"I Picked Ruby Because the Job Hunt Burned Me Out"
H started at Ruby the month after she graduated. She majored in literature and spent her job search interviewing at ad agencies and publishers. "I made it to the final round and got cut — three companies in a row. It completely broke me," she says.
"I was running on this panic of 'I have to get hired somewhere,' but the rejections kept coming, and one day it just hit me: 'Why am I trying to get into a company I don't even like?' So I stopped and asked myself what I actually needed most right then. The answer was money and time."
She found the listing for First Class Ruby the very next day.
The Fear Before Starting, and the First Week
— How were you feeling before you started?
H: One word: scared. But when I broke down what "scared" actually meant, it was fear of the unknown. Three things: getting recognized, scary clients, and whether I could even do this. All of it was the kind of fear that comes from never having done it.
I agonized for thirty minutes before calling. I just held my phone, opening and closing the dialer app (laughs). Finally I went, "Just hear them out — if I hate it, I can say no right there," and went for it.
— How did the call go?
H: I thought, "I stressed myself out for nothing" (laughs). The staffer was just plain kind. It started with "What's your life like?" then "How much do you want to work?" and "Anything you're worried about?" After I booked the interview and hung up, my only thought was, "Huh, that was way more normal than I expected."
— What did you notice in the first week?
H: My first impression was "the environment is good." The staff aren't scary, the senior girls come talk to you. None of that "ignored, yelled at" atmosphere I'd had in restaurant jobs. Honestly the most surprising part was thinking, "Wait, the vibe here is better than a normal workplace."
The Honest Truth of the First Three Months
— Were the first three months rough, honestly?
H: They were, I'll be honest. Not so much emotionally as this frustration with myself for not being used to it yet. Things the senior girls did naturally, I still couldn't do. I had this impatience of "I want to catch up, fast."
Income-wise, I was making around ¥350,000 a month from month one — that's more than double the salary I'd been aiming for in my job search. But this hunger kept building, "I'm earning, but I want to get better," and that was the real source of the impatience.
— How did the Ruby staff help you through that stretch?
H: They told me "you don't have to compare yourself" over and over. "Some of the senior girls have three years in. You can't be at their level from day one." I understood that in my head, but my heart was still racing ahead, so I think I had them hear me out about once a week.
A Year Later: What Changed
— You're now a year in. Tell me what's changed.
H: Three big things.
First, the money anxiety is gone. My monthly income is steady now at ¥550,000–650,000, and I'm putting ¥300,000 into savings every month. In a year I've built up about ¥3.5 million in assets. That's a number I couldn't even have imagined back when I was job hunting.
Second, a sense that I get to decide for myself has grown in me. During the job hunt, "do I get an offer or not" was entirely someone else's decision. Now "do I work today," "which clients I take" — it's all my own call. That feeling of "I'm living my own life" has translated into real emotional stability.
Third, I've come to love observing people. Every client is a completely different human being, and as I think about what kind of conversation fits them and what makes them happy, I keep discovering "wow, people are so varied." I think that's a perspective that'll help me in any job I take from here.
— And what didn't change?
H: My love of writing hasn't changed at all. While earning at Ruby, I'm keeping up my writing studies on the side. Someday I'd love to do writing or editorial work too. Working at Ruby and holding onto my writing dream don't contradict each other. It took a year, but that became crystal clear to me.
What She'd Tell the Next Newcomer
— If you could give your one-year-ago self advice?
H: "Just go all in for three months." You figure out everything in three months — whether it suits you, whether you can keep going, whether you can earn a living at this. Deciding "nope, not for me" before three months are up is too soon. But if you go at it seriously for three months, you'll have your answer.
— A message for anyone on the fence.
H: I especially want to reach "people burned out by job hunting" or "people whose current job doesn't fit." There are people who are better suited to work where you decide and earn for yourself than to work that gets decided by other people's evaluations. I was one of those people.
Ruby has the "you get to decide for yourself" environment in place. Your shifts, which clients you take, when you quit. Work where your own will is the basis for every decision is surprisingly rare. That's the part I love most about it right now.
First Class Ruby — Job Information - Official site: https://www.tfr-ruby.com/ - Location: Urawa Ward, Saitama City, Saitama Prefecture - Hours: 06:00–24:00 (fully flexible scheduling) - Recruitment hotline: 070-1462-0622 (24 hours) - LINE ID: ruby2017s