Job Discussion Forums

stevenbhow · Joined: 13 Mar 2008 Posts: 58

Hello All,

I'm new to Dave's ESL Cafe, but I've been in Japan for a while. I got my spousal visa this month and I have decided to try and put together enough private students and p/t work to either match my ALT salary or hopefully beat it by a wide margin.

I've done the numbers and on paper and it looks like I should be able to match my current salary while working about 18 hours a week less. I have enough p/t work right now to pay all of my bills, so I�m not jumping into this without a parachute.

My questions are:

1. How many of you have done this?

2. Were you able to support yourself doing only p/t work?

3. What type of p/t work did you find paid the best and was the most
steady? (I don�t have an Masters degree yet, so Uni stuff is out for
now.)

4. I�m hoping to use a combination of private students, corporate
and p/t work at eikaiwas to reach my goal (290,000 to 340,000 yen a month.) Does this seem realistic? Any hidden pitfalls I should be aware of?

Thanks in advance for any information.

Steve

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

I know several people on spouse visa or PR who don't have just one employer. Most don't deal with private lessons anymore, either. They just string together PT work. And, all of them support families with a kid. Most have mainstream school work coupled to some type of corporate lessons.

For PT uni work, you don't necessarily need a master's degree.

Temujin · Joined: 14 Sep 2005 Posts: 90 Location: Osaka

I've only done it for short stints between full-time employment so maybe this doesn't apply, but my experience would be that the lack of job security is much more of a headache than you might think it would be. Private students rarely bring in the amount of money that your calculations suggest they should, and part-time employment has many more pitfalls than a full-time job. Perhaps my experience was out of the ordinary, but I couldn't stand the constant need to worry about my employment situation. The shorter work day wasn't nearly enough to make up for this. Full-time employment might mean longer hours at work, but if you're juggling privates and volatile part-time work you'll spend a lot of those extra hours stressed out.

gaijinalways · Joined: 29 Nov 2005 Posts: 2279

I currently work at 3 unis and an eikaiwa.
Several part-time jobs aren't always stressful, but of course you miss out on pension contributions and co-payments of insurance premiums. Beyond that, I get more time off than I would if I worked full time, and currently make more money. Farther down the road I might not, but I know quite a few people who do quite okay.

It is possible to get uni work without a Master's, but it is getting harder to do so.

alexrocks · Joined: 13 Feb 2006 Posts: 75 Location: Kyoto, Japan

Temujin is right on the mark. Also, regarding private students, a slightly conservative estimate is that they will show up half the time on average, based on my experience. That obviously isn't representative, but it's something you might want to ask about to others who have depended heavily on privates before.

tanuki · Joined: 24 Oct 2006 Posts: 47

Heya Steven

I'm sorry I can't help with the main thrust of your question, but there was a thread a little while back to which I added a rave regarding privates:

http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=57438

It may or may not be useful to you; don't know your situation.

Hope you get the info you're looking for, mate!

Tanuki

-------------------------------------------------------
http://www.eflteachertraining.com

markle · Joined: 17 Jan 2003 Posts: 1316 Location: Out of Japan

If this is any help I have a friend who supports a wife, two kids and a mortgage on his ronin (nice coining of a phrase BTW) income. Whether it can be done comes down to a number of factors, being able to hustle work up when needed, retaining students that you have, and just generally having a bit of entreprenerial flair. Give yourself a long hard look and see if you meet the requirements and then go for it.

stevenbhow · Joined: 13 Mar 2008 Posts: 58

Thanks everyone for the comments and info. This gives me a lot to think about.

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

stevenbhow · Joined: 13 Mar 2008 Posts: 58

Hi Glenski,

I appreciate your comments as always. I'm sorry you have to put up with some much bs at the other board. I've always found you very helpful and informative.

In my case I have a wife who works, no kids, and no mortage (condo is paid for), so hopefully it won't take me quite that long. Also, I've gotten myself down to about 120,000 yen a month budget wise, so hopefully I won't need to add too many more classes to the ones I have right now.

Thanks again for your advice.

Steve

Khyron · Joined: 10 Mar 2006 Posts: 291 Location: Tokyo Metro City

I'll chime in and also offer Glenski some encouragement. Your answers are always informative.

I'm in a very similar position to Steve, so thanks to everyone who has any information from me as well!

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

Getting one's outgoing expenses as low as possible is good financial sense no matter where you live. One also has to think long-term (savings plans, investments, retirement) and what will happen when kids come along? International schools are very expensive, wives quit their jobs (or are let go), etc.

Like I wrote earlier, I have friends living only on PT work and private lessons, but it's not easy. Most of them have actually downsized or eliminated the private lessons for reasons mentioned earlier.

Someone else I know has a working wife and a child entering college, but he still has to work PT jobs and run his own school...at age 65 or so.