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locomote
Joined: 16 May 2005
Posts: 27
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 Posted: Wed May 18, 2005 11:01 pm Post subject: Looking for a job in Japan (Osaka) - what should I expect? |
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I'm currently in Korea looking for a job in Japan - I'm leaning mostly toward Osaka.
I know these kinds of posts come once every day or so - sorry if it bugs anyone. I'm just curious what people already there think my chances are and what I should expect so that I can plan my job-hunt a little better.
First let me tell my qualifications:
I'm a decent-looking, young, white, American male with the most neutral accent I've ever heard, a B.S. in English Education (Secondary) from the US, and 2 years experience in Korea, one at a private institute and one at a public high school. I'm completely free of obligations and ready to work at any time. I'm a professional teacher, and I take my job seriously, but I'm not so serious that I'm willing to bet all of my 2000 students at my high school loved my class and had loads of fun in it. I'm very flexible to all different ages/styles of class, with a co-teacher or not, with much lesson planning or none at all.
Right now, I'm crashing out in Seoul, Korea 'cause it's a cheaper place to crash out than Japan. I'm looking at all the job boards I can find and sending out a lot of resumes, and I plan to continue to do so. I have to come to Japan for a visa run in early June, so I plan to stay for about a week to job hunt in Osaka.
Now for the questions:
****1. What kind of timeline should I expect? How soon should I expect to have a full-time, decent job (while avoiding the big 4)? How long after being hired is it before the start-date usually? In essence, when should I expect to get my first paycheck?
2. Is it fair for me to come in expecting at least 250,000/m and a MAXIMUM of 30 hours (I never want to be a burnt-out teacher).
3. Is it better for me to stay in Korea saving cash and looking online or is job-hunting in Japan much better? If I'm in Japan, what kind of job hunting can I do aside from trying to connect with schools online, which I could just as easily do from Korea?
Basically, my main thing is that I'm debating about making commitments for part-time jobs in Korea during the job-hunt out of necessity. I'd rather not really, but cash is a bit of an issue, and if I'm looking at a few months minimum, then I'd better get on top of making some money right now.
Thanks for any input~!! |
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JimDunlop2
Joined: 31 Jan 2003
Posts: 2286
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Wed May 18, 2005 11:24 pm Post subject: Re: Looking for a job in Japan (Osaka) - what should I expec |
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| locomote wrote: |
| American male... a B.S. in English Education... |
Qualifications are alright. They will get you a job in most privately run English schools or dispatch companies who send teachers out to public schools. Although they are also sufficient for the latter, your Korean experience won't amount to much in terms of securing a job directly with a school or school board (without the dispatch company) unless you put in at least 1 year direct experience in Japan.
| locomote wrote: |
****1. What kind of timeline should I expect? How soon should I expect to have a full-time, decent job (while avoiding the big 4)?
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Results may vary. First of all, define what you see as decent. Decent places to work are probably rarer than you might care to find out.
But to give you a timeline... Anywhere from 1 day to never. Sorry, I don't think there really is an average or rule. If you want a case study, it took me a week upon arriving in Japan.
| locomote wrote: |
How long after being hired is it before the start-date usually? In essence, when should I expect to get my first paycheck?
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Again. Varies. Many schools start/stop with the school year. The school year begins in April and the semester ends in July. Second semester runs from September until March, with a couple weeks holidays in December.
Hiring usually takes place anywhere from 2 months to 2 days before starting work.. Don't expect a paycheck for a good 7-9 weeks after that start date. If you start on the 1st of the month and payday is on the 25th of each month, you will not get your 1st paycheck until the 25th of the FOLLOWING month. Usually. Again, results may vary.
| locomote wrote: |
2. Is it fair for me to come in expecting at least 250,000/m and a MAXIMUM of 30 hours (I never want to be a burnt-out teacher).
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250,000 is an average salary. Define 30 hours. Is that 30 hours of WORK or 30 hours of TEACHING? The eikaiwa I used to work for had us working 40 hours a week (as in: AT work) but we were teaching for about 20-22 hours -- or about 25 classes a week. THAT was more than enough to burn out teachers in a year.
| locomote wrote: |
3. Is it better for me to stay in Korea saving cash and looking online or is job-hunting in Japan much better? If I'm in Japan, what kind of job hunting can I do aside from trying to connect with schools online, which I could just as easily do from Korea?
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Like any country in the world, if you are available to come in to meet your prospective employers, even to deliver CVs by hand, and go for interviews in person you have a 100% advantage over someone who is trying for the same positions from overseas -- no matter how close Korea is to Japan. There are no shortages of people getting hired from Korea (or other countries for that matter) but if I were an employer, someone like you would be at the bottom of my list. You know, the bird-in-the-hand thing....
| locomote wrote: |
| cash is a bit of an issue, and if I'm looking at a few months minimum, then I'd better get on top of making some money right now. |
Again, results may vary but that IS the reason why people should have about $5000 USD when they first arrive in Japan... Whether you are coming from Korea or anywhere else, your startup costs here will be the same. You can read the stickies to get some more details about this and other questions you may have.... Questions like this get answered on a daily basis (as you figured)... So just remember to use the "Search" function and read the stickies carefully.
Good luck! |
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locomote
Joined: 16 May 2005
Posts: 27
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| Posted: Wed May 18, 2005 11:45 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks for the info.
I have read through all the stickies and many of the other posts, but it seemed like my position being a hop-skip-and-a-jump away (can come in for an interview at any time...just want to connect by email first), and experience in Asia, where I didn't run away after 1 week, puts me in a bit of a different position than someone who is fresh out of college sitting in their mom's basement in Wisconsin.
Everyone I talk to who has taught in Japan before says, "with your qualifications, you should find a job in Japan easily, in no time", but I never can figure out exactly what they mean by "no time". I don't think those people even know. What I was looking mostly for was what you gave - case studies. (thank you) It'd be nice to hear a few stories from people about how long it took them (hopefully in situations similar to me).
Well...I thought I had specified what I meant by a decent job in the following question, but let me clarify:
* 250,000 - minimum (unless it's a job with low hours that I could supplement with privates - that would be ideal, but not likely to provide a visa)
* Ability to get an apartment (either provided or a bit of help) without paying huge key money and no more than 40-50,00/month or so.
* Less than 30 "teaching" hours. I'm used to the basic 8:30-5 schedule as that's what I had at my public school, but much of that was spent lesson planning, relaxing or chatting with friends. I had about 20 teaching hours a week. Something similar to that would be ideal.
* No extreme travelling at my own expense.
Those are the basics I'm looking for...seems fair to me as a qualified teacher with experience. I could obviously do much better in Korea, but I know better than to think I'll start out in a new country at the same rung that I am on in this one. I'm prepared to start near the bottom... |
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canuck
Joined: 11 May 2003
Posts: 1921
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Thu May 19, 2005 12:08 am Post subject: |
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http://www.kfm.to/
Download the pdf and start phoning. You could land a job or at least set up some interviews. |
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locomote
Joined: 16 May 2005
Posts: 27
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| Posted: Thu May 19, 2005 12:13 am Post subject: |
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I'm in a bind on the phoning thing....I should look into an online phone or something. All I have is a prepaid Korean cell phone....it's GREAT for incoming calls, but doesn't work for calling out internationally. 
I've been sending out resumes through that publication...not much response so far. Do they usually work better over the phone? I've made a note to get on top of it this Friday...if I'm correct, it updates on Friday. |
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Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
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| Posted: Thu May 19, 2005 1:57 am Post subject: |
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I agree with Jim on most of his responses.
Just to add to them...
| Quote: |
| 1. What kind of timeline should I expect? How soon should I expect to have a full-time, decent job (while avoiding the big 4)? How long after being hired is it before the start-date usually? In essence, when should I expect to get my first paycheck? |
If you are looking right now, you'll find that many places have already hired, and what comes up may be places that don't necessarily start a term in April, or places that for some reason are desperate to hire. Maybe a teacher bailed out at the last minute. Regardless of circumstances, you will still need to get a work visa, so even if you get hired immediately, you will need time (1-2 months) before this is processed. How long before you can find a job and get hired is quite variable. Maybe a couple of weeks, maybe a couple of months. I would lean toward a month or more, so have the money to support yourself if you come here for that stretch of time. DEFINITELY make it clear to prospective employers that you can come for an interview ASAP, otherwise they will assume you are "stuck" in Korea and can't come here, so they will look for people who are already here.
Once you start, it may take 4-8 weeks before the first paycheck. Depends on what part of the month you start.
| Quote: |
| 2. Is it fair for me to come in expecting at least 250,000/m and a MAXIMUM of 30 hours (I never want to be a burnt-out teacher). |
Yes, but be advised that many places have recently offered less than this amount of money, even as low as 180,000 yen/month. Personally, I wouldn't accept less than 250K, which has been the "standard" for over a decade. Places are offering less just to cut back on expenses, and desperate teachers who take such salaries only propogate the problem.
As for hours, most eikaiwas offer 25-30 classroom contact hours per week. Some offer a bit more.
| Quote: |
| 3. Is it better for me to stay in Korea saving cash and looking online or is job-hunting in Japan much better? If I'm in Japan, what kind of job hunting can I do aside from trying to connect with schools online, which I could just as easily do from Korea? |
Like others have written, if you are here, you can actually see the school and its neighborhood, meet the prospective employers and staff face to face and judge for yourself what sort of people they are. You can also make cheaper calls to these employers (and to current teachers). You may also network more easily with others who are job hunting. Is it "better"? Well, you will still have to pay money to support yourself if you come here, so only you can weigh the difference. |
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locomote
Joined: 16 May 2005
Posts: 27
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| Posted: Thu May 19, 2005 2:11 am Post subject: |
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It takes 1-2 months to process a work visa??
Wow - I wouldn't have thought it was that long. I was thinking more like 1-2 weeks, max. It took 1 1/2 weeks when I was coming to Korea - sending papers back and forth from the US.
When I got my job with the public school here in Korea, they hired me on a tourist visa and I started working. Soon after I went to Japan for a day and got the work visa, and came back to work. It was all legal. I think either they get a certain period of time before you have to be on a proper visa, or you just can't get a pay check until you're on a proper visa...not sure which one.
Is that not the case too in Japan?
I was expecting that I would get hired, start working soon after (within a week or two), and a month and a half or so later, get my first paycheck. Are visa issues so different in Japan to make that unlikely? |
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PAULH
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Posts: 4672
Location: Western Japan
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| Posted: Thu May 19, 2005 11:06 am Post subject: |
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| locomote wrote: |
It takes 1-2 months to process a work visa??
Wow - I wouldn't have thought it was that long. I was thinking more like 1-2 weeks, max. It took 1 1/2 weeks when I was coming to Korea - sending papers back and forth from the US.
When I got my job with the public school here in Korea, they hired me on a tourist visa and I started working. Soon after I went to Japan for a day and got the work visa, and came back to work. It was all legal. I think either they get a certain period of time before you have to be on a proper visa, or you just can't get a pay check until you're on a proper visa...not sure which one.
Is that not the case too in Japan?
I was expecting that I would get hired, start working soon after (within a week or two), and a month and a half or so later, get my first paycheck. Are visa issues so different in Japan to make that unlikely? |
Locomote, what you may have missed from Glenski's post is that once paperwork for your visa goes into immigration, you get your application stamp you can work legally on that visa until you get notified from immigration that your work visa is ready. You can still have a tourist visa, but work legally on it as your visa is being processed. What Glenski means is that it takes up to 2 months from whoa to go (having an interview and seeking a job etc) before you get your official visa stamp.
If you are applying from the US it can take up to 3 months to get your visa from Japan. Coming here from Korea, finding a job, getting an employer to sponsor you and expiditiously starting the visa process in motion, the sooner you will get your visa. Immigration is busy here, sometimes it can take a week, other times it takes a month. What is important is that you have an application stamp in your passport, because if you don't you are simply working illegally on a tourist visa, and are open to all kinds of exploitation and abuse. |
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