Job Discussion Forums

[ssphinx]

I will be starting a MEd in TESOL at the University of Sydney this summer, and I was wondering what kind of jobs most masters degree holders of TESOL or Applied Linguistics have in Japan.

Currently, I am in my last semester as a university lecturer in Korea and I would like to be able to land a similar position in the future, possibly in Japan.

However, I do realize that I will have to pay my dues with entry level positions and work my way up again.

So, I guess my question is: What should I expect or prepare for if I try to find a university position in Japan?

[Gordon]

[abufletcher]

The problem about "paying your dues in an entry level position" is that nothing at the entry level in Japan is really relevant in terms of getting hired at the university level. Also be aware that the vast majority of university jobs in Japan are short-term contract positions typically limited to 2-3 years. After that you've got to move on to a new job or a new country.

As someone who has been involved in the past at hiring at my university, I personally wouldn't give any weight whatsoever to conversation school experience in Japan. Your university experience in Korea would be much more valuable. I also wouldn't put too much weight on experience with Japanese students as an EFL professional should be able to teach any student from any language background.

If you're serious about working at the university level in Japan, I'd strongly advise you take the "apply from abroad" approach. That is, work somewhere else (at a university) until you can land a university job in Japan. After you get your MA you could either continue to work in Korea or possibly look for a university position in the Arab Gulf (or even a part-time university position in Australia). In the meantime you might think about getting an article or two published and/or doing a presentation at a local/regional/national/international conference.

While some people have (after many long years) worked their way from the eikaiwa to a university (typically via an ALT position), I feel that there is a much better chance of being hired into a good position from abroad.

[PAULH]

[abufletcher]

As Gordon says many people only find a f/t university position after spending (often considerable) time working part-time positions. This is fine if you're already working in Japan and if you don't mind piddling away years of your career in junk jobs in Japan hoping to one day "move up."

I've been teaching EFL for going on 25 years, at least 23 years of it at the university level. My opinion is that, as an EFL professional (with an MA), you just have to accept that university work is where the action (and respect) are at in this field and that you should plan to work at that level regardless of what country it takes you too.

Japan is a large market for junk-level "English teacher" positions, but not a particularly large (or attractive) market for university EFL. In terms of professionalism (and professional training) most university level jobs in the Middle East are much better. Maybe after you get your MA you might also find you're able to move into a much better university position in Korea.

Again for my money, an EFL professional with university-level experience in another country is a much more attractive candidate than someone with non-university experience in Japan. But of course a lot of the hiring that goes on in Japan has nothing whatsoever do to with "professionalism" and people are hired for simple practical reasons like they already have a visa and live in the area or they have some personal connection with someone at the university. Unfair but true.

[abufletcher]

Everything Paul says is true. But it's also predicated on the idea that you are fixated on the idea of working in Japan long term. If this is the only country you can imagine yourself working in then you'll pretty much have to just come and slowly work your way into a university position. It could take years and years (and years) -- or you might luck out and fall into something almost immediately.

To me being an EFL professional is all about the ongoing development of a skill set. You should choose a job based largely on the opportunities it will provide you with to grow as a professional.

While it is true that Japanese employers can be very provincial in terms of not recognizing any experience other that Japanese experience, I feel that's mostly their own problem. My job is to be the best language teaching professional I can be. If someone in Japan wants to give me a job, fine, I'll go there. If not, so what? There are plenty of other university level jobs in the world.

[abufletcher]

Just to be upfront here are the facts of my career: BA 1980, MA 1984 in Linguistics. I started with some adult ed and part-time university ESL in the US before taking a (junk) company EFL job in Saudi for a year, then moved on to a university EFL instructor position in Kuwait and then Oman. After 12 years in the Gulf I took a job teaching linguistics and second language teaching methodology courses at a Mexican university (at a small fraction of my Gulf salaries but the experience was worth it). From there I was hired into my current tenured position as a professor at a small Japanese university. Now 10 years later I have a Ph.D. and am considering other options for the future.

Gordon was hired into his current "rolling contract" university position from Canada (with prior teaching experience at a Korean hogwan and in Canada). He didn't have an MA at the time but has one now. (Congratulations again, Gordon!). Paul's a long-timer who has been in Japan for as long as I've been teaching. He's been doing the contract to contract, university to university thing for many years now and has accrued a lot of information on the hiring practices. He has an MA from a well-respected university and is now working towards a Ph.D.

Again, my preference is (and has always been) "job over country."

[sidjameson]

The guy I just replaced was hired from overseas. He lived in a free 2 bedroom house. I on the other hand only get 27000yen housing allowance because I was hired within Japan.
The get MA, then pt work, then hopefully ft is a well trodden path here in Japan. The positions are getting fewer and harder to get, but they are still there.

[kdynamic]

Kind of seems like a catch 22 in that Japanese employers want someone with Japanese language ability (which you pretty much need to be in Japan to aquire), and a certain kind of work experience (which you seem to be saying you can best get outside of Japan). I know nothing about the feild, I just wanted to comment that it seems kind of tricky to navigate.

[abufletcher]

[PAULH]

[abufletcher]

[denise]

I was a bit of an oddball while I was there, in terms of the job I had and how I got it. I worked for a satellite campus of an American university. The campus was in Niigata-ken. Basically, it was like working in the intensive ESL department of a university. They weren't technically university classes, since the students didn't get academic credit (they needed to get through our program first and get a high enough TOEFL score before they could start getting academic credit for their work). All of the EFL teachers were required to have MAs, and I think many of us were recruited and hired from abroad. Japanese ability was not required, since it was an American university.

The position didn't have the prestige associated with university teaching, but it also didn't require a PhD or publications. And it was a LOT better, from what I have heard, than working in the typical eikaiwa--we were all trained professionals, treated with respect, and got higher salaries and more benefits than pretty much all of the non-university professors.

I don't know how many such jobs still exist over there. My program actually closed, which is why I'm no longer there.

d

[PAULH]

[moot point]

Lakeland...natsukashii. I did some research in the Earth Sciences with them. I completely forgot about that school.