I have wanted to work at Bank of Japan (BOJ) since I was in high school. That’s why I chose Economics as my major and I am putting much emphasis on Macroeconomics. I always feel excited when I can have classes taught by professors who actually worked at BOJ or in the government.
Today, I finally went to the BOJ’s head office in Tokyo for an information session. After this session, I asked the person in charge if my foreign nationality would be a problem in job hunting. He told me it’s OK and there were foreign residents working at BOJ. I didn’t really trust him at the moment. It may be just a kind of a public stance. However, I think it means I have no reason to give up yet.
For many years, I almost gave up this dream. It all started from Kyushu University in 2015. Now, when I look back at this history, it looks like a joke. I put in a huge amount of effort studying for that examination. I showed them my hard work and dreams sincerely, but they broke my heart deeply in a very bad way, maybe not the worst.
The moment I mentioned BOJ, the interviewers laughed. “Go home, go to the central bank of your country” was their answer. In fact I noticed they didn’t even want to give me a chance in the first place. “Since you came, let’s have this interview”, and this is the first thing they told me when I entered the room. I still can’t understand if they didn’t want me, why they let me apply for that examination. Failure in Kyushu struck me in every aspect. Not only did I waste a lot of money at the time on a game I would never win, I was forbidden from taking other school’s examinations by my parents.
Kyushu University is considered one of the top universities in japan. However, the imagination of the professors that interviewed me at that time was so limited, which frustrated me a lot. Whether I can eventually enter the BOJ, at least I got another ticket towards my destination. Everything is still on track.