I'm currently employed here in Japan (I am also Japanese citizen) and my BF wants to move to Japan. He is in the National Guard and as much as I would like him to move here...I can't exactly support him fully if he does. He has a 10 year career with the National Guard. If he moves here without a job offer or anything he will be coming here without much to go on. Currently he is working towards a Bachelors online program with Devry. If he decides to move out and lose his benefits I don't think that we would be in a good position. I would hate for us to struggle because he wouldn't be able to find a job and will be in the country on a Visitor's Visa...without a college degree I know it's quite hard to just pick up a job here. I also don't want him to jeopardize his career in the Army. He wanted to go to Warrant Officer and OCS to further his career but as explained below...he has hit a stop on his Army unit and is very frustrated.

Luci -

Just to clarify, is your bf full-time national guard? What I mean is does he only do drill weekends or is it a regular/full-time thing? I ask because there are very few postions within the guard (or reserves) that are full time.

Weekend Army. He drills once a month and was trying o find a job within the unit he is attached to with no avail. He is attached to the unit in DC but he is in Louisiana as he is originally from there. It is costing him a fortune to go back and forth with no real job in the Louisiana area and have been trying to transfer back into the original unit he was with before moving to the DC unit...so not full-time full-time I guess would be your answer.

Well, I'm really familiar with immigration laws, but I'm pretty sure that unless he has a job, or is enrolled in school already, he can only come over to Japan as a tourist which is a 90day visa (strongly recommend he checks into that - before he buys a plane ticket).

He might want to try to find a civil service job over here, if he did he could possibly change from the Guard to the Reserves and not loose any of his time/benifits. There is a US Army Reserve unit at Camp Zama (U.S. Army Japan - Support Unit / USARJ-SU).

His plan was to just enter with the 90-day Visa...which I know to be a bad idea. I was just hoping for an idea so he has a way of working towards a degree plus benefits. I don't think he would be covered with insurance etc. and I hate for him to just be around without employment...there is only so much he can do while working out to keep motivated.

Tried to get him to contact Camp Zama, but he is so pessimistic about the army all he tells me is it's impossible. He thinks that he can just waltz in and find a job make some money and keep living here. Reality is not that nice and I know first hand. It took me a while to find a job after I quit and moved back to Japan and I am a citizen here.

Find a job where? With the US gov/military or with a Japanese company?

If it is with the US gov/military he is MUCH better off being hired as a stateside hire. If he is hired locally he gets none of the privileges (commissary/exchange/post allowance/lqa) oh, and being in the guard will NOT give him base privileges, he also has to be on orders.

He wants to find a job in Japan since I am in Japan...not sure how he can find a government job stateside. Like I said before I work in finance and I am not familiar with the Army employment. I wrote on here to see if other people have experienced anything similar trying to move to Japan. I would like some advice on how he can possibly have a career because I really am not ready to be fully responsible for maintaining 2 people's lives on my current salary and situation. I cannot be the only person making income because it just won't work.

I want to find a situation or possibly a way for him to continue with a career in the Army without just up and moving to Japan because things are tough right now where he is.Like I said I am not familiar with the industry and I don't know how one goes on orders and he doesn't really give me an idea on how his situation is except that it's shitty.

I would like for him to be happy and although moving with me would be great I can't take care of two people o my salary in Japan living in Tokyo. I just want to figure out a way perhaps he can find employment even if it is in the state side because he is really considering just up and moving to Japan to sit with me and look for a job after he comes.

Amy thanks for your thoughts on this matter for replying. I just want to help him out in finding a way to get employed because right now he things sitting around in Japan without a job and trying to find a job is better than working at Bally's Fitness which I think he is about to quit...I know how happy he was working for the Army as a recruiter back in the day and his true passion in Aviation. He is just stuck and I just wish I could help.

Like I said in the beginning he is working on getting a degree with Devry (through National Guard Benefits) so his latest is a High School Diploma which I know is not enough for most companies to sponsor him for a Visa to work in Japan...and yes although marrying me like marrying him would be the best idea I am really not ready to just get married so he can stay in Japan for me to support indefinitely until he finds a job. He can't speak Japanese so things are quite difficult....and I know it's not that easy to just start a business in Japan on a Visitor's visa like he thinks just because he has a Personal Training license.

Wow, sounds like your bf has a very unrealistic outlook on life. I really don't envy the position that he's putting you in. The only other thing I can offer is this:

http://www.usajobs.opm.gov/

It is a link to search ALL us gov jobs, around the world. Maybe he can find something local to where he is or maybe even something over here.

Good Luck!

Posted By Luci on 01-28-2011 4:09 PM

I would like for him to be happy and although moving with me would be great I can't take care of two people o my salary in Japan living in Tokyo...  I just want to help him out in finding a way to get employed because right now he things sitting around in Japan without a job and trying to find a job is better than working at Bally's Fitness which I think he is about to quit...I know how happy he was working for the Army as a recruiter back in the day and his true passion in Aviation. He is just stuck and I just wish I could help.

Luci, you are wise beyond your years.  Your bf seems to think that love will make everything go smoothly despite anything else, but you are looking at the practical side of life.  The two of you not only need income to augment the love, but also on the emotional side, if you end up supporting him as he drifts though life, it will only turn into resentment.  His plan could bring a lot of stress into your lives and drive a wedge between you. Stand your ground!

Your bf's root problem is not finding a job, the underlying problem is a lack of direction.  He may well land a job if he comes on a 90-day visa, but he would still bring this aimlessness into the relationship & the problem would not go away.  Let's review:

   - He's had 10 years with the National Guard, currently as a weekend warrior.
   - Working on a Bachelor's Degree.
   - Willing to give up his studies to move to Japan.
   - Wanted to be an officer or warrant officer (difficult or impossible without a degree).
   - Obtained certification, and currently working as, a Personal Trainer.
   - Willing to walk away from that job to move to Japan.
   - Wants to be a pilot, but studied aircraft mechanics. (Q: Why didn't he just go to flight school?)
   - Never finished Aircraft Mechanics school.
   - Lives in Louisiana but drills in DC; uses up his time and money traveling back & forth. Never seemed to be able to find a unit closer than 1200 miles away.
   - Won't even try to look at jobs on US military bases in Japan, despite the fact he would have hiring preference for federal jobs.
   - I'll add one more observation: GI Bill benefits don't last forever. He's running the risk of using up all his benefits without ever having completed a degree, further exacerbating his problem.

As I write this, I am in Denver CO at the National Veteran's Training Institute (NVTI), run by Colorado University under contract to the Department of Labor.  The sole purpose of NVTI is to provide job assistance to people like your bf.  I myself am a trainer for Transition Assistance Program (TAP), a 4-day class on career transition offered on EVERY military base in the world.  He needs to attend! If he's already been, he should go again. It's likely the curriculum will make more sense to him the 2nd time around.  He will walk out with a resume, a sense of direction and a list of resources available to help him.  My fellow trainees at NVTI are LVERs and DVOPs: "Local Veteran Employment Representatives" and "Disabled Veterans Outreach Program" representatives.  Your bf needs to sit down with one of these dedicated professionals, lay out his life plan, and get solid career advice.  As a vet, he will get head-of-the-line privileges above those without military experience.  One of the LVERs in my class is from Louisiana; I'll try to get his contact info today and PM it to you.

Have your bf go to www.servicelocator.org; type in his zip code, and he will get dozens of Career One-Stop Centers within driving distance. There are over 3000 career one-stop centers around the country.  This is where he can meet DVOPs and LVERs.  They also provide counseling and classes on federal employment, veteran's benefits, job leads and much more.  Insist that he visit a OneStop Center, get assigned to an LVER, attend TAP, and then come back to you with a plan.  Unless and until he takes these steps and shows a willingness to move out of his rut, he is toxic.  You can give him encouragement and friendship from 9000 miles away, but keep him at arm's length until he shows he can consistently follow a productive direction in his career for some significant period of time.

Good luck!

Thanks for your support! I knew that if I posted somewhere there would be people who would be more familiar with the situation to get a little better perspective.

Also the reason he drills in DC is because we use to live there when I initially got out of college. He moved back to Louisiana after a few years when he finished Air Mechanic school He was waiting to go for his Pilot wings, but he is on the wiatlist hence he went to Air Mechanic instead of Flight School. He is still waitlisted for Flight School and has been waiting for a year.

I think he would have applied for Officer Candidate School or Warrant Officer School if he was more motivated. The requisite for both can be met with equivalent hours of College courses (apparently?) and he is almost done with his studies in a year to two.

I hope this helps in clarifying some of the directionlessness that he portrays at the moment.

Thanks Luci. As a career advisor, the maybe the best thing I can say about his unhappy job at Bally's is that he's in the industry & he's meeting people. Sooner or later, he will make the connection he needs for a satisfying career in personal training. Tell him to stick with it & sooner or later, the right opportunity will come along. I don't necessarily believe in luck, but you can make your own luck, and he's on track to do that if he sticks with what he enjoys.

I have the contact info I promised you for the LVER in Louisiana. I'll PM it to you tonite when I get home. I already spoke to her about your bf and she looks forward to giving him personalized advice about career management. It's all free, funded by the state and Dept of Labor.

The hardest part right now is that he tells me I give him attitude or that I don't want him to come when I try to be the realistic one...so I had to be encouraging on his move and things have been shifty and rough at best. We argue a lot now and he gets angry. I know I am stubborn but when he won't listen to reason because we will be in financial trouble if I am the only one with a job I don't know what to do.

Any help is appreciated and thank you so much for keeping up with this.