Job Discussion Forums

[coledavis]

I've recently read an article in The Independent (England) by a teacher who reckons that the days of going to Japan and earning money (as opposed to backpacking or getting to know the country) are over. The writer reckoned that the love affair with English is over; although I wonder if it's got more to do with the stagnant economy. The writer says that older experienced staff are the first to be jettisoned, that people are receiving pay cuts in mid contract and that it's dog eat dog at the moment.

[Temujin]

Here's the article for anyone interested:

http://education.independent.co.uk/careers_advice/article348582.ece

[coledavis]

well done.

[johanne]

I think it's a pretty accurate article. On the other hand just before I first came to Japan 13 years ago, I read a very similar article in a Canadian newspaper, but came anyway and loved it! So yes, it's good information, but I don't think it means the days of university grads spending a couple of years teaching English in Japan are over.

[Doglover]

There will always be a demand for people to learn English as many companies now require university graduates to have TOEIC scores, company employees to learn at their companies.

The average NOVA student simply doesnt want to spend 500,000 yen on lessons and will go to a smaller, less expensive school. NOVA now has trouble finding teachers, high staff turnover due to cutting costs on some of the huge overheads and the generally poor wages.

It doesnt really make financial sense to fly halfway around the world set up an apartment so you can earn the equivalent of $10 an hour for what is essentially an unskilled job.

Employers know there will always be people willing to work for peanuts so they can fund their travels or overseas experience, regardless of lack of qualifications.

Combine that with falling school rolls. less students and less willingness to part with hard earned cash for NOVA lessons and things have gone downhill since the 90's.

[Birdog3344]

Sounds a bit like 'Chicken Little' talk to me. Sure, the boom 90's are over and the cushy Uni jobs may be far and few between, but there are still some pretty sweet gigs to be had. And for those here for the short term they're practically handing out jobs before you even step off the plane. The lifestyle may not be what it once was but you can make a comfortable living, especially given the short hours. With everything else to complain about the compensation certainly isn't one of them.

[Birdog3344]

And to say that English is no longer in demand is simply wrong.

[alexrocks]

Hey, my former company, NCB, is mentioned in that article!

That was a really nice place to work, especially as far as eikaiwas go: 25 hours a week (including prep time, sales, tests, etc.); good curriculum; good training; positive employer-employee relationship; etc. Some may disagree, but I think that overall it was a good gig, and I was really shocked when the company suddenly went bankrupt. (The general consensus is that poor sales and marketing strategies were the reasons why.) I knew business had been bad, but not THAT bad!

So I can definitely include myself among the "suddenly very nervous", especially since I just got married and we have NO savings. There are slim pickings out there, especially when you compare Kansai to Tokyo. At least that's how it seems to me since there are so many more job ads for positions in Tokyo, but perhaps there are far more applicants, too?

Actually, I take that back: the pickings aren't slim so much as they are generally highly unappealing.

I've totally avoided the dispatch companies after reading and hearing so many awful things about them, though I would like to teach in a junior high or high school if it would allow me a chance to practice my Japanese a bit. Getting into a private school or getting hired directly by a Board of Education is tough though, I know. Furthermore, nice full-time jobs are nearly non-existant, so it looks like I may just have to piece together a schedule of various part-time things. I'll miss having paid vacations, though.... Oh, and I hate teaching bratty little kids, so that further limits my options.

So, is anyone else out there looking for work? How has it gone thus far? Are you facing the same difficulties, or do you have a different perspective? I'm curious to know how it's going with other job-seekers, particularly those already living in Japan.

Thanks.

[Mark]

The article is pretty spot on. Things seem to be going rapidly downhill, although I'm not convinced that it's a long-term trend.

The basic problem is that you've got large companies posing as English schools. People with no experience or training are brought over, given a terrible curriculum, and put in a classroom. The students don't learn much and the teachers make no effort to learn more about teaching.

But, from the students' perspective, how can they tell what is a good school and what isn't? If they have no knowledge of language acquisition, then they can't really tell.

I used to work in a large eikaiwa chain and I still can't believe some of the things that senior teachers and trainers said. Things like, "Don't ask Japanese open-ended questions because it's always death. Just stick to yes and no questions."

Part of this whole thing may be that Japanese students are getting tired of wasting their money.

The whole situation here is weird. There's a giant EFL industry, but it seems to be designed and run by people with little knowledge of or interest in language acquisition.

[Doglover]

You may also be interested in this related article about professionalism in the Eikaiwa and ELT industry.

There are not only bad schools, but bad teachers as well, and for better or worse, they depend on each other for survival.

[stillnosheep]

[Sour Grape]

[Birdog3344]

Interesting opinions here. I by no means claim to be an expert on the industry as a whole (sometimes wonder how so many seem to), I just speak for my own experience and what I can gather from it. But lets define the parameters of the discussion. If the question is whether you can earn as much money teaching in Japan as you could in the 90's than there's really no discussion. On the other hand, if you're trying to argue that its difficult to find a job and make a decent living while enjoying plenty of free time than I wonder if you're actually living in Japan. The very fact that there are so many under-trained, under-experienced teachers (yes, I admit to being one) being shipped over here underscores the fact that the industry is alive and well (for us). Is the question about the quality of teaching in the corporate English world or the quality of living that one can make? The answers are very different.

Now, if we restrict the debate to the segment of the industry to what I would call 'professional teachers', those with education experience and actual teaching credentials than I will have to excuse myself from the discussion and allow the (perhaps understandably) bitter teachers here to discuss the problems of dispatching and the like. However, I would be curious to know why the lack of quality education at the eikaiwas would have a negative impact on the professional teachers. Wouldn't the revelation that studying at private schools isn't the best, if not most expensive way to learn english be a boon to the 'real teachers'? And I don't mean to sound sarcastic, I'm genuinley interested in opinions about that. Dozo...

[abufletcher]

You bring up an interesting point. I have often wondered myself about the relationship between the "commercial" side of the EFL world and the "professional/school-based" side. They certainly aren't in any kind of direct competition with each other.

BTW, it's important to distinguish between "professionalism" and what we've be calling "professional" teachers. The latter refers more to a set of ethics and should (hopefull) equally apply to anyone who teachers EFL in any context. The professional, on the other hand, is someone who not only has a variety of professional qualifications but is also seriously involved in a life-long expansion of his or her skills related to language and language learning/teaching.

It is overly simplistic to treat all people who teach EFL at traditionally defined schools as "professionals" while denying this status to people who work in a commercial settings.

As far as whether the Japan market is shrinking, yes, almost certainly as the population also shrinks. Are there fewer quality jobs now than before? Probably.

[PAULH]