Job Discussion Forums

jlcozzens · Joined: 11 Nov 2006 Posts: 17 Location: Moving

Hello,
I have been working recently at the university level in China. I will be getting my master�s degree soon and look to teach at university level in Japan. Could you please tell me when the University/College term starts in Japan and if many foreigners teach at the College/University level. The reason that I ask is because most schools in China start in August or September, but I know that different countries have different systems and I am interested to know when the school year starts. Thank you for your help.

JimDunlop2 · Joined: 31 Jan 2003 Posts: 2286 Location: Japan

For what it's worth -- April. But if you don't have a Master's yet, and have no direct teaching experience in Japan yet, I wouldn't hold my breath getting something too readily.

sethness · Joined: 28 Feb 2005 Posts: 209 Location: Hiroshima, Japan

I'll back what Jim said. University English-teaching jobs in Japan are much sought after, and typically offered only to people who
a) have a Master's in some English or education-related degree (Will your Masters and work-experience from China be in ESL?),
b) have lived in Japan a while,
c) "know someone" (good-old-boy networking)

And, though it's not to be used in the classroom, knowing a good deal of Japanese (reading as well as speaking) would probably be a big plus.

Someone coming from China, unless they've already got a job lined up by some great luck, is not going to be first-in-line for a Japanese University English-teaching job. Far from it.

Expect to start lower -- like an eikaiwa, 25-contact-hours-a-week, 250,000 yen a month. --Or, if you can swing it, get a JET job, because A JET job might have higher visibility, better salary and more upward mobility.

sethness · Joined: 28 Feb 2005 Posts: 209 Location: Hiroshima, Japan

It's also worth noting that the University jobs I've heard about have all had a rather long application process, usually requiring applications and interviews anywhere from 3 to 6 months before the job begins.

jlcozzens · Joined: 11 Nov 2006 Posts: 17 Location: Moving

Hello,
Yes, I will be finishing my Master of Arts in Teaching ESL in the summer and in China I taught ESL at universities. I imagine, much like China, that every school hires foreign ESL teachers at least 4 or 5 maybe more. I know that finding a job in an elite univeristy may be tough but what about Teachers' Colleges or lower tier universities?

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

jlcozzens · Joined: 11 Nov 2006 Posts: 17 Location: Moving

Wow, thank you for that information. I almost cannot fathom how there could be 20 - 100 applicants every year. Wow. Who are these people and what kind of salary do the universities offer to make it so desirable for the foreigners? In your opinion, what is the best route if I want to teach at Univeristy in Japan? Should I visit the schools in person? What kind of degree do these people have, MA or PHDs?

ripslyme · Joined: 29 Jan 2005 Posts: 481 Location: Japan

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

sethness · Joined: 28 Feb 2005 Posts: 209 Location: Hiroshima, Japan

In addition to Glenski's observations, I'd add that Uni jobs are very often filled by friends-of-the-faculty, rather than strictly on the basis of the applicants' resumes. A person coming fresh off the boat from another country would have to have a pretty stunning resume to compete with locally-available, well-connected Japanese-speaking talent.

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To the other respondents in this thread:
It's worth noting that the Original Poster started an identical thread in the Vietnam forum. It therefore seems likely that he/she does not have a special interest in Japan, nor Japanese language skills.

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To the original poster:
Let's face it: if you want to come to Japan, you can realistically get a job as an entry-level eikaiwa teacher (250,000 yen a month, 25 classroom hours) and that may some day years from now lead to a university/college job. However, there's near-zero chance that even a low-level college would hire someone fresh out of college and fresh off the boat.

jlcozzens · Joined: 11 Nov 2006 Posts: 17 Location: Moving

Wow,
That last comment seemed a bit negative but that's okay. Just for your information, I posted in Vietnam because I also was interested in teaching there. What makes you think I'm "Fresh out of college." I will have my Master of Arts in TESOL this summer. I don't think too many teachers working in language schools have Master's Degrees regardless of what country. I have been to Japan before to watch football in 2002. I am ethnically, 1/2 Korean and 1/2 White and my mother has encouraged me to teach many times in South Korea but for some reason, it just doesn't appeal much to me. Japanese langauge doesn't appeal much either. I really just want to be a lowly instructor in a rural low level college in Japan for a few years.

Maybe I am getting the wrong idea about Japan, what I mean is, in China, many teachers trying to work in big cities and good schools also had a lot of competition and the schools were very picky. Many foreigners applied, (especially along the coastal cities) and some schools were so picky. However, universities and colleges in China are not limited to Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong where schools were the most selective. There are colleges in small towns near Tibet, and in the Western regions, and even in the South. I got a list of all the schools in China and had my Chinese friends get contact info for the schools I wanted. In some rural areas, there were only 3 foreigners in the whole city.

It sounds like competition is fierce in Japan, but I wonder if it is really that fierce in low-tier, rural colleges. I have NO DESIRE to teach in big cities like Tokyo, Hiroshima, Kyoto, ect. I like nature and small rural towns/cities. In China, I managed to work in 4 different colleges/universities, 3 of them in rural areas. I would be willing to contact every rural college/university in Japan before I would work in a language school for 250,000 yen.

I also read somewhere that colleges/universities in Japan like teachers young, maybe between 25-55. If that is true, I also have a better chance since I am 1/2 Asian and 24.

canuck · Joined: 11 May 2003 Posts: 1921 Location: Japan

BigPoppa · Joined: 21 Sep 2006 Posts: 28

I think they're trying to say that any college in Japan, rural or not, is pretty picky about who they hire with an MA being the bare minimum requirement.

This is not, from what I understand, like applying to a language school in Japan or a university job in China. It is much closer to landing a university teaching position in the US, with far more qualified applicants than jobs.