Job Discussion Forums

[thelza]

Here's my deal:

My career goal is to become an editor at a newspaper. I got my BS in journalism, but also did internships and landed a couple of jobs at major newspapers. I continued to get my MA (in international relations though), while still working fulltime. This summer, I worked at a paper in Russia and also taught English.

I've just finished my masters, got dumped by long term bf (it was inevitable) and have been trying to look for a job.

BUT

I've ALWAYS wanted to go to Japan and do the teaching English thing. And while I don't exactly LOVE teaching English and don't want to make it my career, I find it rewarding enough to do for a year or so, and I enjoy meeting new people and the lifestyle.

I have zero obligations to anything or anyone right now, so I should just do it, right? (I have an interview with ECC coming up so it's definitely possible.) Now would be the perfect time to take off.

BUT

I'm worried that a year of this nomadic lifestyle would pretty much kill my journalism career chances, and I will find myself in this exact same position one year from now.

Any voices of experience here? What do you guys think? I definitely would try and pursue freelance writing/editing when in Japan but I understand this would be difficult.

And don't anyone tell me I shouldn't do it unless I just loooove teaching and want to make a career out of it-- because I know for a fact not everyone who heads over there is all gung-ho for the teaching itself. I do enjoy the work, and when I do something, I work very hard at it, but really I just want to travel, have fun, meet cool people and make some money while doing it (hey, at least I'm honest). And I know people have used it to sort of run away from things.

Sorry for the long post. Any thoughts?

[Glenski]

Life is yours to choose. Do what you want to do as early as possible. Who knows what may come up and steer you in another direction that is equally or more exciting than your proposed career goal of editor? Nobody is putting a gun to your head to stay forever as a teacher. Just give yourself a strict deadline, keep to it, and while you teach, look for openings or opportunities in journalism.

[Henry_Cowell]

Don't forget that you can be writing (and gathering material for future writing) during the time you're in Japan.

The Japanese media might not want those stories, but Western media should be quite interested. Writing and selling stories -- travel, human interest, politics, education, arts, etc. -- will certainly build up your portfolio.

And when you return home, getting a job in the foreign affairs bureau of a place like Agence France-Presse (seven AFP bureaus in the U.S.) will be a cinch for you. (A good friend of mine landed such a job after returning from Indonesia; she had an M.A. in Journalism.)

Bon chance!

[luckbox]

[thrifty]

If you do any more than a couple of years in TEFL your job prospects outside TEFL are doomed.

AP-why would they want an ex-TEFLer? Besides you will be older and have to compete with younger more career minded people. If you are asked at an interview why you have been tefling, what will you say? Oh I really wanted to do the English teaching thing?

[Apsara]

This kind of question, and the above type of answer almost always seems to come from Americans.

In NZ it is considered normal and healthy (and virtually compulsory) to spend a couple of years travelling or living overseas, experiencing cultures other than your own and broadening your mind- in my country at least, that's why any company would "want an ex-TEFLer".

Sad that such a potentially enriching experience seems to be seen as a negative career step in the US.

[cornishmuppet]

Same in England. Broadens your mind and all that, and speaking a foreign language can never hurt. Seems that one year is as good as doing seven years, though, unless you pick up some qualifications on the way. And that can put you behind. Starting my fourth year I'm wondering about this, but life is great at the moment.

As for me, my aspirations are as a novelist. I've written seven books and counting, trying to sell them, though its harder from Japan to mail stuff out and all that. What I have gained from travelling is a load of interesting experiences to write about, and I've added travel articles to my repetoire, which get printed in a small local magazine back home. Any experience is useful if you approach it with the right frame of mind. Saying that, I don't think a year getting drunk at Nova will do you much good, so choose wisely and know what you want out of it.

[luckyloser700]

[kdynamic]

A year teaching English in Japan will not advance your career, but I doubt it would hurt it either. The job can, actually, afford you a lot of free time and if you use it well you could improve yourself as a person and a journalist (by reading the right books or working on a long term writing project or something). Also, if you have a masters in IR and you want to be a journalist, I think long term international experience is probably a missing piece in the puzzle of you becoming just the sort of well rounded person you dream newspaper might be looking to hire a year from now. So, if you want to do it, I think you should go for.

Be warned, however, that smart educated people with no particular interest in teaching do tend to be bored, a little frusterated, and get worn out. Most of the highly educated types end up quitting after a year and then go to law school or start a career in finance or get back to whatever they were doing before (in your case journalism). Most of the ones I have talked to say something along the lines of 'I am glad I did it and I had a lot of fun, but a year was enough. Any more and I'd have started to feel like I was wasting my time.'

Anyway, if you go into it realistically knowing this stuff, I think you could have a good experience.

[seastarr]

Hello,
I am also interested in pursuing a career in publishing/journalism. I spent a year in Japan and, while it has not hurt me, it hasn't exactly helped so much. Not that I expected it to really. I kept an interesting blog while I was there that everyone I've ever know seems to have read. People are always interested in unique experiences that they haven't had firsthand. Japan was really interesting for me, and I think that my experiences being a minority, when I have always been a member of the majority help me be a more well rounded person. A friend of mine that was in Japan at the same time practiced his writing by writing about his experiences and sending them home to his local newspaper in NZ. By the time he left, he had quite a stack of published work. If you are only doing it short term like I was, teaching for a conversation school is a sure bet job in a country you might never get to experience otherwise. I would say do it. Whats one more year?

[Apsara]

Actually I just remembered that I worked at Nova with a Canadian guy who has since become the editor of a newpspaper- ok, it's the local paper of a small town in the Yukon Territories, but he is in his early thirties and presumably it is a step on the way to a similar job at a larger paper.

While he was in Japan he had a few articles published in the Japan Times, including one about one of our students- a woman who was the head Shinto priestess at a Kamakura shrine (unusual in Japan).

I agree with the others who said that while being in Japan may not help your career, it shouldn't hurt it either, and if you've always wanted to do it then why not? Just make sure you keep yourself stimulated and focussed on your future goal while here.

[Like a Rolling Stone]

Not a cop out. Come and try it! You could always write for local magazines and get some info about "international realstions" here. When I came to japan I suddenly discoverd news about places I didn't know anything about. Like Burma and North Korea. Really interesting!

[thelza]

Thanks everyone for your helpful advice! It's interesting to hear other people's stories. I am 23, which I realize is still very young. Until now I have been very American about things-- finished undergrad early, rushed straight into masters, very workaholic the whole time. I am going to go for it, and take the advice of keeping focused still and using my time over there to do freelance work and try and stay with it.

[AndyH]

In addition, having a year abroad usually looks good on a resume; makes people think you've got some life experiences to add to your degree(s).

[sushi]

People never tire of news from the orient particularly since Kim Jong Il has gone nuclear. You would be in the right position to start a portfolio of articles on the subject for future reference.