Job Discussion Forums

[seyz]

Hi everyone,

I am currently finishing up my MA and if I am not accepted into a PhD program with funding I am considering going to Japan to teach English at a university, build my credentials and the reapply next year. I was hoping to potentially get a university job teaching English or something related to my field. I was wondering when would be the best time to apply to such jobs and what is the feasibility of getting one? I am unable to start until after May when I finish my MA program. Also, I know some people I know have saved upwards of $10,000 - $15,000 in South Korea. What am I looking at saving if I did this in Japan?

Thanks everyone!

[timothypfox]

As the academic year starts in April, likely earlier would have been better, but you may yet find a few jobs listed.

You would likely be able to find much more work in your home country as Japan has also very much gone in the direction of adjuncting many of its university positions, and getting a job from abroad with being able to meet face to face is more difficult.

Universities would also be looking for someone with publications and prior teaching experience at a university. Some may even look for Japanese language ability.

Bear in mind also, most universities hire full time foreign professional under 3-4 year terminal contracts. Then you have to uproot and move to a new job if you can find work.

One way into a university (but with a much lower language school level salary) is through a dispatch agency. You would essentially teach college students in an eikaiwa on a university campus, but technically be an employee of the dispatch agency. At a stretch, you could then put university teaching experience on your resume.

With your qualifications, you would easily find work as an ALT though most likely through a dispatch agency. Their contracts do have a lot of fine print so be careful. You are a little late in the game for the time of year, but there are some private schools that might hire you and of course if you have a teaching license - international schools. But, again for these, you should have been applying in November or late December.

[seyz]

Thanks for the reply. Regarding the university jobs, I wouldn't mind teaching English. What exactly would I be looking at in terms of salary?

[Glenski]

I strongly suggest that you look at the information links in the FAQ stickies. There is a lot of stuff there, and even though it may seem dated, it is still as current as when it was written.

For salaries, it will vary quite a bit whether you have a job at a private, national, or public university, not to mention a plethora of other factors.

[seyz]

Thank you for the reply. My MA in Asian Studies with a focus on Japanese society. My BA was in Interdisciplinary Studies with a concentration in English.

I would not be looking for a tenure track job. My plan A is to get accepted to a PhD program of my choice and pursue a career in academia. However, if I am not accepted to a school of choice or with adequate funding, I need to do something for a year until I reapply next year. I find no better idea than to actually be in Japan, building my credentials and language skills, and hopefully working with some professors I know on some research projects to really build up my background.

[Glenski]

Presumptuousness comes from experience over the last 15 years, during which time the vast majority of overseas applicants who were interested in uni work had precisely the weak qualifications I described. I think I deserved a little better reply than what you offered.

You obviously stand a better chance than the typical inquiring person that we get here, but you still have two major weaknesses. Don't take these as rude, just fact. (If taikibansei is still on this site, I hope he chimes in, and you should really listen to him and his vast amount of experience.)

1. As I described earlier, your timing is not the best.

2. A degree in Asian Studies may not be looked upon as equivalent to what most uni jobs ask for: something akin to linguistics or even just English. This might not sound fair, but it is reality here. Read the links in the FAQ stickies to confirm.

Two academic publications and one non-academic. Ok, were the two in a peer-reviewed journal? Were they authored solely by you? Was the journal an international one? Yes answers to these will put the publications (journal articles, I hope) on a higher footing. If they were book chapters rather than journal articles, they will be worth less (not worthless). A non-academic publication will be way down the list on ranking.

Before you react, be aware that over here even these factors are taken into account in first-round perusals of applications. They and other factors are assigned numbers in many cases, and if the total doesn't hit a certain value, it's very possible the application will not even be considered further. This is not to say you are bound to fail; I'm just describing potential problems. I'm sure you also realize that people with more publications will sit higher on the ranking, and I mention that only because of the great number of applicants for most openings.

Three years of teaching are good, but you described them as being divided among TA work and solo (?) teaching, not to mention that not all of them were in ESL. Again, I'm just trying to assess your odds here. Look at the JRECIN website to see how well you might fare in competing.

If you can read and write as well as you say and have something like a JLPT2 level of spoken Japanese, then this will probably be your strongest point. Could you teach a non-language course in Japanese? Not many foreigners here have the opportunity to teach more than just English language courses, and just because you are (probably) a native English speaker, that may be what the uni expects of you.

You want to build your credentials. May I ask how? I'm curious simply because a year isn't long enough to accomplish all that much here, and you could end up teachin