Job Discussion Forums

[superscott777]

Hi, we are a couple wishing to find short-term (2-3 months) substitute teaching positions anywhere in Japan. We have several years experience teaching in Taiwan, but would be interested in working in Japan for the summer before returning to Taiwan in September. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks a lot, Kristina and Scott

[Glenski]

K and S,

I hate to disappoint you, but you are going to be very hard-pressed to find work like that in Japan. Contracts are almost always for a year, and substituting is just not something you can live on. Besides, in high schools, substituting is done by co-workers, not by outside people. (That's been my experience, anyway.)

What type of teaching position were you interested in? Eikaiwas? They hire year round, but they ask for a year's commitment. High schools? They've begun their school term in April, so summer work is pretty much nonexistent (not to mention the summer break is only 3-4 weeks long in August anyway).

One more question...what education do you two have, and what are your nationalities? (Ok, that's actually 2 questions.) I ask these because working in Japan depends on what type of visa you can get, and that depends on your degree and nationality. Just to say you have "several years experience teaching in Taiwan" isn't clear enough to tell you whether you even have a chance.

The only place that I know that hires for short-term work is Westgate Corporation. http://www.westgate.co.jp

[superscott777]

Thanks a lot for the prompt reply. The news was a little dissapointing but we appreciate the staright dope! The reason we were asking in the first place was because it's quite common in Taiwan to find sub work for a few months here and there. Japan sounds a like a whole new ball game. We're actually contracted to start in Taiwan again in September so we couldn't do a year contract. We checked out the link you sent us but it seems that we missed the deadlines. Oh well, I guess it' back to SARS land for us. Thanks again. By the way, what does Eikaiwa mean anyway? And to answer your question concerning our nationalities and qualifications, I'm a Canadian with an Early Childhood Education diploma and K is Hungarian with a masters in English.

[Celeste]

Eikaiwa is a conversation school.