any govt workers out there with advice

[152 Sumo]

I am planning on returning to Okinawa within the next few years. I am thinking that a GS job would be the best way to go.

For the folks with govt jobs: Would I be better off trying for a govt job stateside first, then transferring to a job in Okinawa?

The reason I ask is because I am just finishing my bachelors degree, and I don't see any future in my current company for me. I feel like now is the perfect time to start applying. I have doubts about landing a GS job in Okinawa right away because of the dependents and other qualified candidates that are already there.

Any advice will be appreciated.

[DoctorP]

You'll make a lot more money if you get hired stateside for one.

Number 2, it's damn hard to get a SOFA job here, if you aren't already associated with the base somehow.

I got one, so did dk, but it's not easy.

[152 Sumo]

Is it easier to transfer from govt job stateside to a govt job in okinawa, rather than trying to go straight for the okinawa govt job?

[DoctorP]

Is it easier to transfer from govt job stateside to a govt job in okinawa, rather than trying to go straight for the okinawa govt job?

Unless you are super qualified, yes.

[152 Sumo]

Unless you are super qualified, yes.

Not "super" qualified, but I think I am getting there.

honorable dishcharge; 5 pt pref; BS in mgmt; 8 years experience outside USMC.

I have thought about going for my masters degree right away. It would take me a little over 1 year. I don't know if I want to put myself through more classes after 4 years of it, unless I knew that it would increase my chances of a job in okinawa significantly.

[dk]

Every little bit counts.

[DoctorP]

Not "super" qualified, but I think I am getting there.

honorable dishcharge; 5 pt pref; BS in mgmt; 8 years experience outside USMC.

I have thought about going for my masters degree right away. It would take me a little over 1 year. I don't know if I want to put myself through more classes after 4 years of it, unless I knew that it would increase my chances of a job in okinawa significantly.

Point being...for them to choose you over someone that is already in the "system" there really needs to be something there that makes you stand out. i.e. specialized experience or something like that.

[TheLastDon]

I would say try to get something from over there.

If you don't want to do that then have at the very least 1 year living expenses in the bank before coming over here. They don't give SOFA easily for local hires. I'm not saying it doesn't happen but...

[shleywren]

I definitely would not count on getting a job over here from the US. Speaking from experience they are often super picky about who they hire. There are also a lot of people who apply for the jobs here.

[152 Sumo]

Thanks for all the input. I am at a critical time in my career, I think, where I have to decide which way to go and go for it. Im not an old fart yet, but I have some experience and a college education. I just know that I want to get back to okinawa before my son is 5 or 6 (5 months now). If I don't make it by then, I will probably stay in the states until he graduates high school.

[dk]

You may get better job experience in the states. But if you really wanna come back, come on over.

[152 Sumo]

Do you govt. employees have a chance to apply for other govt. jobs internally before they are available to the public?

Also, do most govt. jobs have tuition assistance/re-imbursement?

[dk]

Do you govt. employees have a chance to apply for other govt. jobs internally before they are available to the public?

Also, do most govt. jobs have tuition assistance/re-imbursement?

I don't know about most. MCCS does (Full TA, up to $2000 per course), but MCCS pays much less and is not Government, right? I think government has TA as well (anyone?) but you may end up paying some... I wonder.

[cedric brougham]

Hard skills might be better to have than a degree in management. For the most part, companies promote from within. Might be hard to land a job as a manager.

It's funny what draws people to this place. Perhaps good memories of their first tour here. The fact momma misses home. Well you get older and can't chase p'tang forever. This place isn't as good as it once was.

I'd hate to think have to live in a small apartment the rest of my life. But a lot of swinging dicks will. I want a yard and a house...will never have the same standard of living as if I were in the states. Pretty sad.

[Godzilla]

Hard skills might be better to have than a degree in management. For the most part, companies promote from within. Might be hard to land a job as a manager.

It's funny what draws people to this place. Perhaps good memories of their first tour here. The fact momma misses home. Well you get older and can't chase p'tang forever. This place isn't as good as it once was.

I'd hate to think have to live in a small apartment the rest of my life. But a lot of swinging dicks will. I want a yard and a house...will never have the same standard of living as if I were in the states. Pretty sad.

Not exactly true. Yes I know a lot of guys that live in tiny Japanese apartments have crappy jobs and put up with all of this because they really love this place.

Then again I know some dudes that have awesome jobs, which pay way too much, with nice benefits. These benefits include nice housing allowances that allow them to live in huge houses with decent size yards.

It all boils down to what job you have. I think that you can live really well here with the right amount of money. But if you are working a crappy job making shitty pay with no benefits, then yeah maybe you would be better off in the states.

[Richard Burns]

Shit I work out in town with just a salary, I get medical/dental which is deducted from my check and I live in a big ass 2 story single family house.

[Tanimaga]

Shit I work out in town with just a salary, I get medical/dental which is deducted from my check and I live in a big ass 2 story single family house.

I have a Ferrari, and only eat ice cubes.

[Richard Burns]

I have a Ferrari, and only eat ice cubes.

I BBQ stray cats and dogs on the grill.

[dk]

Lmfao tani

[Tanimaga]

Lmfao tani

I don't think RB got it.

[Mehi River]

I BBQ stray cats and dogs on the grill.

Whereas I prefer to I grill stray cats and dogs on the BBQ.

Interesting...:scratchchin:

[komomai]

My advice is to try to get into a govt. job stateside first, then once in start looking for jobs in Okinawa. Going that route coming from stateside you should be command sponsered, which means better entitlements verus local hire which might give you less benefits. Good luck.

[cedric brougham]

True dat.

The govies have to use or lose their LQA/housing so they can afford to live large (especially the govies that are afforded housing). Many local hire govies don't get housing.

As for the contractors that are getting $40 to $56K just in housing on top of base salary...well they can live in a shoebox if they wanted to and bank the rest. Why not live small and bank the rest for a house with a yard? It's not easy to get a loan for a house if your wife has been out of the country or has a part time job. Also hard if her daddy isn't rich and doesn't have land to give you. Although I'd rather take advantage of a 35-year Japanese loan at >2% interest, I need to be prepared to slap down $300K+ for a house if needed.

But young foolish contractors who make good money are normally foolish with their money anyways. Kudos to anyone that can ever buy a house here regardless of affiliation.

Deuces.


Not exactly true. Yes I know a lot of guys that live in tiny Japanese apartments have crappy jobs and put up with all of this because they really love this place.

Then again I know some dudes that have awesome jobs, which pay way too much, with nice benefits. These benefits include nice housing allowances that allow them to live in huge houses with decent size yards.

It all boils down to what job you have. I think that you can live really well here with the right amount of money. But if you are working a crappy job making shitty pay with no benefits, then yeah maybe you would be better off in the states.

[DoctorP]

Although I'd rather take advantage of a 35-year Japanese loan at >2% interest,

Not sure that you can still get those kind of rates.

[Tanimaga]

True dat.

The govies have to use or lose their LQA/housing so they can afford to live large (especially the govies that are afforded housing). Many local hire govies don't get housing.

As for the contractors that are getting $40 to $56K just in housing on top of base salary...well they can live in a shoebox if they wanted to and bank the rest. Why not live small and bank the rest for a house with a yard? It's not easy to get a loan for a house if your wife has been out of the country or has a part time job. Also hard if her daddy isn't rich and doesn't have land to give you. Although I'd rather take advantage of a 35-year Japanese loan at >2% interest, I need to be prepared to slap down $300K+ for a house if needed.

But young foolish contractors who make good money are normally foolish with their money anyways. Kudos to anyone that can ever buy a house here regardless of affiliation.

Deuces.

I just bought a home. Lowest available was 2.8% for 35 years. The rate will adjust from time to time though, depending on the plan you select. (Wife said it just went down a little).

[152 Sumo]

Hard skills might be better to have than a degree in management. For the most part, companies promote from within. Might be hard to land a job as a manager.

It's funny what draws people to this place. Perhaps good memories of their first tour here. The fact momma misses home. Well you get older and can't chase p'tang forever. This place isn't as good as it once was.

I'd hate to think have to live in a small apartment the rest of my life. But a lot of swinging dicks will. I want a yard and a house...will never have the same standard of living as if I were in the states. Pretty sad.

I don't have my mind set on only a management job. I do understand that, even with a management degree and experience, I probably couldn't walk right into a mgmt job.

Memories of 4 years over there is a major part of returning, but not all of it. My wife is okinawan, and almost all of her family is within one square mile of each other. My family is split up all over the states, from Arizona, to Ohio, to North Carolina. A big house and a yard mean nothing if you have nobody around to share it with. Of course it is easier to have a bigger house with the yard in the states. But, when the wife and I were living in a tiny apartment in Mizugama, we had no yard, no cable tv. We were happier there than we were in a 3 bed 2 bath, with pool, 2 car garage, sattellite tv, in California.

[dk]

We were happier there than we were in a 3 bed 2 bath, with pool, 2 car garage, sattellite tv, in California.
Wanna trade for a few years? :D

[DoctorP]

My wife is okinawan, and almost all of her family is within one square mile of each other.

I hope others that are considering marrying locals will read this statement. It is extremely hard for some residents of a tiny island community to ever leave.

[DougP]

I hope others that are considering marrying locals will read this statement. It is extremely hard for some residents of a tiny island community to ever leave.

Sure is. :D

[152 Sumo]

I hope others that are considering marrying locals will read this statement. It is extremely hard for some residents of a tiny island community to ever leave.

Not too hard for my wife. I am the one pushing to go back, believe it or not. She has adapted fine over here for the last 9+ years. The first year or two was rough. But she is comfortable here and always seems to find a little network of Japanese people. She cuts hair and just after living in Houston for a year, already has a bunch of local Japanese folks that come over for a haircut on a regular basis.

[152 Sumo]

Wanna trade for a few years? :D

Would love to, but unfortunately the house foreclosed. Wife got pregnant and we couldn't afford the house with one income. Lesson learned: don't buy a house that you can't really afford.

[daveh5o]

I hope others that are considering marrying locals will read this statement. It is extremely hard for some residents of a tiny island community to ever leave.

I am a Bachelor, There is something I learned while living on Okinawa. My third time living there, I was an adult. I had many friends, both Air Force and Marines, who had American spouses. About seventy five percent of the time, the American wives did not like Okinawa as much as their husbands did. The reason, mainly, was that they were far away from their relatives in the U.S.. Going on leave to the states every summer was not enough for many of them, and they were really depressed. The husbands handled being far away from their relatives far better than their wives did, for the most part. However, I did know several whose wives loved Okinawa every bit as much as they did. My Mother was one who loved it there as much as my Dad and myself did. She was sad when we left Okinawa to move back to the states.

[DoctorP]

Not too hard for my wife. I am the one pushing to go back, believe it or not. She has adapted fine over here for the last 9+ years. The first year or two was rough. But she is comfortable here and always seems to find a little network of Japanese people. She cuts hair and just after living in Houston for a year, already has a bunch of local Japanese folks that come over for a haircut on a regular basis.

Notice that I said "some" and not "all". :rolleyes:

[152 Sumo]

Notice that I said "some" and not "all". :rolleyes:

Yeah, I hope I didn't sound too defensive. There are always exceptions, right?:D

[Richard Burns]

This island is a lot more fun as a bachelor.

[longtimenoseeLTG]

If your good with IT and can speak Japanese, you can find a job in oki. Otherwise, times are tough. There are plenty of people just like you with the same idea, washing cars or basically hand to mouth exisitance. At the Hello Work office in Yokohama, people were waiting out in the front of the building all through the staircase. If its that bad on the mainland, good luck in Oki. Government job? Get in line, thousands ahead of you. I would try the gov. contractor jobs down there or some of the recruiters. Ive been offered a job down there but didnt commit. Pay to cheap. People too stupid and ate up with all kinds of self hate.

[DougP]

lololololololol LTG is back. :D Where did you go?

[Richard Burns]

JUF frowns upon duplicate accounts...........