Job Discussion Forums

[robert davis]

My wife and I are interested in finding work in Japan. We would like to work at the same school if possible.

Can anyone give us some advice on these practical matters:

1. Do schools like hiring married couples? It would seem that married couples present some benefits for schools (stability, money).

2. How do we go about finding jobs together?
-How do we word our cover letters? Do we write a joint cover letter or
separately?

3. Should we even risk trying to sell ourselves as a package deal?

Any other advice on this topic would be much appreciated.

Thanks all,
Rob

[Laura C]

Hi Robert,

Nova accepts joint applications from couples, at least in the UK. I'm sure Canada must be the same.

Or if things don't work out as a joint application, one of you could start work in one school, and the other apply to Nova, GEOS etc, requesting the same city (no guarantees though). Or else one goes to Japan with a job and apartment already lined up, and the other joins them on a working holiday visa and gets a job after arrival.

Best of luck,

L

[cpreece]

Hi Robert,

My husband and I were in the same position as you only a couple of months ago. We both wanted to teach English but wanted to be at the same school or at least with the same company. So, we sent our resumes to companies via email, wrote one cover letter and attached both resumes to the email. We also set up a website to display both our resumes and reference letters. We made it clear that we were a "package deal" in our cover letter. Some companies never responded but ECC offered us interviews and we were hired. At the interview, they had questions regarding small living spaces, how we handle stressful situations together, how long we have been married, where we stand on having kids, etc.

We have been guaranteed by the company that we will work in the same area but not necessarily in the same school - but that is OK with us.

If you have any more questions you can email me
[email protected]

Carol

[Gordon]

Carol, they asked about having children? I hope you told them it was none of their business.

It would probably be beneficial to work at different schools. Otherwise too much talk about the office and kids. My wife and I worked together at the same school in Korea. It worked out fine, but was quite stressful.

[BenJ]

why is working at the same school necessary?

I came here with my partner simply by one of us getting a job in a bigger city first, then the other looking for work in the same city. Worked out fine.

[shmooj]

[robert davis]

Thanks for the all the replies. I totally appreciate it!

Let me explain a bit about our situation.

We are both willing to work at separate schools but we would prefer to both have jobs lined up before we go. Working together also seems easier for practical reasons (housing costs, transportation etc).

I have been teaching in Vancouver for 2 years now but my wife has no teaching experience at all. She does have an MA in psychology so I don't think she will have too much difficulty finding work.

As it stands it seems more likely that I will find a job and she will look for one while in Japan.

One more question though! Will she be able to get a work visa in Japan if she comes on just a regular tourist visa?

Thanks again,
Rob

[Celeste]

If you gain employment first and she is travelling with you, she should come on a dependants visa. If you are both coming on tourist visas, then this should be fine. She may have difficulty cinvincing immigration that she does not want to overstay her tourist visa to stay with her spouse.

Either way, it is absolutely possible to change visas over once you are here, providing that you have a job or jobs that are willing to sponsor you.

[kiracle]

I came with my husband, myself on a working visa and he on a dependent's visa, and we work for the same company. This worked out well because our school was specifically looking for a couple that wanted a full time/part time mix. However, before we got this job I had decided to go the route mentioned above and get a job in a big city and let my husband look for work once we arrived. It's a good plan but be careful if your employer is providing housing. The recruiter that hired me led me to think it would be fine to have two people living in the company apartment (not just anybody either - my husband!) but the company put up a big stink and a week before I was supposed to leave they asked me to sign a document stating that my husband would not live (or sleep over more than one night without requisite visitor permission) in my apartment. Needless to say, I declined to sign.

I think you'll figure something out, but just be warned and wary about housing.

Good luck!

[ryuro]

Hey folks,

Just want to say everyone's advice here is spot on, but being that I've done a fair amount of recruiting over the years, thought I'd throw in a couple things that haven't been said yet.

First, make sure they're willing to take couples- not everyone wants them and depsite what we westerners might think, being a couple doesn't always mean "stability" in the minds of Japanese managers. Often it's the opposite- too much work and personal life mixing which is anathema to the Japanese sometimes. If they're ad specifically says something like, "no couples please" or "we can't offer employment to couples"- don't waste your time sending an application. And don't try and be sneaky sending applications separately- eventually they're gonna find out and they obviously have resons that they don't want a couple.

There reasons are many, but sometimes they don't want couples simply because they can't offer employment in the same city for two people or do to the accomodation arrangements. Most of the companies for which I have recruited offer single occupancy apartments which are impractical for couples in which to live. Of course in the west we might think, "well, we're saving them money by having one (albeit) bigger apt. instead of two smaller ones." Sorry, you're trying to apply logic where it rarely exits. Anyone who's been here for a while knows the housing market here doesn't work that way. Usually these companies have had thier apts. on retainer for years avoiding having to pay extortionistic start-up costs again and again. So they're not gonna be all that keen on going out and finding a new apt. when they have two perfectly good apts. that will cost them nothing in start-up fees.

The last point I'll make is one that seems to appear in most of these posts, but thought id just make it glaringly obvious...

Go for jobs in the bigger cities.

However you decide to come over; one with a work visa and the other with dependent or tourist... whatever, you'll have a much higher chance of success (as is clearly demonstrated by those who've posted here) than you will in smaller markets.

I don't want to discourage anyone, it's absolutely doable, just thought it might be helpful to have a little insight from the recruiter's POV as it were.

Good luck!
ryuro