Job Discussion Forums

[dan]

Can anyone give me some advice about working at a college/uni in Japan? How does one go about securing such employment? I have an MA and currently teach English at an American university so I'm guessing that I am qualified? Thanks

[Glenski]

dan,

A master's degree

[Glenski]

Sorry, that Westgate address should be www.westgate.co.jp.

And, the quote in my last message should've been a bold underline. No matter. The point itself stands out.

[PAULH]

Dan

first take a look at the following ELT link on teaching at universities
http://www.eltnews.com/guides/universities/index.shtml

If you have any particular questions you can email me or post them here

With an MA you can apply for part time jobs (2-3 classes a day, up to twice a week) but for full time positions you will need Masters and 3 academic (preferably refereed articles). Creative writing and magazine articles and the odd text book dont really count on your resume. Also of you have done any presentations at conferences (Ijust did one in Hawaii at New year) those count as brownie points too.

For full academic tenure you will need to have a PhD but bear in mind that those are as rare as hens teeth, you have to wait for someone to retire or die before they open up and you must also be qualified, with a minimum of a pHD and a string of publications.

Most postings I see are in Japanese and the few in English I see are heavily contested by teachers already in Japan. Lst year we advertised for a part time teacher with a Masters for one day and had over 20-30 replies. getting jobs is about timing, contacts, being qualified as well as a fair bit of LUCK.

It is much harder to get jobs if you are living out of the country as most jobs are found through the grapevine, teachers passing jobs onto their friends in the teachers room or networking. You really need to be in japan, get to meet with university teachers, joing teaching associations and be involved. I know of one teacher who got a job while he wa sstill in the US as he sent a video of his etaching, the school liked hi resume and he was also working on a PhD. A whole lot fo factors come together to make you a viable candidate, and having a masters will just get your foot in the door. having publications, teaching experience, perhaps teaching in a niche area will push the door wide open. Japanese ability helps but is not mandatory but is very desirable if you aim for a full-time position. School memos and notices are in japanese, you may attend faculty meetings or be on test commitees and you will need Japanese. Part time jobs only Englishis OK but some Japanese ability is preferred.

here are some of the kinds of things that appear on a posting for full-time jobs at Japanese universities. Part time jobs will include some of these, the more the better:

Masters degree and/or a phD in English Linguistics, EFl or related subject
They may ask for a copy of your degree as well as transcripts.
A Masters in Archaeology or an MBA is not much use in an EFL classroom.
at least 3 publications (pref. in refereed academic journals)
summary in Japanese or english of your publications
(with copies of each)
Resume (in English and Japanese)
previous college teaching experience
Japanese ability (at elast intermediate level or for daily use)
a philosophy statement of your teaching
2 referees

Glenski and I have a recent JALT article which is quite detailed in how to apply for jobs at colleges whcih we can send you.

[PAULH]

Glenski

I would be careful not to confuse working at Westgate on the the university academic program with being the same as working as a part time or full time university teacher as the working conditions and salaries vary.

Westgate teachers do not generally need a Masters degree as they work for an outside agency employed by the university to teach 60-minute eikaiwa lessons back to back on a university campus. They will work a 6-8 hour day five days a week and are not allowed to leave the campus during breaks. Westgate etachers are essentially glorified eikaiwa teachers working for a minimum salary in an in-house language school on campus.
they are basically dispatch teachers sent by Westgate to work at colleges and this works well for the university as they are cheaper to hire than regular part timers but they work longer hours and teach more classes than regular part timers.

Part time teachers at university by comparison may teach 3-4 90-minute classes, 2 or 3 times a week. I am full time and only teach 8 classes a week at my institution and 2 at another university campus. Nowadays as you know part timers are increasingly required to have Masters degreesand some schools even ask for publications from their part timers.

[Glenski]

Paul,

Thanks for the thorough description of Westgate. I knew all of that, but failed to mention it in my post. I was only offering an option that I felt might get Dan's foot in the door. Nothing more.

[dan]

Thank you for the informative replies

the main reason i am interested in teaching at a university is because i DONT want to teach little kids. It seems like all of the job postings on dave's want people to teach children. No thanks, i did that in korea and will never do it again. So, i guess i should rephrase my question: how do you find jobs teaching young adults/adults? thanks again, dan
ps - paul, i'd like to email you directly but you didnt list your address in your profile

[Glenski]

Dan,
In my case, I was fortunate in that my language school didn't teach anyone under 18. Such jobs obviously exist, but you just have to hunt for them. Best of luck.