Job Discussion Forums

melssa · Joined: 27 Apr 2010 Posts: 19 Location: Chicago

I am a 30 year old white female, masters degree in elementary education and some little experience (6 months long term subbing, 7 months teaching at a ESL daycare and summer school, 3 months teaching English, Math, and Science in the Middle East). I'm currently in Southeast Asia and considering heading to Japan to find jobs on the ground. I have about 5k USD. I would be coming with my boyfriend, who is 29, white, and has two BS degrees in Engineering and no teaching experience. He has a bit more than 5k to live on. We both look younger than our ages, if that matters. Most people think we are in our early 20s.

We have both lived in Tokyo - me for 6 months and he for a year. I have very limited Japanese ability and he has basic conversation skills. We are open to region, having already lived in Tokyo we wouldn't mind being in a city or rural area.

So basically, if we show up in Japan around January or so, what are the odds that we would be able to find a job within a couple months? I know this is in general the peak season for hiring, but I've also heard the market is a bit of a glut now. Do we have better chances in a rural or urban area? Is it likely that we, having very different backgrounds, would be able to find a position in the same area?

Also, is the general salary still about 250,000 yen? I would like to be able to send $300 USD back home monthly for a student loan, and hopefully save something beyond that, which might be possible with the exchange rate being what it currently is.

Any and all information and advice would be extremely helpful. Thanks!

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

Showing up in January is a tad early IMO. February or early March is better. Since the academic school year begins in April, that is why so many ads appear then. ALT ads appear slightly earlier.

Does your master's degree come with a teaching license?

melssa · Joined: 27 Apr 2010 Posts: 19 Location: Chicago

Glenski, I was hoping to hear from you! Thank you for taking the time.

Yes, I have a teaching degree and am certified to teach kindergarten through ninth grade in the USA. I forgot to mention that we are both American, whoops! We could certainly hang out in Southeast Asia for a bit longer, Jan is a rough estimate...knowing that places start to hire more in Feb I was considering that it might be better to head to different schools and do some walkins (introduce myself and drop off a resume) that way if they plan to hire they already know someone a bit more personally than through email. In my experience many schools would rather get the hiring over sooner rather than later, and also like to escape the bother of contacting many applicants and will just go for someone they meet if there's a need. Not sure how it works in areas other than the states though.

You are right about asking about the 'odds of' something, it's not something that can be clearly answered, but I wasn't sure how else to phrase it. Your help is greatly appreciated!

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

It's hard to say whether an employer will consider the length of your teaching experience as what most international schools seem to want (2 years). Frankly, I don't understand what "6 months long term" means, so you will have to explain that for starters. But international schools start their academic year in the fall, not spring, so you should keep that in mind. People say going through job fairs is the best way to hook up with those types of jobs. I wouldn't know and can only recommend checking out the FAQ stickies on that, plus searching for related threads.

seklarwia · Posted: Sat Dec 03, 2011 12:18 am Post subject:

ultraman111 · Joined: 17 Sep 2011 Posts: 148

Thats about the gist of it....lol

melssa · Joined: 27 Apr 2010 Posts: 19 Location: Chicago

Oh sorry! 6 months longterm is a substitute position. You take over a class as the primary teacher and after a certain period of time are considered a 'longterm sub' which puts you in a different payscale bracket. It's a terrible time to have graduated, very difficult to find any kind of full time teaching work when your city (Chicago) lays off over 4 thousand teachers in the city and surrounding areas, not to mention the layoffs of other professionals who go back into teaching, those who were in other cities and states and come to Chicago looking for work, and those brought in with Teach For America who were kicked out as soon as their contracts were up. It's difficult to get any kind of experience in this type of environment.

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

melssa · Joined: 27 Apr 2010 Posts: 19 Location: Chicago

More or less...I have spent some time doing some regular subbing but nothing else longterm.

G Cthulhu · Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2011 5:14 pm Post subject:

pnksweater · Joined: 24 Mar 2005 Posts: 173 Location: Tokyo, Japan

If you don�t have the experience that international schools are looking for, you might try a faux-international kindergarten or immersion nursery school that have grown so popular lately. I got my first job at a similar place. They wanted teachers with a more relevant background than your average fresh off the boat English teacher in Japan, and the pay was a bit better than average because of this. The job wasn�t great, but I got my footing in Japan, got more teaching experience, and found a better job.