Job Discussion Forums

[tcatsninfan]

OK, so I did try doing a search for this topic on here but didn't find anything, so I apologize if the topic exists. Additionally, I know this topic exists on other websites but I've questioned the validity of the information. This forum seems like a pretty authoritative source for information so I thought I'd ask here.

My wife and I are trying to get hired to teach in Japan. We're in the process of applying to the JET Program again (rejected last year) and we applied to Interac about 6 months ago (rejected) and James English School just recently (no openings currently, maybe in a few months). We thought about applying with Gaba but are very wary of the financial instability so we decided to skip them.

Basically, we're looking for a teaching job (ALT or eikaiwa) with a monthly salary of 250,000 yen or more. We think going less than 250,000 might put too much of a financial strain on things. However, we are willing to go to Japan and get everything rolling even if only one of us gets a contract.

We're going to start sending our information out to more of the smaller schools. The two main sources we're using for job listings are Gaijin Pot and O-Hayo Sensei. It occurred to me recently, however, that maybe we're not submitting our resumes according to Japanese standards. Are there any huge differences between submitting your resume in the US vs. submitting it in Japan? Here are the guidelines I currently use for my resume:

1 1/2 pages long, 1" margins on all sides
The text is 12 point font and section headings, such as "Work History" and "Education", are 14 or 16 point
Each position listed on the resume has 2-3 bullet points listing the attributes of the job
I don't have an Objective listing on the resume since those are usually self-explanatory--Should I have an Objective listed?
I don't normally include references unless the job listing specifically mentions them--Should I go ahead and include 3 references by default?
My education history lists my college degree but not anything lower--Should I list my high school, middle school, and elementary schools?
I've been submitting the resume in English because the job listing is in English and doesn't specify anything else--Should I find someone to translate the resume into Japanese?

We write fairly well so I don't think the cover letter is as much of an issue--although there's the question of having that translated as well--and we've been submitting photos each time as well (business suit, smile, neutral background).

So what do you guys think? Is there something we're overlooking or does that pretty well cover it? Thanks very much in advance for the feedback.

[G Cthulhu]

OK, at a basic level you probably need to know that a Japanese resume (ie. CV) is 1 page and follows a strict format. Few/No Japanese employer will be expecting you to follow that format so it isn't really relevant how you format it.

[Glenski]

[tcatsninfan]

A lot of great responses. Thank you, G & Glenski.

There's too much to quote but there are a few things the two of you pointed out that we weren't doing. We currently don't have our photos embedded in the resume itself, we've been attaching it as a separate file to the email. This is something we'll look at doing, though, as well as adding our nationality, marital status, and anything else you guys mentioned.

No, we aren't applying together. We apply separately each time and indicate that we're married but we haven't gotten to any point where we tell them, "Hey, my spouse also applied" and so on. And, like I said, we're not waiting for both of us to get hired. As long as one of us can find a job then that's all that matters.

We aren't sending resumes to schools that aren't advertising open positions. I apologize if that was a little misleading. I just meant to say that we're going to be checking for new positions and submitting our info a lot more regularly as opposed to checking for new jobs every few weeks like we had been doing.

Besides Gaijinpot and O-Hayo Sensei, where would you recommend looking for open positions? We've been focusing primarily on those two along with various companies' websites.

I'll look into posting a cover letter on here in the near future. We've got a former JET employee who is looking over our SOP's right now.

[Glenski]

[tcatsninfan]

Here's something I've been wondering about: should I list absolutely all the jobs I've had or only go back so far, to what's relevant?

Here's an example. When I started college I worked at a video rental store for 3 years. It shows that I have been working a good while and that I will stick with a job for a long period of time, but it doesn't really add anything to my teaching experience.

My next job started when I began working in a writing room on campus. I'm debating whether I should put the video rental store on there at all or just leave it off and start with the writing room gig.

[Glenski]

Good point. If you're an old fogey like me, you don't want to list every job you had.

How old are you? How many relevant and irrelevant jobs have you had? If you can get by with at least one relevant job experience plus/minus one irrelevant on just one page of a resume, go for it.

If it really, honestly, truly, without a doubt has to spill onto a second page, look at it from the perspective of an employer. What should really stay?

[tcatsninfan]

I'm 26 and I've had 4 jobs total, the first one being the video store thing I mentioned that lasted for 3 years. The only way I'll be able to keep it to one page is if I don't include the video store listing.