Hi everyone!
I am a 30 year old NZ citizen currently residing in Australia. I am wanting a career change, and I have gone back to uni to do a BA, majoring in Geography and minoring in Emergency Management. I am also looking at doing postgraduate degree if it would help.
I am wanting to work in the disaster risk reduction (DRR) sphere, and Japan has been called the “lighthouse” for DRR work – I would love to be able to help out & contribute make a career in this space.
Unfortunately, I realised this later in life and my work experience is mostly not relevant. I have experience in admin & customer support, graphic design and now specifically in UI/UX design.
The only way I can think of getting my foot in the door with my current skillset & experience is to look for DRR work through UI/UX design (create interfaces for EWS for example). I can also try and get a headstart where I live and see if there are any other companies or organisations doing similar work.
I am also not fluent in Japanese, so this is another significant barrier. I am starting to learn Japanese on the side, and I am looking at finding a tutor online.
Is there anyone that has any experience in the DRR space, or even in emergency management in Japan as a foreigner? Are you working for a company that is part of ARISE Japan, or even in UNDRR?
Any and all information or experiences would be greatly appreciated. Any harsh truths are also welcome, as this would be a huge life change and I would appreciate honesty over sugar-coating any day.
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by Salty-Wave6507