Hey everybody, I hope you're having a nice weekend.
This is a question for all of you teaching at universities in Japan.
A little bit about my background: I graduated with a degree in English literature from Ohio State, moved to JP, and now I'm in a master's program for English literature at a high ranking national university. I'm 24, and will be graduating in 2026. I'm working as a TA at my university and I have 3 years of experience as a private tutor. I have N1.
My ultimate goal would be to teach English/English literature at a university level. I'm considering continuing on to get my PhD, but the only problem is that I would need to find a way to finance myself through this.
Here are some questions that I have:
Is my best option to advance to a PhD program and teach part time on the side? Would this be realistic?
Would it be possible for me to get part time teaching jobs upon graduating from the Master's program? I don't have university level teaching experience other than TA, so I wouldn't be able to fulfill the 3 years of university teaching requirement it seems that most places have.
What should I be doing right now(other than studying, of course) to maximize my chances of getting university teaching jobs? Is there anything you wish you would have known?
I would appreciate any insight you have to offer, and thank you for taking the time to read this.
by frozenpizzasasuke