Job Discussion Forums

[Jaradcel]

Hi all!

I've been trawling through the forums, posts, information et al, and I've come to a rather sad conclusion:

Is there any hope of a Singaporean, still stuck in Singapore, of ever landing a job teaching in Japan?

Similar to Kibara here http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=69498 (I said I read the forums:P) I will only graduate in June, though my final examinations finish in late April.

I know that ALT-level schools start early April, but does this mean that I have absolutely no hope even if I apply and state my predicament on the cover letter?

Perhaps a bit of background info would help: I'm gradding with a BA in Journalism, and have several years of work under my belt. For my professional internship, I worked at the youth papers covering education from 6-18 years of age. That's pretty much where I figured that yes, I can quite happily live with teaching kids (One of the various banes I've found circulating about the "down sides" to eikaiwa/ALT's)

The problems I've run into so far though, are these:

a) Some posters here and elsewhere such as Gaijinpot say that they have seen plenty of Asians (Not Asian-American, Asians) teaching in Japan.

Some say it's mainly limited right now to Phillippino's who can afford to live on 180-200K per month. While I don't really want to do so, I think my baseline for now is at least 230K, though 250K is the real minimum a friend of mine who works in Japan for an ALT dispatch says.

I've actually yet to see/read/hear from any such posters. Everyone seems (to me, and this is a sweeping generalization I know) to be on these forums either American/Canadian/UK/Australian. How true is the issue on Asians being accepted?

b) Since I'm from Singapore, I speak at native level English. I know this sounds like boasting, but I can't figure out how best to put it across so forgive me, but I believe I speak, read, and write better than most Singaporeans (For those who've wandered into the Singapore board below, I can switch between American, British and "Singlish" as the local pidgin is nicknamed) which has landed me offers to be the host at weddings etc. So I think I can at least hold my own in that regard.

How do I put this across in my letters/resumes to the companies? I understand from some posts that Japanese companies just don't "See" Asia as being possible of creating native-level speakers.

c) Jobs, jobs jobs. I've applied for anything with a pulse - from mom'n'pop type smaller eikaiwa's to shifty ones like Interac. Some I simply can't apply for - either they request that I be in Japan already (A big risk for me with few funds, though I believe I can scrape it together if needed.) or have simply rejected me outright.
Some of them say they are recruiting - just not from "here" (Singapore). Companies such as AEON etc which have recruiting offices in US/UK etc don't offer me a situation where I can reasonably apply.

How can I find something which doesn't immediately hit "reject" when they see I'm not from the "main" countries?

I'm not losing heart, but I've been applying for everything I can and would like to know if there's any way I am missing to break myself into the market.

d) Because my examinations only end late April, I know I'm missing out on prime recruiting season right now. I've tried applying anyway, with the info on my issue in the cover letter.

I know some places, and eikaiwa in particular, hire all year round. Would you think it's "better" or "easier" to start applying, however, for the jobs that start in the next season (Which is, if I'm correct, around July/August for the Sept hires?)



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Further info I can think of:

I don't mind either ALT, ALT-dispatch, or eikaiwa work. I have tuned back my expectations, so while I know some posters will see it as me "ruining the market", I don't mind doing the whole 6 day work week, unpaid OT etc if it means I get a foot in the door.

I can work with kids - My internship saw me handling kids from 6 to 18 for Singapore's newspaper section on young children. I learnt how to handle them and how to talk to them to get them to talk back etc.

I have conversational Japanese - I've passed JLPT4, though my sensei insists that I should have taken 3 instead due to my level. I wasn't confident of kanji (One of my weak areas) but I can and have survived in Japan in 2007 for 10 days by myself wandering around, talking to locals and having a blast on a holiday then.

I don't mind working in the boonies - I would have visited them eventually, as I have every intention of using what few holidays we get such as obon and golden week to go sightseeing on parts of Japan that I haven't been to before. All I need for when I'm not socializing is a bed, a bath, a heater, and Internet. I'm GTG.


Please help and thanks in advance

[Brooks]

Gaba won't mind your background, but I haven't heard good things about them.

I know of a person from Singapore who worked at the YMCA in Sagamihara, Kanagawa. I don't know how she got the job.

[Jaradcel]

Aye I've heard plenty of bad things about Gaba too - though none of it is so "specific" that I can place a finger on.

What's so bad about them? All the info on Gaba I get seem to point to their advertisements about how the English teacher looks locked up while the Japanese one holds the key, or lonely woman looking for a person to talk to et al. 0.o

[Brooks]

well the pay sucks. That is the main thing.

[Apsara]

The pay at Gaba is comparable to many of the ALT jobs these days if calculated as an hourly rate. What you don't get is any benefits (paid transport, paid holidays etc.) or a guaranteed salary, which is why I don't really recommend them to people as a full time job- more as something to fill in the gaps). What you do get is complete freedom to pick your own schedule, very motivated students, virtually zero interference from management or pressure to be involved in sales etc., a very nice environment to work in, small bonuses and incentives for various things and a virtually stress-free job.

If you don't have a lot of cash to start you off, they may not be the best idea as it can take a few months before you have built up enough of a student base to be fairly sure about how much you will be earning each month, as you get for the lessons you teach, and you may not be fully booked every day. If you don't have a lesson at any particular time you are free to leave the school. If students cancel with less than (I think) 8 hours notice you will still get paid for that lesson.

I'm not sure how many visas they are sponsoring these days, although it is not true that they are unable to, although that gets dragged up from time to time- for a while under their old management about 5 years ago they weren't allowed to sponsor visas- that hasn't been the case for quite a while now.

I think the people who constantly diss Gaba would be very surprised if they knew how many content Gaba teachers there actually are. Some people aren't after a career in eikaiwa and actually don't mind giving up benefits for a lot more freedom and less stress. Some of the dreadful treatment you hear about from the ALT dispatchers, mom and pop style eikaiwas or even the Big Three + the new incarnation of Nova is pretty scary, and you won't get that at Gaba. I sound like a recruiter or management I know, but I'm not. I have worked there on and off when I needed to fill in some gaps in my other work, and it's always worked very well for me. I just wanted to provide some balance to the knee-jerk "stay away from Gaba" comments you will hear from people who have never been near a Gaba school and haven't talked to anyone who has worked there recently. So far they do not seem to be suffering too much from the recession, although what will happen in the future remains to be seen.

[Glenski]

Have you thought of the JET Programme? Plenty of Singaporeans there.

If you don't graduate until June, you won't get hired to start any sooner than that, because you can't get a visa without the degree.

If you can't come here to interview, you are extremely limited to which employers will consider you.

Be patient. The market is flooded.

[Jaradcel]

Glenski: Yes, I did apply to JET. Unfortunately, I didn't get into the interview stage. It seems to me (through the generalization that was hooking up with fellow JET wannabes) was that out of the 20 or so of us who applied, only the two who had *working* experience even hit the interview stage. Whether that's a sign or not, who knows? I intend to apply again next year, but in the meanwhile, eikaiwa/ALT dispatch it is.

And I guess that means that without my degree cert in hand (Despite graduating this year) none of them will even look. So... August window?


Apsara: Do you mean that our pay is a variable, non-fixed amount based on how many people we teach? From what I understand of what you're saying, I take it to mean that Gaba isn't the place to be for a solid "first job" that requires a stable income, a little bit of padding to help establish yourself here and all that.



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I just got a mail from PKC which said they'd be interested for a face-to-face interview in any of the locations. This means Japan I would guess.

Should I risk it and see if i can somehow schedule other interviews? Singapore, afaik, doesn't have a working holiday visa with Japan so I can only go as a tourist.