Job Discussion Forums

[Glenski]

[stevenbhow]

I started doing all p/t work last April after changing to a spousal visa. I've been doing a mixture of eikaiwa, corporate, and private lessons. So far, salary-wise I've been able to match or beat what I made f/t as an ALT and I usually work less then half the hours. I've even had a few 400,000 yen months at around 23 teaching hours.

I'm married, but don't have any kids. Also, my wife works and is covered by her company's health insurance plan. I use a private insurance company. We live in a condo, but we paid it off, so we don't have to worry about rent. Thanks to this and living simply our monthly expenses are pretty low.

I don't like is the travel involved for the corporate classes very much. I spend anywhere between 1-4 hours a day on the train. The hourly wages are pretty good until you factor this in. Also, I live in Nagoya, so the conditions are probably a bit different than Toyko. Most of the corporate work is outside of the city during commute times, so you are almost always on crowded trains. If you can sit down it's not too bad, but often you end up standing up for the entire trip.

One other thing that has been a slight problem is trying to explain my working situation to my father-in-law. Even though I make the same or more than I made before and the working conditions are much better he still considers me a freeta. My wife takes my side most of the time now, so it's not that big of an issue anymore.

I do like the freedom though. It is nice dealing with companies on my terms rather than having them tell me what to do. If the job conditions look dodgy I simply turn the work down. I still have to hussle a little to find work, but that has slowly been decreasing now that I've got a few companies that like and trust me as a teacher. I'm not sure if I'll do this until I retire or not, but so far it has been pretty good.

[gaijinalways]

As I said earlier, pension and insurance issues aside, I make more at the moment. Another key difference is that full timers sometimes start off lower, but will over time make more money if you're in a tenured post (assuming you work directly for a high school or uni). Currently, I still make more than my sempai at one university who started teaching at the university at about the same time as me (even factoring in his promotion). People I talk to that have been in Japan teaching part-time at unis 15-20 years make more than I do as an age basis and the number of years with a uni is factored into the pay scale.

So yes, you can make quite bit of money as a part-timer, but it can be more unstable. But certainly the longer you're here, the more likely (with the right connections and doing a good job) your income will keep increasing. I've seen my income almost triple in the last 3 years (and my health premiums, well I don't want to talk about them ).

My wife and I enjoy traveling and we save money, and I don't feel like we have to scrimp too much, though of course we're still considering saving for retirement. My wife has worked irregularly the last few years, so her income is an added benefit, but we're no dinks!

[Miyazaki]

Working a series of part-time jobs can bring a lot of peace of mind, especially in a city like Tokyo where there are a lot of jobs. You're a "consultant" instead of a "salaryman" / "OL". You don't need to go to meetings, put up with B.S. from staff or other teachers. You slip in, do your class and then take off. Per-hour, you always earn a higher wage in the part-time jobs. Corporates can be lucrative also.

[gaijinalways]

[Miyazaki]

[Miyazaki]

[gaijinalways]