Job Discussion Forums

Martinaj · Joined: 07 Sep 2014 Posts: 35

So I recently finished a stint teaching English in China. I spent 3.5 years there teaching primarily EAP to students hoping to study abroad, including AP English, but also a bit of EFL at a local high school. I have my BA in English, I'll have my IDELT at the end of October, and can furnish a greater letter of recommendation from my former employer.

I know Japan has higher standards in China, but I'd love to score a job there, preferably in Sapporo or Osaka. With these qualifications and experience, what would my chances of finding a job there be, and what would be my most reliable venues? I was thinking of applying with the JET program next month, but are there other viable options? Maybe ones that don't see me waiting until next summer to start working abroad again?

Maitoshi · Joined: 04 May 2014 Posts: 718 Location: 何処でも

As you are already in China, why leave?

From what I hear, people have been going the other direction for years now.

Martinaj · Joined: 07 Sep 2014 Posts: 35

I left China about two months ago. It was a fantastic experience, but I didn't want to build a life there, and after that many years, it was time to decide whether to start laying down roots or to move on. There were certain elements of the culture that I could tolerate and live with for a while, but couldn't ever fully get used to, and it just got to the point where the magic of a new country had worn off but a lot of the frustrations remained.

However, I loved teaching, and loved working with students, and, as I expected, it's been tough living in the US again. Going abroad again was always the plan when I left China, but now I'm more sure than ever that that's the right move. I took an 18 day holiday to Japan a few months before I left, and loved everything I saw. I'm sure that it has irritations like any other place, I appreciated that the people took their own culture and heritage seriously there, and everything seemed a lot more genuine.

Beyond that, the school was starting to take on a mercenary bent that I wasn't entirely comfortable with. Me and the other foreign teachers had done well enough with our students that we were getting some solid name recognition and a good reputation in the city, and the owners wanted to capitalize on in that in ways that weren't ideal for the students. Money was great by then, but I didn't want to become a part of where things were headed.

Maitoshi · Joined: 04 May 2014 Posts: 718 Location: 何処でも

I see, so you were against the idea of being used by your employer for good money and career growth in China, but are fine with being used for less money and little career growth in Japan? Did I get this right?

Not sure if I can speak for comparisons with Chinese people as a whole, but my experiences with Chinese friends show them to be quite a bit more genuine (sometimes obnoxiously so) than many of the Japanese people I know.

The face they wear outside is very different from their true feelings. This can even be said of close family members.

Martinaj · Joined: 07 Sep 2014 Posts: 35

I would prefer to take a cut in pay and feel a little better about what I do, especially if I'm just step onto a new ground floor with some room for advancement, but I feel like we're straying away from the original question here.

Maitoshi · Joined: 04 May 2014 Posts: 718 Location: 何処でも

That's certainly fair. Others please correct me if I'm wrong, but OP looks qualified for just about any ALT or eikaiwa job that he sees fit to take. Your experience teaching EAP might also land you a koma or two at a uni, if they are hard up. That would be a big if, though, considering the market. Also, providing you can get someone to sponsor your visa and let you take such employment.

You also sound like a potential fit for JET, but it would entail a bit longer wait and you would likely miss the main hiring season for ALT work by waiting. I think eikaiwa hire year-round, so it could be a fallback if you decide to wait for JET.

Hope I helped in some small way Smile

I hadn't intended to convince you against coming to Japan. I love it here. I just wanted to give you a heads up because your expectations don't seem aligned with reality here.

Didn't want you to "jump out of the frying pan," as it were.

Martinaj · Joined: 07 Sep 2014 Posts: 35

That's actually very helpful! And when I say that people in Japan seemed more genuine, I meant that even though they were very courteous, they didn't seem to lay things on nearly as thickly as most people in China, who mostly try to put on a good face by being unrealistically gregarious. Courteous but cool is the impression that I got from most people there, which I prefer to unbridled sunshine blowing I usually experienced in China.

Maitoshi · Joined: 04 May 2014 Posts: 718 Location: 何処でも

No worries!

If you do come, be prepared to hear how good you are at eating with chopsticks and how excellent your Japanese is, all while speaking to others about you and insisting on offering you a fork.

Rooster. · Joined: 13 Mar 2012 Posts: 247

If you go to interview for JET you need to do so from your home country.

Finding jobs for Osaka from outside of the country is difficult, but not impossible, to do. Sapporo is also difficult to find work in from outside of Japan. There is an online list of jobs for Hokkaido but I don't remember the name and I know that you had to pay for it by month.

Tokyo and Nagoya have plenty of listings it seems.