Job Discussion Forums

[maryknight]

i'd like to hear some stories about first jobs in japan. how did you find it? did you interview in person or by telephone? how has it worked out for you?
thanks!

[PAULH]

[Glenski]

This gets asked about once a year.

I researched for 6 months. Took copious notes, made tables to compare schools and working conditions. Lurked on a couple of forums (there weren't more than 2 at that time). Decided what I wanted vs. what was out there.

Then my hard work paid off. I saw an ad right here on the ESL Cafe, answered it, and they sent someone to interview a handful of us in Seattle (only 2 of us showed up, and they actually interviewed us at the same time). Got news of acceptance in a week. Flew out here 4 months later. Got a very nice deal with no weekend work, no split shifts, and my rent and airfare paid for (both quite rare then and now). I stayed there for over 3 years and was the last full timer on staff. I moved on to private lessons, part-time then full-time at a private high school, plus proofreading/rewriting work.

Back then I had a non-teaching related degree and was in the middle of getting my TESL certification. I was 41.

[Zzonkmiles]

I came over to Japan using a more traditional route (the Big 4--NOVA in my case). I found out about NOVA online and traveled to an interview about 3 hours from my hometown. I turned down their initial job offer so I could attend graduate school, but interviewed with them again two years later and was reaccepted.

I worked at NOVA for almost two years before I changed jobs. While at NOVA, I originally had Sundays and Mondays off, but later changed to Saturdays and Sundays off. Any split shifts I had were by choice. I never worked the early or overnight shifts. I used my time at NOVA wisely by signing up for various types of training that I could use outside the NOVA classroom. This helped me secure my current job.

I now teach at a senmongakko/technical college and the job offers much better benefits in terms of vacation time, working hours, and pay. I found this job advertised in Ohayo Sensei, an online job vacancy publication. I was quite lucky in my case because most of the job offerings there are for the Tokyo/Kanto area, but I happened to find this one ad for Kansai and applied on a whim, not really expecting to be accepted, especially since competition for such jobs is quite keen.

Anyways, I'm 29 and have an MA in a field that's tangentially related to TESOL/Linguistics. (My MA is in journalism.) I arrived in Japan during the summer of 2003 and have approximately a 2-kyu level of Japanese ability (still waiting for those JLPT test results). That's my story.

[earthmonkey]

Hi.
I came four years ago armed only with an appointment for a job interview. I also had researched via this forum, and had decided that I didn't want to work for one of the big schools. I think I found the company on gaijinpot. The interview was 2 days after I arrived. I got the job, but I was lucky. I've known people who took months to find a decent job.

The job was so-so. The company opened small schools in sports clubs. I worked at three of them, 2 days 2 days and 1 day. I was the only employee of my company on site with occasional visits by a "floor manager", actually a very overworked and underpaid young Japanese girl who would come and take care of paperwork. I rarely had to deal with the management, which was good, because they all seemed to be idiots.

That company went under. I think they had about 15 schools. Only the ones with kids, 2 or 3, were profitable. Taking advantage of the situation, I negotiated a contract directly with one of the clubs where I had been teaching (kids and adults). So, now it's my school. 3 days a week, making about the same as I was making for 5 days before. The club takes a percentage, does the accounting, even advertising. Aside from that, I've got a bunch of private students, and a couple of company lessons. Decent life, but it took a little time and some luck.

So, are you willing to teach kids? If so, it will be an advantage in your job hunt.

Good luck.

[madeira]

I had an interview with NOVA in SF, had a contract offered... then had an interview with GEOS in Vancouver. Took that one. Worked for them for a long time, then went into dispatch for corporations and the government.

Now I work solely for the MoFA. (Japan.)

[markle]

I replied to an ad in a paper back home, had an interview there, was offerd the standard salary @260,000/mth with a subsidized apartment and return airfare paid at the end of contract. lucked out really

[scrying]

came in the fall of 03 with the Evil Empire (NOVA), but lucked out as far as placement...really liked my branch and coworkers, hated the company. stuck it out for a year and a half, then fled to europe to get a TEFL cert...worked in italy for 4 months but returned to japan because it was saner, and too hard (wayyyyy too hard) to get a visa sponsor for a gig in italy as an American...now i am doing the ALT thing in Chiba. not too bad, but definitely need to move back into the city areas (looking for tokyo-kanagawa-nagoya)...figuring on definitely making a career of it...

[lalalateda]

I was in the US when i got hired. I put together my CV and cover letter, took a good head shot, and got letters of recommendation. I sent the above information to basically all the schools that were advertising including some of the big schools. In the end some eikaiwas got back to me and i skipped the interviews for the big schools (they were just for a backup). Actually less than half of the schools i applied to got back to me. I interviewed over the phone and had to fill out a few questionnaires. For better or for worse, I took a job for the first place that offered me a position. It was about a month after I started applying that i got hired and i started a month after that.