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squidbreath
Joined: 10 Oct 2003
Posts: 4
Location: Florida
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 Posted: Sat Oct 11, 2003 1:38 am Post subject: Getting a job and bringing a wife along? |
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Hi,
I am a career ESL teacher with 2 MAs (one in ESL) and many years experience teaching in 5 countries. With my wife's blessing, I would like to work in Japan and bring her along. She is quite adaptable, so our concern at the moment is not really about whether she will stay at home or try to work or anything like that - we'll find out and deal with that when the time comes. The concern is whether Japanese employers are willing to hire married teachers with dependents, or whether they prefer to hire single ones to avoid the extra visa situation (or any other reason they may discriminate?) We're not concerned about the money situation because we have plenty of money and can live very frugally, even in expensive places. Advice, please?
Thanks,
Billy Bob |
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chelski abu
Joined: 03 Oct 2003
Posts: 23
Location: ----
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| Posted: Sat Oct 11, 2003 3:04 am Post subject: |
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hey bob,
i dont know much but i know you can get a dependency visa for a spouse..so technically it's cool...i can't see employers having a problem it.. |
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Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
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| Posted: Sat Oct 11, 2003 3:21 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| The concern is whether Japanese employers are willing to hire married teachers with dependents, or whether they prefer to hire single ones to avoid the extra visa situation |
Good concern. Few places hire couples. Sponsoring a second visa is definitely one of their reasons. Having a couple bring their problems to work all day long is another. Having two vacancies to cover during time off is another.
If you look hard enough, you can find such a place, though.
To clarify what chelski wrote, if one of you gets a full-time job, the other can get a dependent's visa and work part-time. So, if you both want full-time work, you'd both better get work visas. This is not to say that more money can't be made by working PT and supplementing with private lessons, but they are unstable and take a while to accrue. |
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shmooj
Joined: 11 Sep 2003
Posts: 1758
Location: Seoul, ROK
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| Posted: Sat Oct 11, 2003 9:11 am Post subject: |
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Make sure that when the firm who hires you applies for your work visa they apply for your wife's dependent's visa too.
Some red faces round here when our admin forgot to do this for a teacher coming in from the US recently 
She had to come in on a tourist visa but then, thankfully  , a relative passed away, so she could get her full visa back in the US on her emergency return there. |
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squidbreath
Joined: 10 Oct 2003
Posts: 4
Location: Florida
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| Posted: Sat Oct 11, 2003 9:03 pm Post subject: |
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| Thanks for the input, guys. |
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Gordon
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Posts: 5309
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Mon Oct 13, 2003 11:51 am Post subject: |
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| Does your wife plan to teach f/t? As a dependent, she can make up to 1 million yen/year without declaring the work and paying taxes. She would get a dependent visa and your boss would do this for you. Most employers would probably prefer a single teacher, but some like the stability of a family. My family is with me and my employer was very accomodating. |
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squidbreath
Joined: 10 Oct 2003
Posts: 4
Location: Florida
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| Posted: Mon Oct 13, 2003 6:28 pm Post subject: |
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| I guess I'm looking for the kind of employer you're talking about. One that values stability. The info I've read about this issue concerning Japan is inconsistent, but then I always had that same impression while working in Korea. I worked for years at a major university in Seoul that employed singles, families, etc, and it didn't seem to matter to them. My wife has no teaching experience, and she's a native speaker of Spanish, though her English is very good. I imagine she would like to teach kids as private jobs, so I'm sort of counting on that make her feel productive. Anyway, I'm not sure if she is qualified to teach English because she's a NNS, and she doesn't have credentials to teach Spanish even if she can find the demand for it. Anyway, I'm amazed dependents are allowed to earn a million yen. Whatever happens, she'll find something to do. I'm not as easy to please, however. I've been teaching ESL since 1988 and I want a good job. I don't have publications required for the university jobs in Japan, though. I've made presentations at conferences in both ESL and Literature recently, but that doesn't seem to be important based on the jobs I've seen advertised on this site and on ohayosensei. Hmmmm... Maybe I'll just come to Japan and pound the pavement a bit in February or March. |
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Gordon
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Posts: 5309
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Mon Oct 13, 2003 11:37 pm Post subject: |
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If your wife wants to work f/t and get a work visa, she will need a Bachelor's degree. Otherwise she can work p/t, which will be easy for her to find.
I'd say it would be almost impossible to get a uni job coming in off the street w/out connections and experience teaching w/in Japan. Most uni hire months in advance too. |
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Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
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| Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2003 4:43 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| I'd say it would be almost impossible to get a uni job coming in off the street w/out connections and experience teaching w/in Japan. Most uni hire months in advance too. |
All true, but let's not forget the most important thing. You will need a master's degree and a minimum of 3 refereed publications to even be considered for university work. Experience alone won't cut it. |
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PAULH
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Posts: 4672
Location: Western Japan
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| Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2003 5:05 am Post subject: Re: Getting a job and bringing a wife along? |
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| squidbreath wrote: |
Hi,
I am a career ESL teacher with 2 MAs (one in ESL) and many years experience teaching in 5 countries. Thanks,
Billy Bob |
Glenski
he already has the masters but not the publications, which he needs for full-time jobs. Its possible to string together a series of part time positions without the publications but you will be spending a lot of time commuting between several universities, and not really 'belonging' to any of them.
Publications will open the doors to full time teaching jobs (and depending on the school they will go over them with a toothcomb) but teaching part time without publications is possible. |
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squidbreath
Joined: 10 Oct 2003
Posts: 4
Location: Florida
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| Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2003 9:04 pm Post subject: What counts as publications? |
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| Thanks for all the feedback, everybody. I've written a paper for a linguistics class that I'm going to try to get published because my professor was really encouraging me to do that. That should count as one publication. I have another one that is submittable, but it's in American literature, so I don't know if that counts. Oh well, they haven't been published yet, and it's by no means a sure thing, so it might be all wishful thinking. But a uni job in Japan gives me the incentive to really give it a try. |
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PAULH
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Posts: 4672
Location: Western Japan
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| Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2003 11:17 pm Post subject: Re: What counts as publications? |
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| squidbreath wrote: |
| Thanks for all the feedback, everybody. I've written a paper for a linguistics class that I'm going to try to get published because my professor was really encouraging me to do that. That should count as one publication. I have another one that is submittable, but it's in American literature, so I don't know if that counts. Oh well, they haven't been published yet, and it's by no means a sure thing, so it might be all wishful thinking. But a uni job in Japan gives me the incentive to really give it a try. |
Squidbreath
Just speaking from my experience (12 years teaching, 7 publications and half a dozen academic presentations) try and get something published, even if its not very good in the beginning as you learn by doing, you can see how other people write and develop your writing style. Its often good to read other peoples articles in an area you are interested in to see what the standards are like (and quality of publications can vary greatly, from high-school level atrocious to outstanding)
Many universities here are not too fussy about the quality of your paper but will just want to see something in print. If you go through a peer review board or an editorial committee they will be a lot more critical and demanding.
My first papers I submitted to a university journal here when i was part time, wrote a small textbook, and in my current job have written 3 or 4 articles in 4 years- thats one a year.
A paper in American Literature should count, as long as it is related to English, ESL or Linguistics. I did a course in etaching Literature as part of my TESOL degree. It may be a good idea to have someone read it for you to check your references and citations and layout etc before you submit it to a journal.
i have a large list of refereed and unrefereed international journals (which carry more weight than many in Japan) you can submit papers to, including journals dealing in Literature.
please PM with your email address and I will send it to you. |
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