Job Discussion Forums

[Dilla-gent]

I am currently in Japan working as an ALT, but would like to find a real teaching position at a private or international school.
I have a B.Ed. but do not have any experience as a solo teacher.

I have searched the typical job sites, and have looked at the private school's own websites for job postings, but there is nothing at the moment.
I realize it is not hiring season yet, but I'd like to find out if there are any other ways of finding that elusive teaching position here in Japan.

Questions:
1. Does having solo teaching experience really matter? A lot of the job ads for private schools say they want experienced teachers, but I only have (several years of) ALT experience.

2. Does one HAVE to be Christian to get a job at a Christian or Catholic school?

3. Are there any good websites that list only private and international school positions?

Any information would be much appreciated!

Thank you!

[ssjup81]

1. Depends I think. The ALT experience helped me to get a job at an Eikaiwa and that job helped to get an opportunity to work at a private int'l kindergarten where the entire curriculum is in English, but due to miscommunication I ended up with another Eikaiwa position. I think that they would prefer you to have solo teaching experience. With Eikaiwa work, you definitely must do solo teaching. For an actual international school, you must be licensed to teach in your home country and you must have certain number of years experience. I think 5 >.

2. I don't think so.

3. Other than the usual places, like gaijin pot, for example, I don't know.

Hope this helped a little. I'm sure some more experienced users can help, but you may be ok to do private school work.

[milkman]

Almost impossible to get a job at an international school if you aren't licensed in your home country and don't have several years of experience. The only other way to get the job is to know someone personally who works for a school and can vouch for you.

Be aware that it's also far more work than typical ALT stuff, you'd be a real teacher with all of the planning, grading, conferences, and other things that you likely don't have to worry about now.

Private schools are somewhat more possible to do but the competition to get in is pretty high and just general ALT work probably won't be enough unless you know someone in the school. I got my job right after the japan quake when tons of people fled and they needed to hire right away, and I think that unless there's some unusual crisis like that where there's a shortage of good candidates, you likely won't stand out from the teachers with many years of teaching in private schools.

Hell, I even had to help hire at my school for a very specific position, figuring that we'd only get a couple of decent hits (English teacher with experience in design, hopefully in teaching it as well). The inbox was flooded with extremely qualified candidates who had tons of experience with both teaching and design, I was amazed, it's not like the salary was that special either.

Also, be aware that almost all "international" kindergartens or preschools are just glorified kids eikawas where it's just an overpriced daycare and there are some native staff trying to teach to kids who can barely speak Japanese. You could easily get a job at one of those, but it won't help you try to find a real international school position, and you'd have to really, really be good with kids and know how to deal with toddlers (hope you like changing diapers).

[rtm]

1. Does having solo teaching experience really matter? A lot of the job ads for private schools say they want experienced teachers, but I only have (several years of) ALT experience.

I think it depends on where in Japan you are looking. In the rural part of Tohoku that I lived in, all of the foreign teachers at private high schools only had prior experience as an ALT (anywhere from 3-10 years). But, there were only 4 private high schools in the city, a total of 5 (full-time) positions, and those people tended to stay in those positions for the long term. Requirements might be different in more 'desirable' locations.


2. Does one HAVE to be Christian to get a job at a Christian or Catholic school?

I don't think so. I know one Catholic school where a Buddhist monk teaches part-time. That said, many Catholic schools do have mass, and you might need to accompany students there, so you might want to be prepared to go through the motions. Most of the students are not Christian though, so I don't think they would require all faculty to be.


3. Are there any good websites that list only private and international school positions?

I'll leave that to others. My experience has only been word-of-mouth, but I'm sure private schools advertise somewhere.

[Dilla-gent]

Thank you for the info/advice.

I have a teaching license from my home country for elementary school grade 4-10, but have no post-grad solo teaching experience. Everywhere I look, the ads say they want at least 2 years experience. How do I get the experience in the first place?

I can't get a job in my home country, hence why I am here again. I thought it would be easier to get a job as a solo classroom teacher in Japan, but it doesn't seem that way. I figured it would be easier to get a job if I was already here, so I'm doing the ALT thing again while I wait for some opportunities to come along. I guess I just have to be patient. Just thought I'd see if there were some other web sites or something that I'm missing.

Cheers!

[rtm]

[Dilla-gent]

There seems to be a glut of teachers worldwide, not just in my country.
Even private/international schools back home are looking for teachers with experience.
So, the only way for teachers to get jobs is through the public system, but again, not many jobs to go around in the big cities. The only jobs are the ones way out where no one wants to go.

Not sure, but this didn't seem to be the case a few years ago when I decided to get my B.Ed. degree. I guess the international schools around the world realize now there are many teachers to choose from and will obviously only take the best.

I will do my best to find that elusive position~

In the meantime, any links are appreciated!

[rtm]

[Jalapeter]

My advice would be to keep checking GaijinPot Jobs, this site and other ones that post vacancies. Your absolute best bet would be to find a relatively new international school... I mean one that has recently been set up. I found a job as a homeroom teacher with no previous teaching experience and no teaching qualifications besides piano teaching in the Summer.

I guess you just need a LOT of determination, you need to do your research on potential employers and maybe just a little luck on the side!