Job Discussion Forums

[orinlouis]

oh, but i fog a mean mirror--sunglasses, too!

so...about my questions...

certainly answering some of them (quite extensively), but maybe my most important sits alone in the dark:
where can i make the most money?


found some non-chain schools on seriousteachers.com, but wonder if its safer to go big?



seems as if this venture is likely to become a reality, in no small part thx to this message board (yousguys)! thanks!

[markle]

[orinlouis]

thanks for the tip!



guess i might as well also check out korea.

8/

[Glenski]

Where can you make the most money?

I would say that most people in this forum have not worked in a lot of places, so you aren't going to get a comprehensive global answer. You are going to have to do the legwork about countries and the various opportunities in each.

Yes, various in each country. Let's take Japan.

Entry level work is ALT dispatch, ALT JET, or conversation school (eikaiwa). You already nixed the most lucrative position (JET), so I won't argue that except to throw up a figure for you: 300,000 yen/month just for the regular 9 to 5 hours Mon to Fri. [You could always look for side work on the sly, and you'd have to do it that way because JET seriously frowns upon its ALTs from doing supplemental work, but if you got any, it would add to the above figure. Moreover, you might be one of the lucky JET ALTs who gets free rent. JET doesn't guarantee that, but it's possible.]

Dispatch and eikaiwa jobs pay an average of 220,000-270,000 yen/month, depending on location and company. Average, mind you. Some pay less these days, and desperate teachers feed that market. It's a very flooded market here in case you didn't know.

Some/Most dispatch agencies don't pay you during the summer breaks, or they pay a reduced (60%?) wage. Most eikaiwas don't do that as far as I know.

You can be labeled as a full-time worker, but if the eikaiwa wants to avoid making copayments into national insurance, they will only count your hours in the classroom and report that to the authorities, so to them you might appear to be only part-time and not get the copayments. That's half of your insurance premiums. So, you'd have to pay it all. This is a tricky thing, however. If they do offer copayments, it's a different sort of national insurance plan (the corporate one called shakai hoken, which also includes a pension payment and unemployment insurance). Pay on your own, and you'd have to take a different plan called citizen's insurance (kokumin kenko hoken), which has a separate pension payment that is voluntary. First year here, kokumin plan is about 2500 yen/month (for 10 months), but shakai plan is higher. After that, kokumin goes up about tenfold. So, how much you have to pay or can save will depend on this complicated issue.

Bottom line in Japan. Figure on spending about 125,000-150,000 yen/month on basic necessities (food, rent, utilities, phone, insurance). The rest of your salary goes to luxuries that you can budget as you please. With an average (and I stress this word) income of 250,000 yen/month, and some conservative spending, you will have about 70,000-90,000 yen left over for savings. With more frugal spending, you might have 100,000 left over every month.

Last thought. After your first year in Japan, you can stop using an employer to sponsor your work visa. The loose term on the streets is "self-sponsorship". It merely means you can get a string of PT work and use these collectively to "sponsor" your visa. There is no set minimum salary total that you need for this, and every immigration office(r) has their own concept of it, but the rough average to shoot for is a subsistence wage of roughly 180,000 yen/month. Higher is better. This will still be a work visa with no change in its conditions of employment, so you could still get a renewal or a 1- or 3-year visa as long as you can still provide proof of income. Private lessons won't count towards that income because it is not guaranteed.

People are going to tell you many stories, and the rule of thumb in Japan is that there is no rule of thumb. It's all case by case, which is why I give average situations and figures. Use these and get the same info from the other countries where you are interested, and compare.

[orinlouis]

Bout covers my question top to bottom.


I will certainly remember/take all of your advice. So helpful!

A+ for you, man!

Thank you!

[Foole]

I'm looking to do the same thing as the OP, come over without a job and without a visa, but at least I can bring substantially more cash. I should only be limited by time.

It's been established that only a handful of schools/organizations will hire from outside Japan. I've already applied to all of them, plus JET (rejected). I've got an AEON interview and a Teach Away interview (Interac) in New York next week, but if those both fall through, I'm coming over.

I've seen dozens of adverts on Ohayo Sensei and Gaijinpot that always state that the applicant must currently reside in Japan. Some of those will sponsor visas, some won't, but they still insist on an applicant from within Japan. Might as well come.

So if I'm open to working nearly anywhere in Japan, where would be the best place to do the job hunt from, Tokyo or Osaka? Tokyo would have the most opportunities but also the most competition, plus the highest expenses. Osaka, maybe a little less of each. Both are pretty centrally located in Japan and on the shink lines. I'd rather work in Osaka given a choice, so I'll probably set up shop there for my 90 days.

Are there any other 'prime' hiring times besides March/April? I want to come right after Golden Week. Or will it make much of a difference now?

[Foole]

[markle]

I think he means that if you turn up on their doorstep at that time they will be more likely to give you the job

[poohbear]

[quote="Glenski"]

[Glenski]

[quote="poohbear"]