Job Discussion Forums

[yousofi]

Dear all,

This is my first post so apologies for any mistakes. I would appreciate if you could read my query.

I have recently completed an online TEFL course with i-to-i (125 hours, 20 of which were practical). I obtained a 2.1 English and Philosophy degree from Leeds last summer and am a UK citizen.

I have some teaching experience, i.e. tuition etc, but not in the classroom.

I was wondering what the chances were for me to land a job in Japan. I'm not bothered where, I am just interested in teaching any age/level in Japan. I was also thinking of turning up in Japan and looking for work if that'll help my chances.

I'm not that bothered about pay or work hours, just as long as I come back to the UK with more money than I went with (however little that may be).

One final thing, I plan to go with my partner, she has a similar background/preference as me. We would like to live together/close by, but not necessarily work together. How likely is this to happen?


Thank you so much for reading this, if you could shed any light on this it would be greatly appreciated!

Regards,
Maani

[Mr_Monkey]

Your willingness to go anywhere and teach anyone in Japan is a definite bonus, as is your lack of concern about pay or working hours (although I imagine this might well change if you get stuck with a bad employer in the armpit of nowhere).

With regards to your chances of being placed close to your partner, the chances are arguably higher that your request will be fulfilled if you're willing to go to the middle of nowhere, but again there are no guarantees.

IIRC, the general recommendation for just going to Japan and job-hunting is that you take ~$5,000 with you and be prepared to pound lots of pavement. As you're both UK passport holders, you can get a working holiday visa (provided you meet the requirements), this will remove a lot of the hassle, as you will be able to start working straight away without needing to do a visa run.

Out of curiosity, how can an online TEFL course have a 20 hour practical component?

[Glenski]

I have no idea what you mean by experience = tuition, because I'm not British, so help me out here.

You have a vanilla degree and as far as I can see little to no experience. The cert is not of much value in Japan, as most employers don't even know what they are. Hard to say whether it will be perceived as a plus nowadays with a glut of teachers here. Maybe.

Willingness to go anywhere is good. I would caution against taking "any pay", though. Stick to something very close to 250,000 yen/month, since it has been the standard (not legal limit, just accepted standard minimum) for decades. Many employers have started offering less. Don't perpetuate this.

Willingness to teach anyone is also a plus, however you should know what you are getting into. Tiny kiddies can be exhausting, and if you have aggressive parents who think little Takashi can speak at age 1, you may not have a happy time of it. Housewives may just want to gawk and chat you up instead of learn anything.

As for being placed close to your girlfriend, I'd say don't even consider that. It'll limit both of you. If you set up shop somewhere in one apartment (hard to do without an employer to serve as guarantor, but not impossible), then at least you'll be in the same city. It's good that you aren't adamant about working together. Again, that is only a limitation.

[seklarwia]

[OneJoelFifty]

If I remember rightly from when I was looking at TEFL courses, don't i-to-i offer you assistance with finding a placement on completion of the course?

You should decide now whether you want to teach in public schools for a dispatch company, or at a language school. There are plenty of threads around here that detail the differences between the two. If you decide the former, then you should start applying to places now for the August intake.

[yousofi]

Hey, thanks for all the help!

Yea I meant tutoring one-to-one. The etc, is having a little teaching experience with the 20 hour weekend session (with i-to-i) which gave a taste of teaching.

Yea, i-to-i do help but they have told me that all the September placements are taken. I would have to apply for a job for March. I'd like to go soon and I'm thinking contacting schools directly might be a better approach.

So, I would have to go with $5000 if I wanted to try and find a job there? Isn't that a bit excessive? Maybe it's better if we try turning up in Indonesia instead lol, not sure if our chances would be much better though.

One last question, given our flexibility is there anywhere you can recommend where we can search for jobs?

Thanks a ton!

[seklarwia]

I'd be careful of simply saying you did 20 hours practical or calling those 20 hours experience.

I read the description of those courses and what you are describing as practical is what most of us normally do on a face-to-face TEFL course. Normally practicals mean actually teaching a real TEFL class with observation and feedback.
And experience means actual teaching experience. Whilst you can class your tutoring as experience (whether an employer will take it seriously, is another thing), but that weekend isn't experience.

And the $5000 bit is not excessive. That's how much many people typically spend to cover set up costs and living costs until they first get paid. If you were applying through some overseas recruiters you might be able to lower that beginning amount, but you want to come over with and be near your gf. Some recruiters might be able to place you near eachother but they make no guarantee of this and you might not even be both hired.

[Glenski]