Job Discussion Forums

sanpedro72 · Joined: 18 Jun 2008 Posts: 86 Location: Earth

Hey all Japan teachers and experts.

I have been gaging my effort to work japan on the adverts from the actual job posts, which haven't been many compared to Korea and China. Why?

Does anyone have a great employer out there who can offer some advice or actual contacts to recruiters and companies in the Land of the Rising Sun?

I see some great jobs out there for 260,000 Yen and more per month with good bennies. But it seems a lot of these opportunities are through these London companies which insist I fly to London for an interview. That's bullocks :p

As for experience, I've got 2.5 years, a mixture of young learners and adults in both classrooms and businesses.

Can anyone help with my search? Regards in advance Smile

AgentMulderUK · Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 8:50 am Post subject:

Well , the less attracive a place is to foreigners, the less likely jobs are going to be easily filled. (ie. conditions, money)

And the larger the country, the higher number of teachers needed. i.e. China.

Fairly obvious I suspect, no ?

With the thing about flying to London, are you in the UK now?

To get started, flying for an interview that may not be attractive, but that is where GEOS, Interac, ECC, AEON (very occasionally) and Shane (regularly) recruit from, over there.

The Shane Applicant Suitability Checksheet is below:

Applicant Alive : yes/no
Applicant speaks English at ANY level: yes/no

So do a self-assessment and see if you pass.

Try a working holiday visa, as long as you are not old like me. Do you have a degree ?You are going to need that. If you can get that fixed it much easier to get work from withing the country, assuming you have the visa and degree,etc.

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

Look at the FAQ sticky on job ads for starters.

Are you willing to come here and look around? Bring the equivalent of US$4000 and be prepared for a 2-3 month wait for that first paycheck. July is not a hot month. The JET ALTs are due to arrive in public schools, and those people already working in mainstream schools are ready to go on summer break for a month or so.

If you can't/won't come here for job hunting, you are limited to the few (dozen or so) places that hire from abroad. Mulder has mentioned a few. You take what you can get. With your qualifications, don't expect more than entry level: ALT for JET or a dispatch agency, or instructor for eikaiwa.

Apsara · Joined: 20 Sep 2005 Posts: 2142 Location: Tokyo, Japan

GambateBingBangBOOM · Joined: 04 Nov 2003 Posts: 2021 Location: Japan

The other reason is that a lot of the jobs that come available are filled from within the country, often by people who networked their way in by arriving an working for a company that hires from overseas (eikaiwa etc. JET can actually be a detriment as far as experience goes for getting another job in Japan- the image is that they do nothing, and for the most part it's not all that far off the mark), meeting people and getting offered the position, or at least the information about the job (who to contact etc) and get they get their job simply by name dropping the name of a stellar employee of the company that they are friends with.

Occasionally, you'll find dispatch companies that DO hire from outside of Japan, but they still do it only through networking. They have one or two people that used to work for them in the country, or that they trust, and that person recommends some people, then they interview those people only, and NEVER advertise that they are hiring.

BobbyBan · Joined: 05 Feb 2008 Posts: 201

A few questions:

1. Do you have a degree? Without one you need three years teaching experience.

2. Where do you live? Going to London isn't worth it if you live in Australia, I'd imagine.

3. Will you get any letter you send proofread by a friend? I don't know what "gaging" is, I think "bullocks" is also a spelling mistake and don't ask them for "bennies".

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

fluffyhamster · Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2008 1:16 pm Post subject:

sanpedro72 · Joined: 18 Jun 2008 Posts: 86 Location: Earth

Wow, guys that's a lot of info. Many thanks to you all. Oh by the way, I am in Oregon (USA). Also I do not have several thousands in cash stuffed away. Basically I can get myself there and live for a month until my first check.

I have applied to Shane before, and while they are lovely people they offer a considerably lower salary than average, whether China, Japan, yada-yada. Agent Mulder, nice assessment.

I mispelled bollocks purposely as to not immediately insult any Brits on the board. Maybe I should substitue Maalox...or maybe I should just proofread :p

Corny humour aside, to answer BobbyBan:

I have 1.5 years worth teaching/tutoring ESL at two outsourced web companies in Riga, Latvia. All adults. Discplines included customer service, legal writing, advert copy, and phone support (a bit different I know). I have an additional year in the classroom with young learners in Seoul, South Korea. Got my TESOL (2 to be precise) while in Korea. Also I have a BA from ancient times.

That should sum things up. For all this time, I was thick in believe that the ESL world revolved around only China and Korea. The alarm rang and this time I didn't use the snooze.

Many thanks and cheers,

Jacob

PS. Praises to fluffyhamster for the links. Will check 'em out. Applause Smile

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

fluffyhamster · Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2008 10:28 pm Post subject: Re: Japanorama

Apsara · Joined: 20 Sep 2005 Posts: 2142 Location: Tokyo, Japan

The reason that you would need more than a month's worth of living expenses is that Japanese companies, schools etc. usually pay late in the month (20th, 25th), for the work you did the month before.

So as an example, someone arrives on the 15th of August and has found a job and started working by the 20th (very unlikely scenario, but anyway). On the 20th or 25th of September they will get paid for working August 20th to 31st, so maybe 8 or 9 days' pay depending on how many weekends there were in that time frame- not a lot to get you through to the next payday.

Then on the 20th or 25th of October they will finally see a full paycheque- more than 2 months after they arrived. That first two months can be really expensive too as there are lots of set-up costs and you don't know the place well enough to keep costs down as well.

Some companies will give an advance when you arrive, which is then deducted from your first 2 or 3 paycheques. In other words it can take ages just to break even.

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

fluffyhamster · Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2008 6:26 pm Post subject:

Hi Glenski! Heh, I was being a bit cheeky/ironic with the "drew a blank" (of course you know your stuff!), but I thought there might be some newbies "desperate" for dispatch (but not yet "lucky" enough to have chanced upon such links themselves). So, pretty obvious stuff in all, really. It's a shame that there aren't some 100% recommendable (i.e. fully legit) AET dispatchers.

Regarding what GBBB wrote, it makes public-school dispatchers sound far more choosy than they actually are (the AETs aren't necessarily bad, it's just, the dispatcher ends up needing to deliver their quota of teachers); but if it's private school dispatch AETs that he's talking about, well, dispatch is dispatch, and dispatchers ultimately need to advertise (private schools that find suitable people themselves the "hard" way are a different matter, obviously, and, one could be forgiven for sometimes thinking that they're becoming almost as rare as those public schools/BOEs that somehow continue to hire directly).