Job Discussion Forums

[DerbyJohn]

Hi all

I shall be arriving in central Tokyo (Roppongi - spelling?) at the end of July and staying in my friend's apartment. I think I would like a job travelling around to business clients (not private, as I'm a newbie, but sent by a Japanese company - don't know what you call that kind of setup!). I know that'll be a hassle: travelling around a lot, but I'm used to that as a freelance ESOL teacher here in England, working out of the back of my car, and I figure it'll be a good way (if only until I get fed up of it!) to see more of Japan and the people.

Anyway, I'm 37, have a PGCE, business and ESOL training experience. Has anybody any ideas of what sort of employer I should be contacting, before I leave England, to try and get such a job?

Ta very much

John

[PAULH]

[Glenski]

Derby John,
What sort of visa arrangements have you made? And, what are your qualifications? You can't just show up here without a visa and work.

[Celeste]

PGCE is a teaching license in the UK. He meets the degree requirements for a work visa with that.

[moot point]

Other companies involved in teaching business clients includes ALC, OTC, Kanda Gaigo.

If you decide to go that route I suggest making part-time contracts with numerous recruiting companies and then you will have more choices about which classes/assignments you wish to accept. I did it for awhile, and could piece together a decent schedule where I didn't have to spend much down time between classes and didn't need to ride on the trains all day long.

Your timing is a bit bad right now as April and May are the busiest times of the year. It would have been a good chance to get your foot into the door.

[DerbyJohn]

Thanks everyone for your advice so far.

Paulh, point taken about the size of Tokyo. I guess I'm hoping that an employer's clients won't be spread out too far across Tokyo. OK, probably niave! Do such employers pay for travelling time or just an enhanced rate for the actual contact time? Anyway, thanks for the link: I'll look at that later.

I understand about it being hard to see much of the country when working. Do you think this is more of a problem working for business clients than when working at an eikaiwa? If I understand things correctly, a typical eikaiwa teacher's schedule is from about midday or 1pm, to 9pm, which doesn't seem to give much time for getting about.

Glenski/Celeste, my quals. include a PGCE (for post-16 teaching only, not schoolchildren) and a BA (Hons) English, so am I ok to get a visa with these? I've just tried a link from the sticky FAQs re teaching in Japan (http://www.mofa.go.jp/j_info/visit/visa) but it's not working.

Mootpoint, thanks for your advice. I presume you had been in Japan for some time before setting up your part-time contracts? Did you enjoy that kind of working?

My timing can't be changed, unfortunately, so I'll just have to get busy applying now so I can hit the ground running!

Thanks all

[Glenski]

[PAULH]

[DerbyJohn]

Thanks for that, guys.

Glenski, thanks for filling me in on the typical sessions for business classes (evenings/weekends). I had assumed (wrongly) that these would take place in the workplace, during the day - Workbased Learning - and not outside of working hours.

PaulH, that sure is a lot of commuting time. I suppose the novelty would wear off VERY quickly! Thanks also for your other comments. All gratefully received!

John

[theoldman]

DerbyJohn,

I have been working in Tokyo for 3 years and the last 2 have been spent putting together part time schedules with business dispatch companies and a private elementary school.

Depending on your location in Tokyo you can set yourself up with a number of companies and with a schedule that involves small amounts of travel time.

Of course to this you have to prove to the companies that you are reliable and professional. Some of the companies around Tokyo that have reasonable to very good reputations are JAL Academy, Forum Corporation, Simul Academy and Pheonix Associates. There are a number of smaller ones that also look for teachers regularly.

Most of these companies have web sites so this is a good place to start. As well they often advertise for teachers on the JobsinJapan website.

As has been previously mentioned most contracts are usually morning and evening during the week and occassionally weekends. The hours are usually from 1.5 to 3 hours, average 2. However, as you become better known you can pick up late morning and early afternoon classes as well.

These classes can be either group classes or man-to-man. The hourly pay is uaually about ￥4000 per hour, so if you get a regular schedule with one or a number of these companies iy is quite easy to earn over ￥340,000 a month for 20-25 hours teaching a week (mornings and evenings, no weekends) with down time during the day to study or whatever. Of course, there is the time spent travelling, and of course, preparing, but if you can get situated as close to the center of Tokyo as possible you can actually cut your travel down.

Because of my situation I am able to ride a bicycle to my three lessons a week (I have a full-time job now) so I also get to keep the travel allowance on top of the hourly rate. I think last year (when I was doing more hours) I made over ￥180,000 extra from this, a nice little bonus.

Anyway the point is you can make money teaching relatively decent hours (some experts say 25 is max), still have your weekends off, work the occassional intensive of a weekend for some extra cash, and meet in the main relatively motivated students from elementary to very high levels.

I hope this helps you.

[DerbyJohn]

Hi theoldman

Thanks very much for your reply. It is VERY helpful! Much appreciated.

John