Job Discussion Forums

[MindlessFudge]

I have read the many posts on this site regarding resumes and all the advice they have to offer. While they have been helpful, I am interested in having someone, particularly an English conversation school employer, review my resume and help me edit it so that it is attractive to conversation schools.

While I do have a resume constructed, I necessarily wish to streamline it for when I begin looking for work in Japan in six weeks.

Again, I have read many of the posts on how to build resumes, but that does not beat having someone personally look it over and offer their advice, especially if that person is experienced in reviewing this sort of resume.

I would be immensely grateful to anyone who could help me with this. If anyone would like to assist me, please let me know and we could make arrangements to exchange email/contact information.

I thank everyone for their consideration.

best,

-MindlessFudge

[PAULH]

Fudge,

I read a lot of CVs for people looking for jobs in Japan (and by extension, Asian non-western countries) and have a checklist of points that I recommend people watch out for when writing a CV for jobs here.

Have a look over these points before you send your resume to me to look at. I will be happy to look at it but am fairly busy at the moment and dont have time right now to proofread a 'raw' resume.


1. A CV in Japan is a work and education record. It is not a sales pitch or a laundry list of all your achievements and every prize you have won. Keep the CV simple and to the point and relevant to what the employer needs to know. Rid the CV of clutter and irrelevant detail. They need and want to know where and when you when you went to school, and your highest academic qualification/degree. A degree is needed for immigration/visa purposes, not your employer, so you can get a work visa. Your employer is simply the sponsor of your work visa. You can have a degree in basket weaving and archaeology and still get a visa to work here.

2. Do not assume the reader of the CV is a native speaker of English, or even that the native speaker is familiar with American English and terminology (e.g. GPA, SIT). A Japanese employer may know some English, but they may be intermediate level or lower. They are not stupid but any CV filled with jargon, cliches, big words will get trashed. Keep sentences simple and to the point. Dont talk down to them or be patronising but keep language simple. Write your resume as though the reader has a 6th grade education. Some people write things like "seeking gainful and stimulating employment in a Japanese language institution as an instructor of English" when 'getting a job at an English language school in Japan' is much easier for them to understand.

Avoid using romanised Japanese words in an English language CV to sound clever or show how much you know about Japan. Using words such as "gaijin" in an English sentence instead of "foreigner" is tacky and will do more harm than good in the eyes of an employer.


3. Avoid abbreviations of US states and degrees e.g CA, NY, MSc. Write out names of degrees in full e.g. Bachelor of Arts. Masters of Science. MBA is not really considered a Masters degree here, pretty meaningless for getting a teaching job at a university for example. Dont assume they know where in the US you are from or what OH stands for. GPAs, AA and Honors degrees will be Greek to a Japanese employer too.

4. You will not use computers or the Internet in a conversation school, so listing all the Word computer software you can use is a waste of space. You wont go near a computer in a lesson.

5. Knowing some languages is useful, from the point of view that you know how difficult it is to study a foreign language, learning vocabulary and grammar. Japanese is not used in the classroom here and employers dont expect you to know or use any Japanese. You can say you are learning but it will not be a big factor in your getting hired here. You will use the language when dealing with shopkeepers, landlady and being able to read your phone bill. Students pay big money to hear you speak English, not listen to your broken Japanese and most schools will ban the use of Japanese by foreign teachers.


6. Leave off goals and objectives from your C.V. Goals etc are things in the future, not the past, and short term personal goals can change within a short time . You could become homesick, quit your job in 3 months and fly home again. Only write on your CV what has already happened to you, not what you think will happen or what you want to happen.

7. Having a Masters or a CELTA qualification can sometimes be counter-productive and make you seem overqualified, or more qualified than the (foreign) person interviewing you. You then become a threat to them as you are more qualified to teach than them. You are not being paid to re-invent the wheel or run the school for them so dont overblow or exaggerate your abilities. Tailor your CV to what they are asking you to do and what the job is. Teaching or working at a conversation school is not rocket science, but be careful not to qualify yourself out of the running by appearing overqualified. Too much education can sometimes be a bad thing.


8. You can mention hobbies and interests but IMO they are a little irrelevant to getting a job here. They are paying you to WORK, teach English conversation, not learn about manga and Japanese culture or learn Japanese. They want someone who is punctual, and won't quit on a dime because of home sickness, they can handle culture shock, adversity and a fairly heavy work schedule. Remember why they are hiring you. Avoid mentioning coming to visit your Japanese girlfriend or boyfriend. They are not runnning a dating agency, and they dont care about your personal life. They are paying you to WORK as a language teacher.

Japanese have Rotary etc in Japan but the average person will never have heard of Rotary or Fullbright scholarships, study scholarships etc and again, these will have little effect on your ultimately being hired. Its just gravy on your CV. Everyone is a teaching newbie when they arrive here.

9. Keep the length of your CV to one or two pages, maximum. Employers here are very busy people, maybe have a lot of resumes to read and have no time to wade through details of every past job you had nor time to look for your BA qualification posted is on page 5.

10. Keep past job descriptions to a minimum. Just say when, where and how long you worked, and perhaps a job title. Someone with management experience and hiring people may get bored with a lowly teacher position, so the less you tell them the better, unless they ask. Most of your past work experience in your own country will be irrelevant to what you do in Japan, and vice versa.

11. If you include a photo make sure it is a professional passport type photo with clear head -shoulders shot, and no cameo poses taken at the beach. Teaching in Japan is a professional job which will have you working in an office atmosphere, wearing a suit, at least try to act like one.

12. You can include references (email is probably best) but its unlikely they will contact or phone them if they live overseas. Keep references to those in a professional capacity i.e. lecturers, supervisors, bosses. Friends and your local parish priest should be avoided.


13. One thing I always impress on people when applying for jobs here is to get away from "what's in it for me?" attitude some newbies have by asking about what they will get, e.g. salary, holidays and accomodation and plane fare paid for. Rather, seek to impress upon employers what you bring to the table, what you have to offer the school and students. Dont act like you are God's gift to teaching becuase you can speak English and you are doing them a favor by having them interview you. Being a native speaker is a minimum assumed requirement and not all native speakers of English get hired here.



14. Make yourself stand out from the crowd by giving them a reason to hire you. The guy have a stack of 20 resumes in front of him and will look for something that stands out.

15. If you include a phone number tell them the best time to call you at home. Afternoon in Japan is 4 a.m. in New York.

16. If you want to score extra brownie points get it translated. An English-language resume is OK for a conversation school but once you apply for university and perhaps high school jobs where English speakers are less common, a Japanese-language CV will be worth its weight in gold. (Make sure the japanese is accurate by having it double-checked and then translated back into English)

17. Your personal details should include your full name, current address, country, post code. telephone number (starting with country code e.g. "1" for the US and Canada); your date of birth, age, gender; marital status (can affect accomodation and salary) and email address.

18. Know what degrees and qualifications you need to get a work visa here. Immigration decides your visa and whether you get to live here, not your employer, so make sure you are qualified. A 2-year degree will not get you a work visa in Japan, or a CELTA diploma by itself.



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[MindlessFudge]

Paul, thank you for your detailed response. As much as I would love to inform potential employers that I'm going to Japan to see my girlfriend and that I bake brownies in my spare time, I have already dispensed with those details in my resume

My tasteless sarcasm aside, I am greatly appreciative for your help. I have put a lot of careful thought into my resume, so it is far past the raw stage. I've also had quite a bit of help putting it together, but about the only help I haven't had is from someone who has been in the business. Your input and thoughts would be much appreciated, and I thank you for your offer.

I perfectly understand that you are busy and have a job, life and family to attend to, so please let me know when would be convenient for you. I found an email address for you on your site at teachinginjapan.com Is this address up to date and may I contact you there?

Again, you are doing me the favor, so please let me know when would be good for you. My email is available from this site if you'd like to contact me. Thanks again, and I hope to be in touch with you soon.

best,
-fudge