Job Discussion Forums

[chitownesl]

I'm an ESL instructor working for a prestigious university.
We have established a recently successful 1 to 6 month program for students overseas to come here to study English and other classes related to their major. We also set them up with an internship. So far we have had only Korean students. We have plenty of room to grow, so I'm interested in helping my program director recruit students in Japan. Anybody have tips or suggestions on who to contact and how? Any pitfalls or caveats to be aware of? We prefer not to work though an agent and I have a Japanese business partner who is willing to work with me as a liason. We're mainly interested in university students, but can work with adults as well. Tips, advice, or even contacts are greatly appreciated. Happy 4th of July to you expats living abroad.

[bearcat]

Problem that you will encounter is that many of the major English Conversation schools here in Japan already have well established programs for sending students abroad. Add to that the daunting fact that many of the schools with EFL programs in the US have some sort of "tourist package" included and it makes for an uphill battle. I don't see you being able to compete with say the University of Miami's program where they put the students in a dorm on the beach and with chances to visit Disney World on the weekends

That having been said, with out sufficient liasons here in Japan willing to work with Conversation schools, universities here, etc it will take you quite a long time to build up a reputation.

Thus stating that you would rather not use some sort of agent, makes it all that much more difficult. Conversation schools here want kick backs for sending students to programs in the states just as anyone else would.

[Iwantmyrightsnow]

What you are talking about is a paid position and not just something you get advice for on a website. If the school wants to succeed they should get out there and pay for the connections. I get thousand's of dollars for every student I refer.

[chitownesl]

thanks for the replies. caveats duly noted. if anyone here (living in japan) has experience or is interested in acting as a liason, let me know and we'll talk.

[Iwantmyrightsnow]

How many students are you looking for? What ratio of Japanese students do you intend? Try to keep it down and you might use that as a selling point.

[chitownesl]

not sure about the ratio. could be 50-50. class sizes range from 12-15 students. the key selling points are:

take classes related to their major, 12 transferrable credit hours.
field trips and other excursions
meals included
visa sponsorship
internship with large company

this program is ideal for student learning IT, Java, embedded systems, and others in that arena.

[Iwantmyrightsnow]

[chitownesl]

could you or somebody send me a link (in japanese) for a website of any agency that would arrange a program like this? it's always good to see what the competition is doing. thank you.