Job Discussion Forums

[Le Creature]

I am close to finishing my online electives and am about to write out my resume. I plan to send it out there soon.

Can someone give me a step-by-step process of what happens to secure a position? Since reading the posts on this forum I have learnt about the trials, prac sessions, interviews...

What exactly are you expected to go through in order to get a decent position? Thank you for reading.

[Glenski]

You have to understand that answers are going to vary with the employer you choose.

For eikaiwas, it is best to send resumes and cover letters only when you see them advertising. From now to April, it is peak season. Ads can be found in a variety of web sites and in The Japan Times Monday edition. If the employer likes what he sees, you will be contacted for an interview, usually in person. Some employers will do it over the phone. If you interview with one of the Big Four eikaiwas, you are going to be in your home country, and you will have to pay for all travel expenses to reach the interview site. You might have to put yourself up in a hotel for 2 or 3 days. If you interview in Japan, expect a panel style interview. Find out where the place is, because buildings are not numbered consecutively on streets here and may be terribly difficult to locate. Expect to be told whether you have the job in anywhere from a week to 3 weeks.

For JET Programme, they accept applications late in the calendar year (starting November, I think), and the deadline is early December. If you pass that step -- a huge list of paperwork I might add, not just a simple resume -- you will get an interview in February. Pass that, and they'll tell you in April or May. Sometimes you get put on a list of alternates, though, so you have to wait longer. Eventually, you would go in late July or August.

For university positions, the resume is only a fraction of the materials you must send. You might get notification by a phone call or letter that you are invited to an interview. Rejection letters may never come, or they may come by post or email. I'll let the experienced university types here inform you of what to expect in the university interview process.

If you are not in Japan, you will have to work with the employer to get a work visa. Expect that to take 4-8 weeks. If you are already here, you may have a visa already, so depending on its expiration date, you may simply need to get it renewed. Should you have come here on a working holiday visa, spouse visa, student visa, or cultural visa, you can start right away. Should you have come as a tourist, you can get a preliminary "visa pending" stamp in your passport and start work without actually having the work visa, but you will still have to wait 4-8 weeks to get it.