Job Discussion Forums

[guobaoyobro]

Hey all,

This year, I will be bouncing in and out of Kansai (mostly Osaka), and would really like to teach Kindergarten there eventually.

I am still vastly confused about finding jobs "on the ground" in Kansai.

If every job requires a work permit, and for you to "reside / live" in Japan, how does one ever get their foot in the door?

I'm assuming the ALL don't. Is that right?

I love teaching Kindergarten, and that's the level I want.

If I will be in Kansai for 2 weeks at a time, often :

Is it realistic to apply while in country, interview, and then just stay if I get hired?

I can pack up and live there permanently at a moments notice if hired.

Really don't know how this works, and finding info is tough.

Would love some light shed.

[mitsui]

People get sponsored and hired from abroad for full-time work.
Often part-time jobs are for people already with a visa.

[guobaoyobro]

[kzjohn]

Hiring from within Japan is simply easier, and less risky for the outfit doing the hiring.

"Must currently reside in Japan" is simply code for "must have a valid working visa" or similar status. (student who has permission to work, spouse of a working visa holder, etc.)

Some of the eikaiwa do hire/sponsor from abroad, but for smaller ops the path of least resistance is to narrow the pool to those who are already here legitimately. (It's what I would do.) The market is saturated with teachers, so why take a big chance on a friggin' newbie, when you can hire someone who is established here.

Please don't try to work while you're coming and going, but you can use those visits for interviews or other face to facing.

You'll be in line ahead of people trying to get hired from abroad (not here), but you will be behind people who already have legal status.

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

Most people originally come to Japan through one of four ways:

1. Eikaiwa / conversation school. One of the big eikaiwa chaines: AEON, NOVA (before they went bust) ECC etc. They interview and hire in North America and the rest of the Anglosphere regularly. This means you would likely have to be in your home country in order to apply and interview. Eikawas often have divisions specifically for young children. The OP could come to Japan and teach in one of those, and look for a dispatch job at a private elementary beginning the second year here. It is not a difficult thing to change from the Humanities visa to the instructor visa (or vice versa). Some people may tell you it is, but it isn't- you just need your contract saying what your (full-time) job will be.

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

2. The JET Program(me). It takes a year to apply. If you get in, it's still the best situation for the vast majority of people who come to Japan. You hire through your country. (I was a JET from Canada, for example. It was nominally my job to teach Canadian culture to Japanese students, though in fact I was an ALT [Assistant Language Teacher] and taught at least as much about the US as Canada). You need to be in your home country to do this, almost all of the time. With JET, you teach as an elementary ALT, a Junior high ALT (who may make visits to elementary schools) a senior high ALT, or non-ALT position (CIRs speak Japanese SEA are sports people etc. The vast majority of JETs are ALTs)

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

3. Hired abroad from another dispatch agency. JET is a mechanism to get people to direct hire positions at boards of education- that makes it much like a dispatch company. Many jobs are at private high schools. People often get these jobs through dispatch companies. Even public positions are found through dispatch agencies (although it seems that the public positions through dispatch agencies pay less than other positions. Possibly "not enough to eat every day" kind of less). Again, they hire outside of the country, but far less frequently. These are some of the folks your seeing saying that they want you to already be in the country. They can ask for that because there are so many people coming out of the JET Program(me) (it has a maximum number of years) and the eikaiwas.

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

4. They get hire directly to a school from overseas. This is mostly for the tertiary level. Generally, it's getting harder and harder to do this because so many of the dispatch ALTs do a masters degree, then teach directly for a well-paying junior and senior high, or start teaching part-time at universities and then make the switch to full-time at the university. Full-time at a university usually means at least intermediate level Japanese (tough not always), publications (usually 3 research publications asked for at the application stage) and often several years experience in the country. This is often done through word of mouth and so you need to know someone, as in usually you need to have worked with the person in the past.

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

Kansai is a special case because of the number of former Nova employees already on the ground. It seems to have more direct hire positions, but many of them are part-time.

IMO you are far better off getting hired from the US, Canada etc than trying to find a job once you're here, but without a work visa. Japan Inc. doesn't seem to like it if you go outside the normal lines of what is done. The 'show up and get hired' is much more likely at a tiny mom-and-pop eikaiwa than anywhere else, which means basically just lucking out and being in the right place at the right time (it's probably not worth it for Japan).

SEE THIS ARTICLE FROM ***TODAY***

[guobaoyobro]

Wow, okay...clears it up a bit.

Thanks everyone.

I can certainly understand the advice here...I will be in and out, but could at any time stick for interviews, and eventually move (rather quickly) if a job does come it's way down the pipeline.

I'm not a backpacker looking for a quick buck, merely looking for an entry while not in the U.S.

I guess I'll just sniff around when I enter Osaka / Kansai, and see what I can drum up. I will not return to the U.S. any time soon, so it seems that's the best I can do.