Job Discussion Forums

[PAULH]

David

FYI: The girlfriend can not come on a dependents visa as they are not married.

The dependent visa is for the spouse of a foreign national who has a working visa. As both of them have Masters degrees they both qualify for working visas.

They dont say where they want to work (eikaiwa? high school? university?) but they also qualify to work part time at universities with Masters degrees. I have a lot of info on getting jobs at Japanese universities if you are interested.

[David W]

Yes Paul, sorry about that, I missed the part where they said they were unmarried . I did edit my post to add a rider to that effect.

[Majombe]

Hi Paul and David,

Thank you for your replys. As far as where to work, I was working under the assumption that in order to get a work visa we would need a sponsor, and that the best bet would be an eikaiwa. I would certainly be interested in university work (I have some experience teaching undergraduates already, just not English), but from what I have read these kind of jobs are very difficult to get from outside Japan. Am I right? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

M

[PAULH]

Majombe

regarding getting jobs at universities: it is not only difficult to get jobs outside of Japan but within Japan as well. competition is very stiff for jobs, particularly part time as there is a constant turnover of teachers finishing three year contracts and part time teachers piecing together extra classes. I cant find it now but JALT has a very good article on finding jobs at a Japanese universities but is mainly aimed at teachers looking for part time work. ELTnews.com also has a good section on teaching at universities that will answer most of your questions.

I am teaching full-time at the moment and getting a job will depend on a number of factors and they ask for several things:
1. College teaching experience
2. a background on EFL Linguistics or English
3. Increasingly, a Masters degree (completed) is required for part time positions.
4. For full time positions you will need the above plus a minimum of 3 academic publications
5. Very helpful is a contact, an introduction from someone who is working at a school and can advise you when there are openings. Many of my part time jobs (and my present full time job) I have got through connections and knowing someone. Once you get your foot in the door somewhere it is much easier to find out about other jobs from teachers etc, but you really have to be in the country already to hear about them. The best time to look for work is around November-December as that is when schools are hiring, though you may pick up the last-minute job in February or March. Schools start to get a little desperate around that time when they cant find someone quickly.

There are several job sites I can recommend, the JALT site advertises in english and there is also one in Japanese. That is where you will find most of the advertisements as teaching jobs are mainly aimed at Japanese English professors.

As to your question of being overseas- most schools will want some kind of interview, or a guarantee that you will be in the country when classes begin. We had one teacher 'disappear' on the first day of term when classes were to begin and he surfaced back home in the US.

Some schools will accept 'ex-pat' teachers and provide housing etc but of its a case of knowing where to look, having connections and good timing.
You dont say where you are interested in working- some junior colleges and schools in more remote locations you will have a better chance of picking up work. a lot depends on your qualifications experience etc.