A Casualty on the Job Front

I know I didn't directly mention the job I was gunning for on the previous post, but a lot of you knew anyway either from talking to me or actually helping in the application process. No amount of superstition can save me from the email I got today: negatory on the jobilation.

Here is where I would post the job description if it hadn't already been removed from the website, so instead I'll write up a quick blurb. It was a position for Square Enix, a company anybody who has dabbled in role playing games would probably know, and the position was "English Editor." The job duties focused on localizing myriad texts from the company into something free of Engrish and slick with style. And yes: this includes in-game dialogue. The requirements fit me so well it was almost unsettling. Background in creative writing? Check. 2-3 years working in any industry? Check. Passion for games? Excuse me, I think I need a new pair of pants...

The greatest part of the application, however, was one of the requirements: You are a character from a Square Enix game that has been magically transported to Japan. Write an 800-1000 word story on your adventures there.


This was refreshing in the latitude it gave, but unfortunate in that it opened the floodgates of everybody who has ever written Square Enix fanfiction. I chose to write about Ultros, a favorite miniboss character of mine from Final Fantasy 6, and I think I ended up with a pretty solid story after plenty of rewrites and advice from friends. In fact I think I'll post it for all to see on a separate blog I'm saving for stories (I'm well aware of the irony surrounding my attempts at blogging ANYTHING) and drop you all the link in the coming days.

Two weeks slid by between the first time I heard about the job and the day I actually sent my application in. As far as my sources indicate, that was also two weeks from the day the job was actually offered. Ten days after sending the application in, I received the letter - today - that the position has been filled. And that was after the listing was removed four days ago. If you can't tell, I've already been counting days, so do a little math to get up to speed.

The email they sent was so perfunctory I have little doubt they have stopped reading applications in whole. Now all they need is an email address and a name. Hell, you wouldn't even know what job I applied for if it wasn't copy-pasted into the opening sentence. But since they have filled the position, I can understand. Why rabbit-hunt if you've already got your man?

As for h0w this is topical to my adventures in Japan, the position was in Shinjuku, Tokyo. It also doesn't hurt that what job I get will change whether or not I write about Japan at all... but that's a post for another time.