Job Discussion Forums

[Aces_High]

I've found this forum the most useful resource on the net. The FAQs are very informative...and essentially answer most of everyone's questions. But i find most info pertaining here very specific to wannabe or existing teachers where english is the native language. I am from India working in the IT industry as a manager for the last 4 years and posess an overall experience of 5 yrs plus. I have been managing account management, business development, tech support, software support, customer service and research teams outsourced from US, UK mainly...part of the big outsourcing wave that took off in this part of the world.

Apart from my other duties and responsibilities, I have done a lot of training of all sorts in my career and is something which i have enjoyed doing most. Training a set of fresh spongy, keen and absorbing minds on customer service skills, processes, technical know how can be very fufilling. I have a degree in Commerce(Bachaelors in Comm). And I'm very keen on getting an opportunity to teach english in Japan. My girl friend is a graphic designer in a interactive media tv firm and has a masters from a the most reputed technical institute in India(IIT). Both of us are really keen on this venture. My few questions are:

1) How realistic is it for an Indian without a teacher's degree, certification, teaching experience to get a job in Japan? Do we have Indians there who have done this? I don't look/sound like a Caucasian, but can positively say that I have what it takes to teach elementary level as an assistant teacher. From here, its only a matter of technicalities.

2) If i# 1 is possible, how should we go about it? Big schools hire only from the native english speaking countries..So they are ruled out. Should we continue applying for jobs online which are not related to the big schools like Nova, Aeon, etc etc? What are the chances of us being considered?

3) Would it be any easy if we come down to Japan on a job search visa and give ourselves 2-3 months to find a job? Has any Indian or Asian done this before? Whats the success rate? I know its a huge dent in the pocket. So what kind of budget are we talking about if me and my gf come there together?

4) What about the JET program for the year 2007? What are the chances of one making it through this program? I see the numbers of candidates who went through this program to be very few. Is it the selection process which keeps the number so less or is it just that there are not many applicants for this program?

5) Considering teaching abroad as our new direction or career choice, what other countries do you recommend? How is Korea, Thailand, China places to try?

6) For any possible option. how can I and my gf apply together (joint)? We really don't prefer to be without each other. Different schools in the same city is not an issue at all. Its just that we can't leave each other back in this country or in different cities in a new country to pursue this interest. We have to stick to each other and thats our unanimous call.

The reason I feel strongly about this career choice is
a) for the fact that I have a strong training background which was always structured and found it very satisfying when you actually witness your trainees hit the floor and apply everything and more that you taught them.

b) The money is good which we would need for our future.

c). Both me and my girlfriend really want to enjoy the culture we've read about so much first hand.

d) We've had an overdoze of IT over the years that we've put in and would like to experience something which we have skills for.

Forum, I need your advice and guidance on this matter. Please provide us all possible which will help us take the right decision. Sorry about such a long post...The intent's only been to be as informative as I can.

Thanks in advance.

Aces High

[Glenski]

1. Nobody needs a teacher's degree to teach at most English jobs in Japan. The bigger question is, do you have any bachelor's degree? That is a minimum requirement for a work visa. Without that, the only loophole is to have 3 or more years of work experience.

2. Non-native speakers (or those who are perceived as such, like you) must prove to immigration that they have been educated with 12 or 13 years of their schooling completely in English, in order to get the work visa. Immigration works in mysterious ways, so I'm sure there are times when this requirement is taken "case by case", but I don't know any details other than that.

If you apply to the Big Four schools, you need to be in a country where they interview. India, as far as I know, does not fall into that list.

3. What exactly is a "job search visa"? I've never heard of such a thing. You probably stand a better chance if you come here, yes, and look around for reasons explained above. No guarantees, however, and it might take 2-3 months, as you wrote, so be prepared financially for that.
I've written extensively about the budget you need; figure for one person that you should have the equivalent of US$4000-5000 for a couple of months. If you want a breakdown of expenses, PM me.

4. JET will start taking applications very soon, with a deadline in December. If you have a bachelor's degree, you are qualified for an ALT position. Only JET can tell you why there are so few Indians selected; perhaps there are few applicants, or perhaps there are few schools requesting Indians, or perhaps few Indians are qualified enough. Having a bachelor's degree isn't the only requirement.

5. I don't know.

6. You can apply together or separately (and request to be assigned together), but this automatically reduces your chances. Look carefully to see what others have posted on the few places that seem to cater to couples (even unmarried ones). Do a search.

[Aces_High]

Well, that was a real fast reply to my neverending post. Thanks

1) Yes, I have a bachaelors degree in Commerce. So thats not an issue.
And yes...the loophole as you've mentioned is me having 5 yrs of total experience. But how is this a disadvantage? The experience should count rather especially when I'm still just 28 yrs old.

2) I have a certificate issued by my university that my medium of education was in english. Will that help?

3) By job search visa I meant the visitor's visa. 5000 US$ wouldnt be a problem for me. But it would make me extremely nervous as this and little above it is all I have as savings. So if I don't make it Iin couple of months, I go back home empty handed. Scary...Is 5000$ an estimate for me alone or for us as a couple?

4) I have a bachelor's degree and aming for the ALT position preferably via JET. But the website suggests a deadline of Mar 31st. Should this differ from country to country?

Thanks for such a quick reply.

Cheers,

Aces up

[JimDunlop2]

Glenski probably gave about the most accurate response one could give. I'll just add my two bits by saying that I've known several people from India who have worked in the ESL-teaching industry. India is one of those places, where you can have people whose English is pristine and would have no trouble competing with (and easily surpassing) the abilities of any given native-speaker from another country... But then you have the complete opposite -- people whose English is barely intelligible, and rife with grammatical errors.

If you don't fall into this latter group, I would consider it safe to say that you should feel comfortable competing with other from English-speaking countries. If anyone questions you on your English ability, you may safely point out, that even though Hindi is the national language of India, English has associate status and is the lingua franca of politics and commerce, and as such, you consider yourself a native speaker of it.

[Glenski]