me crash and burn! Wish me luck!!