Job Discussion Forums

[Dr Disco]

Is it really necessary to bring $5,000 USD to Japan if you are coming as an overseas hire? I have the money, but it seems like an awful lot to bring as is suggested in the Japan FAQ.
Do people really spend that much money in the first few months?

Also, should an experienced teacher (international schools and adult education) take a position at one of the chains like ECC or Nova?

I'm trying to figure out my options as it looks as if my school has been sold! Argh!

[canuck]

The more money you have, the more selective you can be about finding work and a better place to live.

Eikaiwa work is the bottom of the barrel, but often a good starting point for a visa, making some friends and settling in. However, it would start to drive you bonkers quite quickly.

It's good that you read the FAQ, but there are many threads about this too if you use the search and spend a little more time reading up. Good luck.

[Glenski]

Dr. Disco,

You have not explained a lot about yourself, so it is hard to make accurate judgments about your question.

I will assume from what you wrote that you have a bachelor's degree and perhaps even a teaching license from your home country, but that you have never worked in Japan.

When are you coming? I ask because if you come late in the year, like November or December, your chances of finding work are lower than any other time. So, a person coming then should plan on supporting oneself for 2-3 months before landing a job, and another month before getting paid. Some people have come here and gone home in 90 days with no job. Here's a breakdown of what expenses that entails:

Rent (gaijin house, most likely) 50,000 to 80,000 yen/month
Food 30,000 to 60,000 yen/month
Cell phone installation 10,000, monthly use 5000 to 8000 yen
Local transportation (within your base city only) 20,000 to 30,000 yen/month
TOTAL SO FAR = 115,000 to 243,000 yen
This does not include insurance or a haircut (usually something done monthly), or any other incidentals, certainly no sightseeing or interviewing outside of one's base city. You might also have to pay 25,000 deposit for the gaijin house; not all ask for it. And, in Japan local phone calls cost money, so that cell phone bill might be a tad higher.

Multiply the above figures by 2 (after subtracting the 10,000 yen startup fee for the phone), and you get
210,000 to 466,000 yen for your first two months.

Incidentals to that range of expenditures could include the following:
insurance and emergency medical bills (even an insurance company that pays 100% will often require you to pay it all up front before getting reimbursed, and in Japan, they want the money the day you go in)
additional travel for interviewing outside of your local train pass
photocopying (resumes and cover letters)
postage (for resumes and cover letters)
use of Internet cafes (cell phone Internet is likely not going to be sufficient)
dry cleaning
newspapers (The Japan Times Monday edition has the ads, but it's not the only one)
The above are costs that I would associate directly with job hunting. If you want to spend your money on other things more personal like sightseeing or buying gifts, that's your privilege, but it will tap your resouces even more.

At the risk of repeating myself, just remember that the day you get hired is not the day you get your first paycheck. You might have to wait 4-6 weeks for that.

So, I think $4000 to $5000 is pretty fair if you want to be careful. Others have survived on far less, but not a heckuva lot come online to describe their situations. Some even borrow from their employer, but you still have to pay it back in the first 2 or 3 paychecks, which means you have to live on less than the basic salary for a while.

[PAULH]

[Dr Disco]

Thanks for the replies!

I often have a hard time seraching the threads, as I live in a 3rd world country in Asia, and when it rains the internet goes out 100% (it's still the rainy season now, pagodas flooded, goats washing away).

I aplogize for the questions that one could normally find by searching...it simply takes so long to load most web pages that the server "times out".

I am going to SEARCH / ISS to see about the international schools. The job fairs start in January, so that is my best bet I guess. Also, I am 38, and I think that the international schools are more likely to hire me anyway.

Int'l schools pay a lot, but it is a lot more work. I am interested in working at the other schools (earning just enough to get by on) and doing humanities research (part of a post-grad study) in Japan due to the topic I am researching. At this point I don't really care about how it looks on the resume, and I just want to be in Japan to research several articles, and I do have ESL experience (all areas, conversation / TOEIC / TOEFL, etc). The int'l schools require A LOT if your time. It is very hard to get part-time positions with them.

At this point I think I might as well extend my current contract as to not dip into my savings / pension. I am a bit worried about appearing overqualified, but I think I will just take the int'l school expereinces off the resume (I started out at private schools teaching adult ESL and worked with some children as well). That might look better on my resume, but I am worried about my age.

Thank again for the feedback. I get the feeling it would be better to save more for the research project anyway, and part of that could be applied to the moving / job hunting expenses.

Thanks again. Your replies saved me hours of time searching from a third world internet service!

[Glenski]