Job Discussion Forums

eIn0791207912 · Joined: 12 Jan 2009 Posts: 33

im 25. been teaching in korea for 2 years. will be here another year. so 26 when leaving. i want to do working holiday in ausi for a year after that to just travel and take a break from teaching (and give the global economy time to recover).

this puts me in japan around 27, with 3 years teaching and 1, maybe 2, teaching certificates.

is this too old to start teaching in japan? i know that pretty much no matter what ur experience is u have to start at the bottom and work ur way up.

once i hit japan, i could see myself going long term there. learning the language, getting a better job than teaching, and perhaps making my family there (or at least start it and move it back to the states)

im just afraid of turning 30 and not having anything to show for it. i.e. working for some small school as a low level teacher, no family of my own, no nice possessions, cheap little apartment. stuff im ok with now, haha.

tsunatuna · Joined: 29 Jan 2009 Posts: 45 Location: Japan

Well, I finished university with 26 and came to Japan at the age of 27. I had no problems at all because of my age.
Some schools prefer to have "older" teachers, because they're afraid that the really young ones that come fresh from college/uni might not be serious about teaching and/or leave the school soon again.

elkarlo · Joined: 08 Dec 2008 Posts: 240 Location: Maryland

Vince · Joined: 05 May 2003 Posts: 559 Location: U.S.

There is some age discrimination, but it's overstated. A few horror stories get out and people buy into them being the norm. I worked with many teachers well into their 40's. Just as younger teachers are valuable for their youthful appeal, older teachers are valuable for their maturity.

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

27 too old????!!!!!!

C'mon. People are working here in their 50s and 60s. I started out at 40-41.

27 is perhaps a wee bit on the high side of what the average newbie is.

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

Although 27 is not too old to come here, plenty of people arrive considerably older, the things you say you don't want to see yourself doing may well come true, because there isn't a long time between 27 and 30. 3 years isn't much time to advance career-wise, and in eikaiwa and ALT there isn't much advancing to be done anyway. As for having your own family by then, do you think 3 years is enough time for you to meet someone in Japan, get married, and start having kids? You would have to work pretty quickly!

If you live in a decent-sized Japanese city then your apartment is likely to be small. What do you think you need in the way of possessions to be happy? Big screen TV, new car? Depending on where you live a car might be impractical, but if you save enough I'm sure you can buy some of the things you want. (I'm trying to think of what "nice possessions" I have- my Nintendo DS maybe? Wink

I also can't think of anything I particularly want to buy that would qualify, but I'm not so motivated by owning things, so I'm not too sure what you are thinking of.)

I think you will find that when you hit 30 you will not feel as old as you thought you would. I am 33, so 27 wasn't that long ago. The years between 27 and 30 went past very quickly- for me all of those years were in Japan too.

If your real dream is to have started a family, be moving ahead in your career, have acquired some possessions and be living in a nice house/apartment all by the time you are 30 then you might want to skip the working holiday as well and start working on that now, because it will be difficult to achieve much of it starting from 27 in a new country. Moving from country to country tends to get in the way of all that and most people have to choose between the two options.

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

It seems to me that you could skip the holiday, and do all that you want in Korea starting now.

Have you spent much time in Japan? Why do you think you would want to live the rest of your working life here, if you havn't already spend a few years living here? Most people leave Japan within three years of showing up, and half of them leave after the first year.

But no, you're not too old.

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

eIn0791207912 · Joined: 12 Jan 2009 Posts: 33

eIn0791207912 · Joined: 12 Jan 2009 Posts: 33

eIn0791207912 · Joined: 12 Jan 2009 Posts: 33

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

Vince · Joined: 05 May 2003 Posts: 559 Location: U.S.

eIn0791207912, it sounds like you're approaching the idea of living in Japan with a) too much romanticism, and b) an unwillingness to truly consider input that doesn't fit the romanticism.

Although the Japanese generally aren't as vocally nationalistic and discriminatory as Koreans, there are still plenty of both in Japan. In fact, one advantage in Korea might be that their directness lets you know up front what you're dealing with. In Japan, people are typically very polite up front; too often, things quickly go in the opposite direction once familiarity sets in.

The job market is tough in Japan right now. Even when it was better, it was still difficult to find truly secure work that would assure long-term security.

Since I'm not your father, I won't get too much into relationship advice with you. I'll just say that most people find that marriage is a much different animal from what they imagined when they were single. American notions of marriage vs. an American take on Asian notions has nothing to do with it. There's no shame in marrying in your mid-thirties, but most people would be ashamed to rush into marriage only to have it end in divorce or crush their spirit.

elkarlo · Joined: 08 Dec 2008 Posts: 240 Location: Maryland

elkarlo · Joined: 08 Dec 2008 Posts: 240 Location: Maryland