Hello, everyone.

This is Enta.

It seems there’s been some incredibly heavy rain in Japan, and I received a message saying that work at our site has come to a halt.

Humans are, after all, powerless against nature, but it’s incredibly painful when people lose their lives.

We, as slope maintenance specialists, want to steadily carry out the work we’re capable of doing.

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But that's beside the point.

We held a recruitment exam the other day.

Under the Technical Intern Training Program, the exam generally requires each participant to erect scaffolding on their own.

Depending on the industry, it may or may not be necessary, but their exam is on scaffolding assembly.

Of course, we slope contractors and anchor installers don’t need scaffolding, but since it’s part of the test requirements, we’ll have them set it up.

However, since there was no point in me doing this myself, I had a two-person team handle the assembly.

The reason is that our slope stabilization and anchoring work is all about teamwork.

We have a foreman, and we follow his instructions, but we also need to keep an eye on our surroundings and plan our next steps.

This time, we had our Entertainment Team and Izumi Team, and the Entertainment Team divided its six members into three teams (two people per team).

We divided the six members of the Izumi Team into three teams and conducted a debriefing.

It was effective because it clearly highlighted the differences between people.

One person assembles while the other assists.

I observed the teamwork while also taking note of individual play.

There are people who, even if they don’t perform well on their own, can demonstrate incredible ability when they take on a supporting role.

Since we are currently prioritizing team strength over individual ability, we have decided to conduct this type of test.

Next, we had the participants lift a sandbag weighing approximately 100 kg (25 kg each) for 10 seconds.

For now, I showed them how to hold it and gave them instructions to avoid putting strain on their lower back. (It’s dangerous if you don’t know how to do this.)

Since you just have to lift it up, it’s easy to do as long as you have some strength in your legs and lower body.

However, this test method was a failure. That's because they're young, so it was a piece of cake for them.

Since I'm over 40 and I was able to do it, it wasn't a big deal.

I guess I should have brought a double-wall casing after all, huh? lol

I finished the 25-kg arm strength test with ease...

This is another failure.

That exam was unnecessary. It was way too easy...

Next, I did planks.

Since I can do it in three minutes, I had them do it too.

 

This is a core-strengthening exercise, but if you don't have basic muscle strength, you won't be able to keep it up for even a minute.

As expected, only 3 out of 12 people were able to finish this in 3 minutes.

It's usually just under a minute and a half. That said, this time is pretty standard. I think I did pretty well.

Next up is the "air chair."

This is a workout for the upper thigh muscles.

That said, it’s not as effective as squats, but it really shows your determination.

I saw that you can really give it your all, whether it's planks or air squats.

In the end,What matters is whether you can hold your ground when the going gets tough.That's it.

On site, even if the casing looks like it’s about to fall, do they just let it fall without a second thought, or—

Can I hold on tight, keep from dropping it, and move it safely to the designated location?

There are times when physical exertion becomes a challenge in various situations.

 

Plus, since it's an exam, everyone really gives it their all.

However, since this is a hiring exam, we need to rank candidates in some way.

So we conducted this kind of test, and the team play, plank, and air chair exercises were very clear and effective.

Actually, I tried the squats too, but I cleared them easily.

 

That concludes the physical fitness test.

I was drenched in sweat because I was demonstrating it myself, too. (lol)

That said, since we were wearing work clothes, it felt just like being on a construction site.

 

I thought the same thing this time, too—there are so many exceptionally talented kids!

What's more, since they've already taken exams before taking ours, they're the cream of the crop.

I feel a little guilty about it, but I really want to train him well and turn him into a top-notch slope worker and anchor installer.

And I hope they come back having earned a good income.

 

See you later.