Job Discussion Forums

[ssphinx]

I am new to the Japanese board here and I was wondering what kind of jobs can I expect to find or what kind of jobs I will be able to get.

Here is my experience and qualifications:

I have a Bachelor's Degree and the RSA/Cambridge Certificate (CELTA) with 7 years teaching experience in EFL.

I have spent the past 4 years teaching at a Korean University and I have 3 more years experience divided between langugae institutes in both Korea and Vietnam.

I have also taught film production classes for 2 years at an American Community College.

[PAULH]

[abufletcher]

[PAULH]

Abu, just for the record, I am now on my second full time contract and in 2003, and 2004 I was hunting for full time jobs to replace the one that was ending. I have a Masters in TESOL and publications. All the ones i applied to (about 50) all requested a Masters degree. My current university requires a masters in TESOL/English as well as japanese ability. One of my friends applied to 75 schools nationwide in 2003 and he has a PhD.

In a recent 2003 Language teacher article about getting jobs it said about out of 40-50 job ads about 50% specifically asked for a Masters degree. I have seen people on these forums say they know people with no Masters degree but they seem to be the exception rather than the rule, and I have even seen one on Kyushu (kagoshima) that offers eikaiwa wages at a university for someone with no degree.

In my humble experience of job hunting over the last few years and in view of the fact his job rivals will all have Masters and/or a PhD I would say he is greatly outgunned in the qualifications department, would need some special skills the others dont have, or its the school president's pet gaijin from a sister school (sometimes done as a favor or a "scratch my back I scratch yours" deal with the other school.

[ssphinx]

Thanks for your answers. I had the feeling that is how it would work.

I plan to come to Japan in 2 weeks time and look for work.

Do you have any suggestions on how to find a decent job that doesn't over work its teachers with ample time off to travel a bit and to work on an online MA?

I realize that is probably a loaded or impossible question to answer, but any help would be greatly appreciated!

[Gordon]

[canuck]

[Gordon]

I should clarify ample, I currently get 5 months off paid. That isn't the norm though, but not too far off.

[abufletcher]

[Glenski]

Where do you want to work? Obviously, the bigger the city, the higher the odds of having job ads posted there.

To find work in a private high school, you are still going to have to count on a lot of luck. I'm in one now, and I found it advertised in The Japan Times, but since that time four years ago, I have yet to see more than a handful of private HS ads there. Most seem to be advertised quietly or through word of mouth or in Japanese.

Coming in 2 weeks? There still isn't going to be much advertised, and I think you are going to have to settle for an eikaiwa job. Luck, networking, and a lot of persistence will play a lot in your success.

What do you mean by ample time off? Most jobs here give you roughly a week off for Golden Week, a week or so for Obon, and 10-14 days for the Christmas/New Year break. Some places don't even do that, and some don't give you those as PAID days off. Schedules. Well, newbie eikaiwa workers might not have 2 consecutive days off for a weekend (Sunday and Tuesday, for example), and you won't get days off until you have worked for 6 months. Moreover, eikaiwa schedules are often from 1pm to 9pm, not leaving you much time for yourself except the morning, and since shops open around 10, you are pretty limited to what you can do then.

[abufletcher]

[canuck]

[PAULH]

[canuck]