Job Discussion Forums

[KatiePowers]

Hello!

I'm new to this forum and had a few questions about teaching in Japan. While I have read over the older posts, I also understand things are always changing and different people may have different experiences. So, I've made up my mind that teaching ESL overseas is what I want to do with my life. It's not something I've taken lightly and I'm quite confident in this decision. Now I need to figure out how to do so.

I've searched extensively online and compiled a list of ~30 Eikaiwa chains and ALT dispatch companies of varying sizes and reputations. Of course, I'd love to get picked up by Aeon, ECC, Interac or Heart, but I'm also applying to smaller chains as well.

Oh, when I graduate next year I'll have a bachelor's degree, as well as a CELTA and some good volunteer experience, both with adults and children. I'll also have good work experience in a supervisory capacity along with decent references from my boss. I've also visited Japan 3 times on vacation, and should have JLPT N5, at least.

I have a few questions in regards to maximizing my chances of getting hired:


1. The obvious one; am I on the right track with my qualifications? I'm planning to apply to literally everything and take the best offer I can get.


2. Should I leave the CELTA off my resume for the larger schools? I understand that they tend to have a fairly rigid in-house teaching system, and I don't want to come across as some loose cannon that will try and resist learning it. Also, would this be seen as dishonesty if it was later revealed I had it?


3. I'm really interested in Gaba. Is it possible to work as an ALT during the day, and sign up for evening and weekend teaching with Gaba? I'm to understand that is when they need people the most, but this sounds like a too-good-to-be-true scenario.


4. Do schools or dispatch companies have prohibition against teaching private lessons outside of work (obviously not with their students, of course)?


5. Tangential to that, is it possible to offer free English lessons to people? I won't really know anyone in Japan when I get there and it seems a quick and fun way to make friends.


6. I've heard horror stories about the grammar tests for ECC and Aeon. Does anyone know of a book they can recommend to help me brush up on it? I mean, I've been writing essays for a few years now at the university level, but I feel like I'm still weak in it. Any book recommendations would be appreciated!


7. Haha, any further advice or such would be appreciated!



Actually, 8 (only semi-serious)... I read the "Charisma Man" comics... do all Western women turn out like that? I should hope not javascript:emoticon('')

[rtm]

1. You seem to be on track to me. I'm assuming your "volunteer experience" is ESL-related, since you listed it with your CELTA. If you can get some practical ESL teaching/assisting experience, that might help.

2. I wouldn't leave it off, as it shows you have some idea what you're doing in the classroom. Then again, I've never worked for one of those big chains, so I can't say what their reaction would be.

3. & 4. In my experience, most contracts include a clause prohibiting you from working elsewhere. Also, ALT work and eikaiwa work require different kinds of visas, so you'd be working outside of what your visa allows (unless you ask for permission from the government to allow work outside of your visa category). That said, I've known people who did ALT work and some eikaiwa work on the side, and were fine as long as their ALT employer didn't find out.

5. If you want to offer free lessons, you might be better off doing a language partner/exchange type thing where you meet for, say, an hour and you speak in English for 30 minutes and Japanese for 30 minutes, so you both get speaking practice. If you want to offer free classes, I'm sure people would take you up on it, but I'm not sure if I'd want to use that as a way to make friends.

6. No idea what is on the ECC or AEON tests -- sorry.

8. No, of course not. The experience is what you make it.

[nightsintodreams]

Sounds like you're on the right track to landing an entry level job here.

5, Please don't offer free English lessons to people in return for friendship, you're effectively paying someone $30 an hour to be your friend which is quite frankly pathetic. You could also potentially be taking business away from another teacher.

8,keep your weight in check and you'll stand a better chance. The girls I've met who've stayed longer than a year or two are almost always fairly slim. Bigger girls usually get bitter within a year or two.

Good luck!

[Pitarou]

[rslrunner]

I wouldn't worry about putting on the CELTA on your resume, if you already have it. You can make it clear that you want to adopt the model. I say be who you are, not what others went you to be. (Maybe that's bad Japan advice.)

While getting a CELTA degree is an excellent idea for your career long-term, I think the grammar training would help. Other instruction can actually hurt a bit. The more ideas you have about teaching English, the harder it is to "deprogram" these views once you get to Japan, regardless of which company and accompanying methodology you choose.

So all things being equal, I would go to Japan first, then get the CELTA afterwards.

Is your primary goal to teach English abroad, or to teach English in Japan specifically? Any two cents I provide would depend on this answer.

Also, why are you interested in working in Japan in particular?

I looked up Charisma Man on Wikipedia. I think the Western women are portrayed in a certain way because of the main character's point of view, but I don't know. I don't read comic books.

[KatiePowers]

[nightsintodreams]

People on this forum like to ask that question so that they can judge whether or not your reason is worthy enough to be moving to Japan.

Personally, I came here for video games, girls, culture and because I thought it looked cool. A lot of the foreigners here like to stick their noses up at that and think they have more of a reason to be here because their wife is Japanese, they study martial arts, do shoudo or weave baskets or some crap. Don't worry what your reason is, as long as it's good enough for you, that's enough.

[KatiePowers]

[nightsintodreams]

I'm not talking about tourists leaving rubbish. Over half of the beaches I've visited in Japan are full of trash all year round. No one bothers to clean them and the rubbish just keeps washin up. In fact most nature spots in Japan are unusually dirty when compared to similar places in the west (OK, I'm generalising here, but I think most would agree).

That may be true. There's definitely less violent, looking for a fight types here, but I'd say there's as much or more chance of being sexually assaulted when compared to the west.

A lot of the girls here who maybe only stayed a year or two have a story of being groped, followed home etc and I know one who claimed to have been raped.

[nightsintodreams]

Anyway, I'm not trying to persuade you not to come to Japan, on the contrary I think you should definitely give it a shot.

I've met so many people who come to Japan thinking they know it all, then they leave within a year because they can't handle the reality.

Just saying, that one's impression of a country after a holiday can be very different to the reality of a place after you've been here years or even decades. I guess you'll find that out when you get here.

Good luck with the job search!

[kzjohn]

There are lots of nice beaches/coastline on the back side of Japan--from way north of Akita, down thru Niigata, Toyama, Fukui, and on down to the end of Honshu. No, they're not all clean, but there's so much beach that any crud is either just normal ocean washup (organics), or stuff that could come from anywhere--the koreas, russia, japan's own rivers, or even china. It's certainly not people out littering on the beaches, there aren't enough of them.

It also depends on local currents. Some places remain pristine naturally, while others seem to collect everything (just as naturally).

[Maitoshi]

The Pacific side is pretty clean from what I have seen.

[Rooster.]

[KatiePowers]

[Miura Anjin]