Job Discussion Forums

steki47 · Joined: 20 Apr 2008 Posts: 1029 Location: BFE Inaka

The two best choices for foreigners who choose to teach here long-term are start your own school or go into university teaching. Both have risks and downsides, but the potential for earning is so much higher than eikwaiwa/ALT work.

timothypfox · Joined: 20 Feb 2008 Posts: 492

No one has mentioned in any of these discussions jobs such as direct hire ALT positions for school boards, or working for a private high school. Both of these options can (if your employer ends up being a good one and has enough kids) become permanent positions.

nightsintodreams · Joined: 18 May 2010 Posts: 558

move · Joined: 30 May 2009 Posts: 132

nightsintodreams · Joined: 18 May 2010 Posts: 558

Yep, my birthday is coming up soon. I'll still be under 30 years old but I feel like my life will be coming to a crossroads soon. I often ponder whether I should start a masters degree and work towards finding employment at a university, but I wonder if it's really worth the time, effort and cost. Seems to me at least that the best way to go is to get some money saved and start a business/school of my own, start small and top it up with another job at least to begin with.

PO1 · Joined: 24 May 2010 Posts: 136

I worked at an eikaiwa for a year. I liked it for the most part, made decent money and was able to save since I was a depressed hermit for a good part of the time (yeah, I was that guy), but spent a lot money going out in the later half of my year (yeah, i was that guy also). My experience with eikaiwa was that I got Sundays and Mondays off, which allowed me to go lots of places on Mondays (once I got in the spirit) that weren't crowded at all because most people were working. I liked that part of it. The teaching wasn't really taxing at all either besides some rowdy kids' classes here and there. I had plenty of vacation as well. Several sick days and personal days as well as Golden Week off with a good chunk for Christmas/New Year's.

It's not all doom and gloom, really. As others have said, for a single person wanting to come over, work, and try to get around a bit, it's not a bad gig if you find a good chain. I hear all these horror stories about crazed owners and such, but I've never run into this.

I've since been doing dispatch and have had no trouble with them either. Everyone is professional and courteous. I know what I'm getting into when I sign the contracts.

That's one thing I always harp on: before you come over here, read your contract. If anything sounds weird or fishy to you, ask questions. If you get the run around, that's red flag number one. If you sign contracts blindly and then complain about them later and scream, "What have I gotten myself into?" then yeah, be more careful next time. I understand some companies may have shady reputations, so if you hear more bad than good about a company, it's probably best to stay completely away.

In my experience, I've heard mostly good about the chains mentioned in the article (not all, but most of them). But most of my knowledge is firsthand and not from disgruntled folks on the internet. Smile

Vince · Joined: 05 May 2003 Posts: 559 Location: U.S.

It didn't take long for me to realize that eikaiwa isn't meant to be a career. I did it full-time for two years, then found a job at a vocational college and stayed on with the eikaiwa as a part-time teacher. I don't want to think about the toll working at eikaiwa full-time would have taken had I stayed with it for my entire six years of TEFL in Japan.

SeasonedVet · Joined: 28 Aug 2006 Posts: 236 Location: Japan

TokyoLiz · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 1548 Location: Tokyo, Japan

Perspective - according to the OECD, the average salary in Japan is USD $24,147. That's about Y2,470,000 a year.

I found this here -
http://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/countries/japan/

The OECD reports that Japanese workers have a higher average of life satisfaction score. This is dependent on your sense of membership in Japanese society, of course.

For me, this Joe foreign person, the salary is higher than average, and the sense of life satisfaction changes from day to day. There are days on which I feel quite satisfied with my work and social life, and other days when I say screw it, I ought to go somewhere else. Such is life.

(Note - I have never worked in eikaiwa. I've worked for local governments and private schools, directly and through agencies, for all the 15 years that I've been in Japan.)

rtm · Joined: 13 Apr 2007 Posts: 1003 Location: US

mitsui · Joined: 10 Jun 2007 Posts: 1562 Location: Kawasaki

Because you can get tenure with just a MA and publications.
People with a doctorate are trained for research, but those with a MA
are not trained to do that.
With the focus on research the emphasis on teaching is less.

Irezumi_Aniki · Joined: 09 Apr 2013 Posts: 1

steki47 · Joined: 20 Apr 2008 Posts: 1029 Location: BFE Inaka

stumptowny · Joined: 29 May 2011 Posts: 310

[quote="steki47"]The two best choices for foreigners who choose to teach here long-term are start your own school or go into university teaching. Both have risks and downsides, but the potential for earning is so much higher than eikwaiwa/ALT work.[/quote]

while I agree with this, it's not the only option. in my opinion, the BEST choice is: work as an ALT, tons of vacation time, leave the school at 14:00 each day (or earlier), then, at night - when markets open in NY - make a solid money with investments back home, and realize the tax shelter power of the foreign earned income exclusion on capital gains tax rates in doing so.

I make much more than biz owners and uni teachers and I have a cake day job with tons of free time and vacation.. beautiful jap birds to chase. dream life basically. 5 weeks off march/april, 6 weeks summer, 4 weeks winter.... and I am the happiest tape recorder you'll find! there are other ways...