Job Discussion Forums

in_beijing · Joined: 27 Aug 2005 Posts: 78 Location: China Life Blog

Of course it's expired. It expires if you don't teach for 5 years in America. But it works in China. Maybe not Japan though but at least I have one and a relevant degree.

abufletcher · Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2005 12:09 pm Post subject:

Around the world there are international schools and then there are international schools. As a longtime expat with over a decade in the Arabian Gulf (prior to two year in Mexico and 10 years in Japan) to me the term international school conjures up the idea of a school which primarily serves the expat community. These school are required to be as rigid in their hiring practices and curriculum as any school in the US. Most have formal US (or UK) acceditation. Getting a job in this kind of international school is often a choice juicy job and often will pay a US like salary even in the poorest third world nation.

Then there are "international schools" who primarily cater to the local population and appeal to a perceived "value-added" status of being "internationalized" ("kokusaiteki"). They may or may not have outside acceditation. I remember reading that here in Japan the vast majority of Japanese in international schools were female as males found it hard to more from the western values of these schools into the Japanese work enviornment. This gendered appeal of kokusaiteki things is even mirrored in my students diets. Ask the women what they had for breakfast and they're likely to say "toast and coffee." Ask the men and they'll tell you they had rice.

I would imagine that it's quite difficult to get a job at the accredited International Schools here in Japan, for example the Canadian Academy in Kobe. It's certainly harder than finding a contract university job. On the other hand there may be another class of international schools that I'm not really aware of that are a cut above working at an eikaiwa -- and maybe even above the usual 1st year freshman English teaching at universities.

In either case I would imagine an expired certificate (if the employer is aware of it) would be a deal-breaker.

abufletcher · Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2005 12:11 pm Post subject:

BTW, I used to have California certification to teach at the Community College level but I wouldn't bother to put that on a CV.

guest of Japan · Joined: 28 Feb 2003 Posts: 1601 Location: Japan

in_beijing,

Sorry, but I think you might have a bit of trouble getting an international school gig in Japan. Real international schools (and there are only a few) require a valid teaching cert. and several years full time teaching experience in your home country.

On the plus side that expired cert. does come in handy when looking into the general private high school market. Though honestly, you probably won't find it very rewarding professionally. Dispatch companies have also taken most of the high paying jobs away. I'm dispatched myself and I make a decent income, but I can't save nearly as much as you are right now.

Honestly, it's not in your best interest to come here if it is only for a short term prospect. The air isn't very clean here either.

SEndrigo · Joined: 28 Apr 2004 Posts: 437

Hey in beijing,

Having just read your post and your blog, I'd say don't bother coming to Japan.

Why? because you have a stress-free job that pays you killer money (for China, at least) and allows you to save more than you could with a similar job in Japan.

Also, how about the girl?!?!?! Don't leave her in China, if you're crazy about her matey, don't let her go! Smile

And besides, the pictures of Beijing don't look any worse than Tokyo....in fact, according to those pictures on your blog, it looks more attractive than Tokyo !

abufletcher · Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2005 2:33 pm Post subject:

Great blog by the way! Looks to me that China's been pretty good for you. I wouldn't bother trying to come here to work.

It many ways I think China is the wild west of EFL and the most happening place on the planet. Japan by comparison seems like "old guard" and while things may be better here in some ways a lot of us probably secretly yearn to "head west."

I've thought about trying to get a summer teaching gig in China doing teacher training sometime.

in_beijing · Joined: 27 Aug 2005 Posts: 78 Location: China Life Blog

Thanks for the genuine input, everyone, and for reading my blog. Yes, I do think I have it pretty good here. But at any moment things could change, as you know. I am very lucky to have such an easy job/good pay, but we don't have many students and the place could go belly up any time, though they have been in business 3 years at least.

I didn't plan to go to Japan soon, I was thinking down the road a bit. Maybe I will just go for a visit again. Every time I visit Japan though, I long to stay. Seems like working there is a lot of work for little reward.

abufletcher · Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2005 4:28 pm Post subject:

abufletcher · Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2005 2:31 pm Post subject:

BTW, a couple of weeks ago I posted a message on the China-job Forum asking about "dream jobs" in China. Based on what I read there I'd say your situation as you've described in in your blog sounds like the best I've heard of yet for China.

Of course as you say your school could go under tomorrow. Same with my job. Well, maybe not tomorrow...things don't happen very quickly in Japan.

Doglover · Joined: 14 Dec 2004 Posts: 305 Location: Kansai

pnksweater · Joined: 24 Mar 2005 Posts: 173 Location: Tokyo, Japan

Don't waste your time looking for work in conversation schools. With that paperwork you should be able to find work in an international school in Japan. Not all international schools are created equal, mind you, but the pay does seem to be above average. 400,000 yen a month or more.

The catch is that they require experience. You'll need to prove that you've had 3 or more years of teaching in regular schools to get your foot in the door as a teacher. There are assistant teaching positions, but the pay is not great. International schools here seem to be on Western timing, which means you'll want to be applying in the spring for positions that start in the fall.