Job Discussion Forums

[Joe Thanks]

Hi,

I was wondering if any of you situated in Japan could tell me which cram schools sponsor visas and conduct hiring within Japan. For eample: Nova's site is not specific. It lists two offices (Tokyo and Osaka) but fails to mention if they hire year-round at them, or if they allow walk ins. They have special times of the year for their recruitment abroad, but I'm in Taiwan and see no sense in flying far away (Oz, NZ, U. S., the U. K. or Canada) when I can hop directly over to Japan (2 hours or so away). So, what schools will hire from within the country? Which ones discriminate based on size (I'm tall and could be a bouncer), hair and eyes (I have black hair and brown eyes and am white) and age (I am 30) and if you have "too much" experience (I've been teaching ESL since 1998)? I'd appreciate information, input, warnings, etc. on these chains that conduct hiring within the country.

For the record: I have a BFA from a recognized U. S. college, and lots of ESL experience teaching three year-old kids - retirees (and all ages in between - in Korea and Taiwan). I'm a pubished writer (though I do it under a pseudonym) and have experience teaching non-ESL related courses. I do have some recommendations, but not a lot, since managers and owners have left some of the schools I used to work for, and two schools closed since I left them. At present I have been working for the same company for two years and I speak survival Japanese (and will study more before I go). I have been to Japan once and have had an interest in the country since I was a child. Now's the time for me to check it out.

Anyway

I have another question. In Taiwan I remember calling around and few schools would be direct. Some that hemmed and hawed about positions on the phone were more cordial when I'd just stop by (they didn't know I had called previous to dropping by: short term memory). I ended up going to schools all around the city (Taichung, at the time) and just walked in, asked to speak to the owner/manager, and brandished a resume and cover photo. IS this common in Japan, or do people prefer for appointments to be made? Do potential employers frown upon "drop-ins"? I would like to know, simply because I'd hate to blow a potential opportunity by assuming that a school/institute would prefer a walk-in.

So, gurus: your help is sought!


Thanks!

[Amos]

Try this website: www.gaijinpot.com

[TokyoLiz]

Yer fine.

Check out www.ohayosensei.com.

[PAULH]

"I was wondering if any of you situated in Japan could tell me which cram schools sponsor visas and conduct hiring within Japan.


Just for your information: NOVA is not a cram school (called jukus in japan and bushiban in Taiwan I believe) but a privately run language conversation school. Jukus prepare students for their university entrance exams and do not commonly hire foreigners to teach conversation. Do you want to teach in a bushiban/juku or a conversation school?




For eample: Nova's site is not specific. It lists two offices (Tokyo and Osaka) but fails to mention if they hire year-round at them, or if they allow walk ins. They have special times of the year for their recruitment abroad, but I'm in Taiwan and see no sense in flying far away (Oz, NZ, U. S., the U. K. or Canada) when I can hop directly over to Japan (2 hours or so away).


I have not worked at NOVa for years but this is an educated guess- NOVA generally has a hard time finding teachers within Japan becuase of its sullied reputation so they recruit abroad for teachers, who generally know less about actual teaching conditions here. I have heard recently that some have been hired from within Japan.



So, what schools will hire from within the country? Which ones discriminate based on size (I'm tall and could be a bouncer), hair and eyes (I have black hair and brown eyes and am white) and age (I am 30) and if you have "too much" experience (I've been teaching ESL since 1998)?

From what I know of NOVA (and others may correct me here) they have their own teaching 'system' using their own texts and trainers etc and people with their own methods and ideas may have to be "deprogrammed" to learn the NOVA way- many schools prefer blank slates with little experience for teachers but this will depend on the school and branch you apply to.


I'd appreciate information, input, warnings, etc. on these chains that conduct hiring within the country.

Cant say that I have done "cold-calls" with NOVA etc but my advice would be to send them a mail with your resume before you leave Taiwan, tell them when you will be coming to Osaka or Tokyo and arrange a meeting or 'drop in' to the head office. they may or may not have vacancies if you just turn up so it may pay to prepare in advance, as well as canvass other schools while you are in the area. My advice is not to put all your eggs in one basket by applying just to NOVA. There are plenty of other schools that hire year round but the big ones are the only ones you hear about from overseas, IMO.

[Glenski]

Thanks to Paul H for making the distinction between cram school and conversation school. I was going to do the same thing. I figured Joe was referring to conversation schools.

I don't believe anyone (individually or from a corporate/government survey standpoint) has ever tallied the information you want, Joe. It certainly makes me pencil in a note on my huge list of things to do, however!

I took an informal survey on my own recently. After looking at www.ohayosensei.com for about 3-4 months, and considering only the full-time positions, I found the following:

High schools/Kindergartens
8 said they sponsor visas, 5 didn't say either way.
4 said you had to live in Japan to apply, 2 said you didn't, 1 didn't say.

Eikaiwas
24 said they sponsor visas, 3 said they didn't, and 12 didn't say.
14 said you had to live in Japan to apply, 17 said you didn't, 9 didn't say.

All of this is based on an admittedly small sample size, but hey, I did all of this in my spare time! For those of you who have seen my large number of posts on several forums, "spare time" is at a premium for me. However, I thought these numbers were at least a start.

Also, you are NOT going to find any school that admits to hiring on such discriminatory factors as age, height, or hair/eye color, even if they DO discriminate. You will also have a very hard time proving what random people tell you online about the reasons they were not hired.

NOVA is one place that constantly has ads in The Japan Times, so it's safe to say that they hire year round. Most eikaiwas do. Whether they are in the market for a teacher at any given time, however, is up to the individual school's circumstances.

As for cold calls, I'd have to say they are largely not worth it in Japan. I doubt you would be able to see the manager of an eikaiwa just by showing up and saying you are looking for work. If the manager is Japanese (some aren't), they'll probably be too busy to see anyone without an appointment, and in Japan, first meetings are pretty important. They usually require some sort of special invitation or contact. If you DO choose to make cold calls, however, may I make a recommendation? This may sound like common sense, but since I've seen my share of cold callers show up at the language school where I used to work, I realize it isn't so common. My advice: dress well. I've been amazed at guys who come with a backpack full of resumes, but are dressed in T-shirts and shorts/jeans and have 2 days of stubble. Needless to say, their resumes collected dust until they were thrown away.

As TokyoLiz said, you are fine. Your qualifications are good enough for any place except a university, so just scour the want ads and do your best to sift through them. Some additional web sites to check:
www.eltnews.com
www.jobsinjapan.com
www.jobseekjapan.com

Just a passing final thought. Have you considered high schools or the like?

Good luck.

[Joe Thanks]

[Glenski]

Joe Thanks,

What kind of "support for getting started" are you thinking about? Some large eikaiwas offer loans (which I would advise against taking). Most places find apartments for you.

[Joe Thanks]

[Glenski]

Yes, Joe, I am a stickler for details. It comes from my background in the science world.

Most employers will help you out in the areas you described. In my opinion, any employer that doesn't provide or help with housing and a phone line is one that deserves to be passed up. I look at it like this. Whether you apply from abroad or within Japan, it's unlikely that you will have the ability to set these things up for yourself unless you've been in Japan a fairly long time or are fairly fluent. Employers have an obligation to do this for you.

[Sunpower]

Joe:

I took out that Y120,000 loan from Nova and jumped into one of their apartments.

At the time, I thought it was no big deal.

I started to realize that this is how they really get people where they want them.

It took me about 4 months to pay off the loan.

Be careful.