Hello, just wanted to preface by saying I read through the FAQ first but wasn’t completely sure I understood. Is it necessary to get some like of TEFL certification to teach in Japan? I have 3 years tutoring experience and bachelor’s in bio. Also when would be a good time to start looking for a job for this school year? Thanks
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What I’m about to say might come off as rather negative, and I’m not trying to step on your dreams and it would be nice to see everyone get to live our their dreams, but why, specifically, teaching in Japan?
The state of teaching in Japan has been steadily declining for years. If you really want to live in Japan, teaching for a year or two is fine, as you will be grossly underpaid and hovering around the poverty line.
I would recommend looking into your bachelor field of study that will sponsor your visa from scratch, if possible. And, if you can’t find one that will sponsor you, teaching jobs are a great starter and you can job hunt once you get here.
Basically, just don’t get trapped in the teaching sector for too long.
Based on my months of research I’d say your 3 best options are:
JET Program, Altia Central & Joytalk In that order.
You’ll need a degree but apart from that having a drivers license, learning a basic lvl of Japanese and getting a tefl/tesol certification will greatly benefit you competitively through your applications. I got my Tefl from:
https://tefluniversal.com/
They’re cheap, have tons of great reviews on many different review platforms and are accredited by Accreditat. I’m looking at going myself either by the end of this year or early next year and I plan to be there for a year or 2. Good luck 🙂
I would not waste your money on any teaching qualifications unless you were planning to stay in Japan as a teacher for the long haul with a good paying international school or something. Your qualifications will not be rewarded in the vast majority of teaching positions.
You might get a slightly better salary (maybe $50 usd), but when most salaries are struggling to stay around $2,500 (USD) a month, it isn’t worth it.
When asked by a manager why I thought so many people were quitting (as I was walking out the door), I said, “my salary is probably the highest (3,000 usd) and most new workers make almost a third less than me. Why would anyone stay?”
The manager’s response: “we pay the industry standard.”
What this tells me is that they pay dirt wages because they know there are many people like you who are eager to come to Japan, get overwhelmed by all the BS you get put through the first few days that you don’t really understand what you’ve signed up for.
This is what you’ve signed up for:
You have dirt wages,
health insurance and pension schemes you most likely will have to sign up for and navigate on your own, plus residential taxes on top of an apartment.
I am intensely frugal and still saved about 600 a month, but I made that much extra than most newbies. This is just the costs. Not even the realities of the job.
Unless you have a job lined up, think of English teaching as a stepping stone that is quickly crumbling under you when you get here. Of course, to do other jobs, you’ll need marketable skills and Japanese language skills as well.
If you search for/ask for information about ALT and Eikaiwa jobs you’ll get information more accurate to your situation, since those aren’t teaching. If you’re just looking to play around in Japan for a while on a 3k/mo salary or less as a single 20something then ALT/Eikaiwa fit the bill and you just need a BA/BS in whatever. The difficult part then becomes finding the companies with will exploit you the least and pay the most for the least amount of responsibilities, but this sub can help with that.
If you are actually serious about getting an actual teaching position that’s a very different process with very different standards, and a TOEFL cert wouldn’t be enough by itself.
You could try to transition once you’re here, but the success rate on that is exceedingly low.
What type of teaching are you planning to do? You mention TEFL and then bachelor’s in bio.
If you want to teach English, then it depends on the pathways you want to go; ALT/JET, eikawa, local public/private, international, university.
If you want to teach bio the pathways are almost the same except take out ALT/JET and eikawa.
What qualifications you need will depend on what pathway you plan to get into.
I came to Japan originally with an Eikaiwa and now working in public school. I agree with everyone about using these jobs as stepping stones. A foreigner will never be a “full” teacher in any capacity. I have a buddy who was born in Japan, raised in America, (half black, looks mostly black) and has native level Japanese (reading writing speaking) and even with all of that and his Japanese passport. He is treated as an outsider. People always said “日本語上手!” And when he explains he’s half Japanese blah blah blah, every single person reacts in disbelief or “ah that’s makes sense. No way a foreigner can speak natively.” I have a degree in linguistics with a specialization in language acquisition WITH TESOFL certification and it makes no difference. I’m payed poverty wages, given no trust to handle education of students. I’m currently studying IT and cyber security. I’m very fortunate to have a wife and in-laws and that incredibly supportive and aware of Japan’s shitty treatment of foreigners and how that’s really destroying the country.
This turned into a rant and I apologized. My last piece of advice is the most important. You are replaceable, you are a tool, you are an income piece for these companies. DO NOT feel like you have any allegiance or loyalty to these companies. They will always try to suck you dry. Set boundaries and stick to them. Say no to overtime. Say no to non-payed events. If they try to threaten you, it’s all an act. Foreign workers have the same rights as Japanese workers. The sad thing is, most Japanese workers lack the spine to challenge their jobs. Don’t be like that.
I’m glad there was no internet and Reddit when I went to teach in Japan. I leveraged my pay up to 420,000 a month in the 90s. I lied about experience and used personality to work my way up. It’s sad to hear what is happening now. Good luck
Please don’t waste your biology degree coming over here and “teaching English” for peanuts
One possible option you could do is get I.B. certified to teach science (since you have a biology degree). I.B. teachers make good money and you can also find a decent job in USA/Europe
In my case…
1. Do a degree (mine happened to be teaching)
2. Get a job with an eikaiwa and come over.
3. Do their 1 week induction.
4. Stay until you’re jack of it (usually 6-12 months) and then bugger off.
IMO it helps to picture it as being a gap year in Japan rather than the beginning of your journey towards being a decorated pedagogue. Again I happened to have a teaching degree but it was totally unnecessary.
Some teaching programs require different things. I have a TESL degree so I haven’t looked too much into it, but I believe only a portion of the sites I looked at stated that you need TEFL certification.