Job Discussion Forums

cornishmuppet · Joined: 27 Mar 2004 Posts: 642 Location: Nagano, Japan

Ok, after eleven months I am basically jaded with eikaiwa work, and tired of listening to people who get three weeks holiday (paid or unpaid, I don`t care) in the summer when I get two days, and want to try and get myself an ALT position (more money, more holiday, less work, seems to be the way of it from the people I`ve spoken to in these jobs - queue backlash). I was wondering if there is a website, in English, which gives contact details for schools in a particular area, so that I can send enquiry emails, or is it a case of putting on the tie and walking around them?

Any help would be really appreciated. I meet dozens of ALTs yet you rarely see the jobs advertised. I want to say in Japan for various reasons but the grueling work ethic and the endless wheel of working in a private school has left me almost at breaking point. I used to find kids cute when they played up, now I slam the table and holler at them. My patience has long, I fear for my sanity.

PAULH · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 4672 Location: Western Japan

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

Two days of vacation per year? Unheard of. What slave laborer hired you?

As for ALT work, have you been reading the thread about the "evils" of dispatch companies who hire ALTs? Not exactly a stellar record of achievement.

And, what makes you think that high school kids, especially in a public school system, are going to be any better than the kids you teach now? You probably teach 1 to 5 at a time now. Multiply that to the point where you have 30 or 40 in a classroom.

Are you really moving up?

Why not just get another eikaiwa job?

PAULH · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 4672 Location: Western Japan

To the OP

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

Cornishmuppet wrote:

cornishmuppet · Joined: 27 Mar 2004 Posts: 642 Location: Nagano, Japan

Thank you for your help, I have a few ideas now.

Re the two days - that`s two in August. I have about 20 over the year, but at least half of those are at Xmas.

I know numerous ALTs who work in at different levels. Most earn about 280k, while I know one guy who earns 360k. Most seem to share a classroom with a homeroom teacher, sometimes doing the lessons themselves. The standard seems to be at least a couple of weeks in April, a couple in August, and a week at Xmas, plus public holidays. I came to Japan to travel and earn money, in that order, and while I`m earning plenty of money I do not have the time to do the travel I would like to do. With classes/preparation/reports/meetings etc I estimated I work about 45 hours a week which seems pretty hard to me. And I don`t know about anyone else but I find teaching rather stressful, and difficult to put out of your mind. Hell, maybe I`m just soft.

I`m certainly no expert on ALT teaching (or eikawa teaching for that matter!) but it certainly seems to me that ALTs are getting a better deal.

Jon Taylor · Joined: 09 Mar 2005 Posts: 238 Location: Tokyo

Why not find an eikaiwa that has an association with a high school.

They are all over the place.

Many of Japan's high schools hace ties with eikaiwa's like mine for example.

I teach at two local hich schools on top of eikaiwa work.

In my experience, you are wasting your time approaching high schools as they have a rigid policy reagarding foreign employment.

Another option may be University work.

The hours and benefits are good and you are more likely to get a positive response should you approach them. Almost all hire a foreign teacher.

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

PAULH · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 4672 Location: Western Japan

cornishmuppet · Joined: 27 Mar 2004 Posts: 642 Location: Nagano, Japan

Glenski, if you look at my original post you'll see I quite clearly stated 'in the summer'. I greatly appreciate your comments but please do not criticise my comments when you haven't read them clearly.

Thank you all for your responses. I shall look into the avenues available. Basically I left English because I was bored of my bank job and I wanted to see the world while being paid for it. I taught for a year in Italy before Japan where I had four weeks paid vacation during a nine month contract. Admittedly the pay was very low, and half the reason I came to Japan was to be able to save money. I have been here for a year now and I'm finding the intensity of life very hard, that is why I am looking at ways to get more time off to do the things I love doing. I would be very interested to know just how many people come to Japan because they love teaching. In England you get paid to train and around ten weeks paid holiday every year (my aunt is a high school teacher). That is if you are brave enough to walk into an English classroom, which I am not.

Thanks for all of your help.

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

cornish muppet,
Your dangling modifier threw me.

Jon Taylor · Joined: 09 Mar 2005 Posts: 238 Location: Tokyo

"No offense, but you are not being realistic. Work full-time anywhere in any job, and you will have to put in about 40 hours / week anyway. Wanting to make enough to survive on is one thing, but wanting to have more money to travel FIRST is another, and it is not the norm even if you had a regular job back home. Why should it be any different here?

You work and take your vacation/days off like everyone else. Otherwise, if you mostly want to travel, come as a tourist"

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Now Glenski, I have to disagree with your comments...

Teaching may require you to put in a 40 hour week but if this is the case then i hope your on a great wage, if not than i suggest you find another......The majority of jobs require 20-30 hours max..

Teaching in Japan offers more than teaching both in England and the US and it's more than possible to save at least half of your wage....Can you do that back at home ??

This will provide more funds than enough that are required to travel.

How can you poosibly compare an ESL job to a regular job back home ???

SEndrigo · Joined: 28 Apr 2004 Posts: 437

Hey Jon,

In a full-time teaching job, you may only have 20-30 TEACHING hours, but you usually have to be there for 40 hours (or more, sometimes).

Unless I am wrong, other than ECC, this is the case for full-time teachers in Eikaiwas or public school ALT jobs.

As for holiday time, most eikaiwas only give you the peak travel times off, so you're travelling with everyone else and paying two or three times more.

Travel is not cheap during Golden Week, Obon, etc.

So how is this much better than teaching in the US or UK?

Having 10 weeks off and living in the UK is way better than living in Japan and having 2 weeks off, if you're talking about travelling.

Not to mention that travelling to the rest of the Europe from the UK is considerably cheaper than doing so from Japan.

And this talk about how good the money is in Japan...a standard job pays 250,000 yen...how is this such a great salary?

Jon Taylor · Joined: 09 Mar 2005 Posts: 238 Location: Tokyo

In respone to the above post.....

I don't know of any teachers that are required to work a 40 hour week.

Living in Japan gives you the opportunity to travel in Asia......you mentioned Europe. Why on earth would you want to travel around Europe when your living a world away in Asia with so many other great travelling options.

You mentioned two weeks off in Japan. Well, 2 weeks in the summer, 2 weeks in the winter and a golden wek adds up to 5 weeks if my math is correct.

And finally the salary, 250,000 (if that is what you earn) may not be a great salary but taking the lack of tax into account makes up or that.

Are you seriously trying to tell me that you can save half of your salary teaching from home.........?

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

Jon,
Here is how I see things.
The average eikaiwa job pays 250,000 yen/month. Unless someone shares housing, basic necessities amount to half of that. I can give you a specific breakdown if you like, but not right now. That leaves half of your salary to do everything else with. So, right off the bat, you cannot seriously save half of your salary because any normal person will buy a Coke, postage stamp, or newspaper, etc. as well as spend money on a night out, some measure of sightseeing, emergency medical care (not covered by insurance), long distance phone calls, etc.

At best, a stingy person can save about 100,000 of the 125,000 yen/month that is left over. That is an average, of course. People living in rural areas usually have cheaper rent, so the potential to save is greater.

Now, if one takes on private lessons or adds a string of part-time work to his basic FT job, that adds a whole new element to the situation, so don't try talking about this, especially to a newcomer who is just settling in and getting used to ONE job. Sure, after a while it's possible (depending on your schedule and desire to have free time), but not always so.

So, with that in mind, I'll paraphrase what you wrote and ask, with the givens above, how can you honestly say that a person can save half of his salary here? Unrealistic, as I wrote.

As for comparing to jobs back home, I agree withSEndrigo and you both, but here is my math. Most eikaiwa jobs have you in the classroom for 25-30 hours per week. For a newbie teacher, as I once was, making lesson plans and learning how to teach them takes time, easily half an hour to an hour for each lesson, depending on what resources you have at hand. That often amounts to another 10 hours or more. Many eikaiwas have the teachers interviewing prospective students and/or doing various types of paperwork and/or hanging around the lobby to attract customers, etc., all of which adds up to time outside of the classroom. So, on average, even an eikaiwa teacher can put in 35-40 hours per week. Those working at places with set teaching formats have it easier on the planning side, but I guess I'm just a bit more dedicated than some, because I struggled to create good lessons, and it took every spare minute of my time in the office.

And, yes, most places I know have ONE week for Golden Week, ONE week (or less) for Obon, and roughly a couple of weeks during the New Year season, so with a dozen national holidays (none that an employer is required to give you, and many don't because that's when they figure customers are free), you can get about a month of vacation, and how you use it is up to you, but travel rates are pretty high then (double or triple in some cases). The time is there, but it'll cost you.

And, like some companies back home, you can't even get a vacation day until you work for 6 months in some cases.