Job Discussion Forums

magicmajenta

Are there people here that have stayed in Japan for years and have had good employment throughout and have saved up quite a bit? Or are most people who teach in Japan only there for a year or two? I am just curious and want to know what are the long-term prospects for a teacher in Japan. Will you be able to get a good job after working in Japan with one of the Eikawas especially if you look for a job in Japan after your contract is over. Let me know your thoughts.

chollimaspeed · Joined: 11 Sep 2007 Posts: 120

It depends...

sallycat · Joined: 11 Mar 2006 Posts: 303 Location: behind you. BOO!

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

groothewanderer · Joined: 14 Sep 2007 Posts: 33

Yes.
Yes.
It depends.

TokyoLiz · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 1548 Location: Tokyo, Japan

Sweetsee · Joined: 11 Jun 2004 Posts: 2302 Location: ) is everything

It takes a lot of people to make a world, Magic. I fit into the first group you described. You can do the same.
Enjoy,
s

Gordon · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 5309 Location: Japan

Lots of long termers in Japan. It gets easier if you have higher qualifications and connections.
It really is up to you. Some people get back on the next plane after less than a day in Japan.

Rooster_2006 · Joined: 24 Sep 2007 Posts: 984

I live in Korea, but I worked at a youth hotel in which many of our guests were English teachers from Japan on their visa runs. My impression is that English teachers in Japan are much more likely to be lifers than English teachers in Korea. Japan is more set up for that kind of thing. In Korea, you can't own your own visa, so your company can treat you like crap and fire you without paying, and you have only a short amount of time to stay in the country, whereas if your Japanese employer fires you one month in without paying, you can stick around for 11 months and give them hell about it. Furthermore, long-termers in Japan get special benefits, like the ability to self-sponsor their visa, the ability to work part time outside of the main workplace (as in tutoring) and, in the case of one professor I met in Hakata who's been in Japan for over 20 years, the ability to get permanent residency from length of stay/a good job (I have never, in my 3+ years in Korea, met a foreigner who got that without either being racially Korean or without marrying one). Really, how enjoyable the foreign teachers find a country is likely to be determined by how much the government tries to restrict their activities.

Gordon · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 5309 Location: Japan

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

Rooster_2006 · Joined: 24 Sep 2007 Posts: 984

Gordon · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 5309 Location: Japan

It is not a visa upgrade. A self-sponsored visa is different not better than getting a school to sponsor you.

magicmajenta · Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2007 6:31 pm Post subject:

Well basically my qualifications are that I have a BA in Political Science, a JD (Juris Doctor-law degree) and a Global Tesol College Certificate and a few months of English teaching experience in Poland. I plan on taking the bar exam in the future but for now I want/need to work and earn some money. I initially want to get a job with one of the Eikaiwas first but then after that maybe move on to something better in time. So what are my long term prospects in Japan? Will I get better work eventually after my time with an Eikaiwa? I'd really like to know because if I like my time in Japan I may stay longer.

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

I can tell you several people who got PR after living here less than 10 years, but they were all married to Japanese. That's what I meant by my previous post. Ten years it the guideline for single people.