Job Discussion Forums

[renzobenzo1]

I see a lot of jobs advertised but are these being snapped up right away?
Are the next few months a good time to be job-hunting in Japan?

[Glenski]

The peak season for ads is Feb and March because of the April start dates. Wait longer, and there will be fewer jobs posted. Think of it that way instead of whether NOVA people are still around. Apply now.

[renzobenzo1]

Well, Nova or not...I guess the question is are there a greater number of teachers wanting jobs in Japan at the monent than jobs being offerred?

[flyer]

when you think about it, the Nova situation may have scared quite a few potential teachers off??? who knows?

they might change their plans for next year?

if so, then maybe its a good time?

[Gypsy Rose Kim]

There are definitely a lot more teachers than jobs. Unless you're talking about jobs that pay under 250,000 a month. There seem to be lots of those, and part-time work under 3K. Sorry for the editorializing, but those kind of jobs disgust me.

There are enough students, but the system is so wacky and both teachers and students have to jump through so many hoops.

I've been teaching A LOT of private students. However, it's a lot of legwork and you have to be very organized.

You also have to have a full-time job (or whoever sponsors your visa or whatever) which allows you to work at the times when private students are available. For most teachers in eikaiwas, who work weekends and evenings, it's gonna be pretty rough. I'd imagine ALT's could clean up pretty well, though.

[Wintermute]

This year is going to be rough for finding a decent paying job. There are still a tonne of teachers out there looking for work and now that GCom is starting to let go more of its staff you can only assume that number will increase. I think throughout this year you will see teacher numbers steadily decrease with 2009 being more open. I doubt pay levels will ever rise again though. I am kind of shocked that PT jobs are now only offering 2500-3000 considering the standard used to be 4500-5000yen. FT positions at 210-230,000yen a month are a slap in the face.

[poohbear]

hmmm, seems teaching in japan is nowhere near what it used to be. is it really that saturated a market nowadays if schools have the nerve to offer only 210, 000/month?

[Glenski]

poohbear,
IMO, yes. Salaries have been going down for the last 2-3 years, not just since NOVA went bankrupt. There are many candidates from countries that aren't usually considered native-English-speaking countries (e.g., Kenya), and certain employers are taking advantage of the fact that some of those people are more than satisfied to get 180,000-220,000 yen/month instead of what has been offered for the past 20 years (250K).

Another reason salaries are lower in some cases is that some employers are making use of the legal loophole to avoid making copayments in health insurance. They claim the teacher is in the classroom less than 29 hours per week and is therefore officially a part-timer, so the employer doesn't have an obligation to help with insurance. Some that do anyway will merely tell you that their copayment adds to the lower salary. Total B.S., of course, but many people don't realize the true situation.

Another reason is simply that many newbies are desperate for work for many reasons, and they will take whatever salary they can manage.

[southofreality]

The big eikaiwa companies haven't lowered their starting salaries in the last few years, so far as I know, but dispatch companies have.

When I worked for Interac, there were quite a few non-native English speakers in my training group. Nothing wrong with that if their English skills are on par with, or better than most native speakers. The sad fact, however, was that several of them were embarrassingly bad.

Anyway, ALTs usually end up in public schools and a lot of BOEs are not concerned with getting native speakers or not; they just want a body in the schools because some administrator (who likely moved on already) approved an ALT position or two for the district. It's a good way to use up budget money for the year, anyway.

Non-native speakers from countries with poor economies will work for a lot less than most native speakers will, so don't expect salaries in that sector to bounce back.

[Glenski]

[southofreality]