Job Discussion Forums

[qwertyu2]

[nightsintodreams]

I'm sorry, but I'd have to respectfully disagree with you. I'm not saying that teaching English in Japan is the greatest of career paths but it's not as gloomy as you and many other people make out, at least not IN MY EXPERIENCE.

When i first arrived in Japan, the forums were full of the same kind of negatives attitudes. I read time and time again that salaries were going down and that anyone was lucky to be earning 250,000 yen a month.

After three years of experience, if you have a reasonably high level of Japanese, decent teaching skills/ references and are prepared to relocate, a good job at a private school or BOE is attainable. At these type of gigs you can earn anything up to 50,000 dollars a year. Whether or not you think 40 or 50 thousand dollars a year is a good salary is completely subjective, but it's a hell of a lot more than most young people are earning back in the UK or US at the moment.

Where does a career go from here though? Well you could study a masters in TEFL and get a job at a university, open up your own English school, work for a Japanese company once your Japanese is fluent, freelance or continue working at BOEs/private schools and be content with a salary between 40 and 50 thousand dollars a year.

I'm glad I didn't read forums like this before coming to Japan because if I had then I probably would have decided against coming.

[Rob1209]

[rxk22]

Don't get me wrong, there still is opportunity in Japan. It's just a shrinking pie. With the economy going ¥downhill, wages being flat or decreasing, and the birthrate low, it is becoming more and more competitive to teach in Japan.

Also, whose goal is to work at a Japanese company? That's like wanting to become a galley slave or something terrible

[qwertyu2]

[nightsintodreams]

There are many reasons to work for a Japanese company, especially if you have a family to take care of.

*Higher salary
*Full benefits
*Job security
*Tenured contract
*Network of Japanese friends/co-workers
*Respect
*Self esteem
+Any reason one would choose to work outside of teaching in their own country.
+Personal ambitions (perhaps you are a video game fan and would love to work in that industry, perhaps it's always been your dream to work for a bike manufacturer)

There are lots of negatives of course, but to say that the only reason for working in a job outside of TEFL is to find some kind of insight in order to progress to something better is rather naive. Why does anyone choose to not work in TEFL?
I know a few people who have made it work for them, and I admire respect them for it, although I'm not sure if it's something I want to do myself in the future.

[rxk22]