Job Discussion Forums

rawlings · Joined: 03 Jan 2009 Posts: 19

Hello, I am currently teaching English in Thailand, and my contract is up in March, so I am now dead-set on moving to Tokyo. I really don't want to move anywhere else in Japan, because I have friends in Tokyo and one of my main motivations is to start a band there. Now, I have done research, and it seems like it is very hard to get a job in the city from overseas, without already having a proper visa. But, that doesn't mean I am not going to try with everything I've got.

I have good qualifications, great resume and CV, letters of recommendation, letters from uni, etc etc. I have all the paperwork I need. How can I go about finding a job in Tokyo? I have about 4k USD$ saved up, but I am fairly confident that I have to have some kind of Visa lined up ahead of time.

Any recommendations or advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Rawlings

ssjup81 · Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2010 7:20 am Post subject:

Good luck trying to get a job in Tokyo. You could just try settling for places that aren't too far from Tokyo, like say...Saitama or maybe Tochigi or Ibaraki, or Yokohama, etc. I'm pretty sure all these prefectures are close to central Tokyo.

As for job hunting, you could always try just going to job sites, like gaijinpot. They have ESL jobs lined up outside of ALT.

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

I posted a bunch of links here
http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=77830

Not all are for Tokyo itself, but it's a start.

You're going to have to come here and look around, or get very lucky and land a phone interview, because Japanese employers don't search in Thailand for teachers.

Academic year begins in April, so you'd better start looking soon. Peak hiring is Feb to March.

rawlings · Joined: 03 Jan 2009 Posts: 19

Thank you both for the advice. I knew it wasn't going to be easy, but I am pretty determined to make it happen. From everything I've heard, I have a couple of options:

My teaching contract ends mid-March, so I COULD fly over there immediately after. I will probably have around 4k USD saved up, but I could crash at my friend's place in Tokyo until I found a job, saving myself some money and time. I would show up with some nice clothes, a list of employers and documents in hand and just interview as much as possible. My main concern here is that most employers request that the interviewer must currently reside in Japan. Also, the entire Visa situation sounds like it would be a headache.

I could also take a TEFL course and enter on an education Visa, but I'm not sure if that would make the hiring process any easier.

In the meantime, I will begin to apply to jobs online, but I am not too optimisitic that they will a) hire me from Thailand and b) place me in tokyo.

Any further suggestions? I will check out all those links posted on the other page.

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

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

I'm afraid you must be thinking of another country- there is no such thing as an "education visa" in Japan. Teachers have either Instructor visas or Specialist in Humanities visas, and the TEFL course doesn't make any difference to either of them. There are student visas- is that what you were thinking of? Taking a TEFL course in Japan would be unlikely to qualify you for a student visa though.