Job Discussion Forums

[roywebcafe]

Is it easy to get a job in Japan without going through a recruiter? Cut out the middleman go to a uni, public school etc?

All the ads on web are from recruiters for both korea and Japan.

[Glenski]

All the ads on the web are not through recruiters.

Universities do not use recruiters.
Some public schools don't use recruiters. You can apply directly or to the dispatch agency or JET Programme which hires you.

There is essentially no need for a middleman.

Is the hiring process "easier"? Need a lot more information about you, your goals, and timeline for hiring to say anything. Market here is flooded, and you missed a big hiring time.

[Kionon]

Like I said elsewhere, recruiters for Korea is common. Recruiters for Japan, not common. There is next to no reason to use a recruiter for an EFL position in Japan. An engineer? Architect? Sure, use a recruiter. So it's not easier to bypass a recruiter, since there really is no recruiter to bypass in the first place.

As for your chances right now, Glenski can seem overly negative at first (he told me the same thing he told you, two years ago), but he also gave me a lot of great information, and I pursued it, and I lucked out. The position I wanted contacted me, because they had a native teacher bail on them. I very much came in late (started applying late March, early April), and ended up with four offers, taking, of course, the one I wanted in Kansai.

A few things about my situation: I was in Korea, and was advertising the hard date I knew I would be coming to Japan. This meant I was close. I was in Korea, so I had experience teaching EFL in a foreign country. I have a degree in English and am qualified to teach English at the secondary level in the United States (although I would need to meet certain requirements, depending on the state, since I went to school in Texas). I was close, I knew when I would have boots on the ground, I had done the job, and had training.

One more thing. I probably got hundreds of rejections, as I applied to as many as 20 or or 30 job postings a day on a variety of websites. I had four offers. Four out of hundreds. Keep that number in mind when if you are prepared to slug it out.

[seklarwia]

I think this is another person who doesn't understand the terminology or the adds he's reading.

Sounds as though he want to know if it's easy to get a direct hirer position with a school/uni as opposed to being hired by a dispatch agency such as Westgate.

Saying that, I just took a peek at a couple of job pages and the large majority of the job listings were for eikawa; not dispatchers. Makes sense though when the school year has not long started.
So does that mean the OP is ruling out the idea of working for an eikawa?

[Glenski]

Good points, seklarwia.

Direct hires in public schools are rare opportunities, and I'll stick my neck out here by stating that not only do you probably have to be in country to get one, but you need some pretty good experience and connections, both from Japan.

It's also true that the academic year has already begun (April 1st). Even eikaiwas start their fiscal year then, and many/most coincide that with their own "academic year" programs.

[Kionon]

[flyer]