Job Discussion Forums

[ItisI]

I�m overwhelmed with so much information on these forums that I have lost my focus and do not know where to begin. I hope to be doing my CELTA in February or March 2007. I have a BA and a MSC in non English related subjects.
So here is my first batch of questions
1) When is the best time to look for a job?
2) Does age have anything to do with it as I am reaching half a century soon?
3) I think that I would prefer to teach Adults (as I have had 7 years lecturing experience in IT), I�m not so sure if I could handle youngsters. I really do not know though?
4) From what I have read form some of the posts on these forums I think that I would like to be doing conversational English in Japan. Is this a good choice for a newbie?

[Glenski]

Where to begin? Choose a country or at least a region of some continent. It helps us to help you with what we may know of those areas, and some of us are limited in having lived in only one country outside of our home one.

Since you asked something about Japan, I will address all of my answers in that regard.

1) When is the best time to look for a job?
For someone with no teaching degree or experience, you should consider yourself suited for entry level work, and in Japan that means conversation schools or the JET programme. JET applications are only once a year, and they have finished recruiting earlier this month for the Aug.2007 start date. Conversation schools hire throughout the year (and the big four have their own schedules for visiting your home country, so check on what NOVA, AEON, ECC, and GEOS have on their web pages), but generally they tend to hire for an April start date just like mainstream schools. So, the push for interviews happens in March.

2) Does age have anything to do with it as I am reaching half a century soon?
Of course it has something to do with it, but you just have to sell yourself. People will tell you that Japanese conversation schools stop hiring people over 30 or 35 but that is false. Yes, they want a youngish image for their students, but they hire people in their 40s, 50s, and even 60s. You just have to prove you won't get culture shock, that your personal chemistry matches their desires to teach, and that you know a little something about building and presenting a lesson plan. I started at 41.

3) I think that I would prefer to teach Adults (as I have had 7 years lecturing experience in IT), I�m not so sure if I could handle youngsters. I really do not know though?
Lecturing experience in IT. Does that involve participation by the IT students in any way? Teaching English overseas means getting the students to talk 80% of the class period, so it is not a lecture as much as it is "edutainment". Some conversation schools deal exclusively with adults, while others handle only kids, or a mixture. Sometimes you can ask not to teach the kiddies. Here is another case where age can actually be in your favor, as some students are housewives and business people who feel more comfortable with a teacher their own age, not someone as old as their own children with no life experience abroad.

4) From what I have read form some of the posts on these forums I think that I would like to be doing conversational English in Japan. Is this a good choice for a newbie?
It is practically your only choice other than JET. What did you expect to do, jump into university classes or solo high school teaching? You have to show proper qualifications for those. Conversation schools review the grammar that everyone here gets for 6 years in high school (from Japanese teachers, and focused at passing college entrance tests, not at speaking). So, classes must be lively and engaging enough to keep the clients coming in. Some employers even gauge your salary or renewal on the number of students you maintain.

[ItisI]

Wow! thanks Glenski for your swift reply
I have found it very helpful