Job Discussion Forums

paulmo · Joined: 24 Nov 2005 Posts: 3 Location: Maine, USA

newbie, have read the forums extensively, deciding between japan/korea.

how to find uni positions besides westgate corp?

ba/ma in english. have taught college writing for 10 years. no esl certs per se but have taught college writing to native africans, japanese, bosnians.

advice is appreciated. looking for uni gig in mid sized city with clean air, on water is best.

thanks in advance�

reasonJP · Joined: 17 Jul 2008 Posts: 48

I'm sure somebody else will follow with something much more helpful but as far as I know..
It's not just Westgate that contract you out to universities, but a few other companies as well. OTC is one, not sure of any other names.
You could probably try for work direct from the universities themselves, but I would imagine it'd be pretty difficult to get into those places, especially at entry level. You sound fairly experienced though- what did your college writing work actually involve?

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

If you have read the forum that extensively, you probably ran across the 4 sticky FAQs on this page. If not, I strongly suggest you read them (especially part 3). The information you seek is there.

University jobs
Westgate is not a university, nor does it offer true university jobs. It dispatches people to do eikaiwa-like lessons on some campuses. You are a Westgate employee, not a university prof (even though you get a professor visa with Westgate's sponsorship).

Don't think that you are going to be able to choose your location for work of any type here. The market is flooded. Be happy if you get an offer anywhere. Go ahead and apply to places that seem to fit your standards, but realize that university jobs will have 20-100 applicants, and most of them will be experienced with teaching in Japan, plus have publications (do you?) and Japanese language ability (what's yours?), plus they will probably already be in Japan (a huge benefit).

Even for other teaching positions, expect lots of competition whether you come here to apply or sit home and apply (to fewer opportunities).

paulmo · Joined: 24 Nov 2005 Posts: 3 Location: Maine, USA

thanks for leading me to faq part 3. looks interesting and like you say, competitive.

i've had articles published, delivered conference papers, and have moonlighted in copyediting for a magazine publisher.

don't speak much japanese...kunichiwa?

what are the cleanest air cities in japan? seems to fare better than korea in that respect.

Apsara · Joined: 20 Sep 2005 Posts: 2142 Location: Tokyo, Japan

I googled the clean air thing for you, since I doubt anyone knows that info off the top of their heads. Have a look at this article:

http://www.forbes.com/2007/04/16/worlds-cleanest-cities-biz-logistics-cx_rm_0416cleanest.html

So Kobe looks like a good bet for you, as the other two (Omuta and Katsuyama) are small enough that I have never heard of them after 10 years in Japan, and so you probably would have a hard time finding work there. You may find that even the big cities in Japan are not as polluted as you thought.

Apsara · Joined: 20 Sep 2005 Posts: 2142 Location: Tokyo, Japan

double post, sorry

paulmo · Joined: 24 Nov 2005 Posts: 3 Location: Maine, USA

thanks apsara, this is exciting. are you japanese?

Apsara · Joined: 20 Sep 2005 Posts: 2142 Location: Tokyo, Japan

You're welcome. Smile

I'm not Japanese, just a New Zealander who has been here a while.

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

With all the competition out there, if you limit yourself only to clean air places, you are really going to reduce your chances. Just apply anywhere. Odds are, if you are even considered for an interview (with no Japanese language ability and no experience here, I'd say odds are pretty slim), and if you are even hired, you're going to be looking for work soon afterwards anyway. Most uni FT jobs are contracts that run a few short years.