Job Discussion Forums

[Mchristophermsw]

Where to teach?

A friend of mine is looking for a job and wants to teach in Asia but money is a concern. He has approximately, 900.00 USD of bills per month.
He would need to send this amount home to meet his obligations.

But he also wants to be able to save atleast a few hundred per month ( or more) and be able to eat out once in awhile, workout and enjoy the simple (real simple) pleasures in life.

He has a AA. BS, and MA and US passport/Citizen

Any advice I can give him from you guys and gals?

ps. No, its not me! LOL
I am still waiting a few years to get rid of the majority of my debt before I expat.

[Glenski]

What are his BS and MA in?
Does he have any teaching experience whatsoever?
Does he have any publications?
What are his Japanese language skills like?

If he has no publications, count out university work.
If he has weak language skills, ditto.
If his degree is not in an EFL related field, ditto.
If he has no teaching experience in Japan, then all he is suitable for is JET program and most eikaiwas. He might get on at a high school or similar mainstream school as an ALT through a dispatch agency or BOE, but if you have looked at the Japan forum for a while, you will know that such work is getting pretty bad nowadays.

Advice:
Apply to JET IMMEDIATELY. I think the deadline is rapidly approaching for 2006 hires.
Make a plan to come here in February or March to scope out the opportunities. Prepare to bring US$4000-5000 with him.

In order to save $900 plus a few more hundred dollars, he should also be prepared to live extremely frugally. Eikaiwas pay 250,000 yen/month (and this is declining), and half of that will go to basic necessities, leaving 125,000 for everything else. At the current exchange rate, that's pretty close to what your friend wants to save and use for loan payments, so that leaves NOTHING else for ANYthing in his life. NO magazines or newspapers, sightseeing, movies or video/DVD rentals, nightclubs or bars, girlfriends, souvenirs, emergency medical care not covered under insurance, NOTHING. With a JET program job, he'll have a LITTLE more to live on, but not much.

[Mchristophermsw]

Glenski,

Thanks for the advice. I will let him know.

As for me, hey I just got a gig teaching social sciences at a community college ( MSW )! Dont want to stay in the states, so I will stick to the plan, finsh off paying my bills (About 4 years) and whoa! Korea, Tiawan, Thialand, China here I come

[gaijinalways]

I would recommend Japan, but with a few cavets. First, he'll need money to set up here. He can cut some of the initial cost if he stays in a gaijin house or manages to find a share with some other foreigners (most likely as Japnese usually don't like sharing). Two, he'll have to live frugally until he can build up some private lessons to supplement his regular job. Three, going out here can be frightfully expenisve, but depending if he has lived in a larger city before, it's not really that much more expensive. Fourth, what his degrees are in matters a little, but not a lot. Breaking into the uni scene takes some time, connections, and efffort, but it is worth it. But you need some experience as a teacher, for class management and lesson preparation skills, which are necessary if you want to last in universities and be kept on (there are exceptions, but in general most schools are moving away from the 'entertainer' lecturers).

As to JET, it will depend on his age, as JET has a limit (maybe 35).

I've worked in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japan. I have managed to make and save the most money here, but I also have a wife here too (I sometimes don't know if that is the good part, or the bad).

[gaijinalways]

I would recommend Japan, but with a few cavets. First, he'll need money to set up here. He can cut some of the initial cost if he stays in a gaijin house or manages to find a share with some other foreigners (most likely as Japnese usually don't like sharing). Two, he'll have to live frugally until he can build up some private lessons to supplement his regular job. Three, going out here can be frightfully expenisve, but depending if he has lived in a larger city before, it's not really that much more expensive. Fourth, what his degrees are in matters a little, but not a lot. Breaking into the uni scene takes some time, connections, and efffort, but it is worth it. But you need some experience as a teacher, for class management and lesson preparation skills, which are necessary if you want to last in universities and be kept on (there are exceptions, but in general most schools are moving away from the 'entertainer' lecturers).

As to JET, it will depend on his age, as JET has a limit (maybe 35).

I've worked in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japan. I have managed to make and save the most money here, but I also have a wife here too (I sometimes don't know if that is the good part, or the bad).

Oh, one more thing, if he is under 29, he can come here on a working holiday visa, which is great as it is a 6 month visa, renewable once easily, and he can then work and shift to another visa at his leisure. We lots of Aussies and Canadians working here, very easy for them to come over comapred to Americans (we don't have a working holiday visa arrangement with Japan, probably with no country from what I have seen).

[prlester]

how usual is it for companies to expand a visa or issue one? is it expensive for them?