Job Discussion Forums

[ShadowEdge]

Is it possible to secure a eikaiwa job from my home country (US) with just a phone interview. I've checked the official sites for most of the large chains like Geos and Nova, but it seems like the all require an interview in cities that are nowhere near where I live. It seems like this is very easy to do in Korea but much more difficult in Japan, and actually coming to Japan without a job lined up isn't possible. Any ideas?

[canuck]

[stillnosheep]

Many of the smaller chains will hire from outside Japan on CV (Resume) and phone interview.

It is also possible to enter Japan on a Tourist Visa and then sort out employment. However you will need proof that you can continue your journey from Japan (normally an onward or return ticket) and shedloads of cash to keep you alive until your first proper month's wages arrive.

[sethness]

I think Stillnosheep's assessment is closest to my own experience.

(I came to Japan on a 3-month tourist visa, stayed for free with friends, spread my resume around, showed my face, and then left. 5 months and 8 months later, I got calls asking me to come to Japan right away & start work.)

On the down side, this means that you come to Japan and haemorrhage money, then come back to your own country and wait for nibbles at your bait. It also means that these small schools, with small staff, will call you and hope that you'll be able to drop everything & come back to Japan within days. It's not their fault-- it's simply that in a small school with fixed lesson-times, the rest of the staff are tied up and can't cover one-anothers' classes, so their need is very real.

That severely short timeline means whatever job you're in at that moment must be the kind that is easily dropped without hard feelings. Airplane tickets with minimal prep-time also tend to be awwwfully expensive, and your landlord may be quite peeved to see you fly off so suddenly.

Also, it means that you **might possibly** get called up by schools that are mean toward their teachers, but you won't know 'til you get here. I had the good fortune to get some honest outside opinions about my potential employers, and so was able to wisely turn down the first offer that came my way, and leap at the second offer.

There are a couple of things you can do to increase your chances and ease your entry. For example,
1) always include a photo of yourself with your resume, and make sure you look clean-cut and happy.

2) Make a video of yourself teaching a class, even if it's a pretend lesson to pretend students-- anything so the potential employers know that you don't show up drunk, unshaven, and speaking with an incomprehensible accent.

3) If possible, try to take a CELTA, TEFL or similar course before you get here. It proves that you can walk into a classroom and not embarrass the school. It might even improve your salary.

If #3 sounds fun but yo lack the funds, consider Thailand's opportunities: If you hunt around, you'll find a few schools in Thailand for example that'll pay you a trifling salary and a free TEFL/CELTA certificate in return for teaching their classes for a few months.

4) When I came to Japan on a tourist visa, I stayed with a penpal's family for free, got driven around... got lots of help in general. It was grrrreat. In return, they got nonstop English lessons and stayed me in my homeland.
I think perhaps if you look for some penpal-introduction websites, you might pick up a few penpals and in that way eventually get an invitation similar to mine-- it's really a win-win situation for you and your host.

[Lady0424]

It definately is possible to have a job lined up without a live interview. I've had tons of phone interviews and about 7 offers. Check my post (My interview experiences). I just updated that with more interviews.

[Quibby84]

I got a busy but decent job with one phone call talking about not much of anything. It is a very small school in a very nice sized town...there are lots of companies like this though, we had several offers for interviews. You just have to do the research, and a job (without paying lots of money to go to an interview) will come.

[sethness]

Ahhh... being female might have madea big difference in your employment chances. Foreign guys outnumber foreign women quite a bit, so many schools will try to balance-out the genders of their teachers whenever possible. (Gender discrimination is legal and commonplace in Japan.)

I've been the candidate-of-choice twice, until a woman walked in and took the job.

As far as the phonecall goes, I assume they were just checking your accent. When I got offered a job long-distance, they were worried that I might have a Bronx/New York accent, til we spoke by phone.

Anyway... congrats, Melissa ! *applause* Way to go !

[Quibby84]

this job wanted a couple so they got two for one, male and female, cant say that there was female favorite'nes' here.