I’m so tired… literally… I just need to get this off my chest. Bear with me please.
I’ve been teaching English for about 9 years now including the 4 years that I was working back in my native country.
I have a Bachelor’s Degree in English, hold a 120-hour TESOL training certificate, worked as a teacher in a university back home and have extensive experience teaching conversation classes, grammar, TOEIC, Eiken, preschool and afterschool to not only Japanese people but Chinese, Vietnamese, Koreans, and Thais in person. I also have years of online teaching experience but whenever I try to apply for new teaching positions, I always get offered the entry level salary that’s usually 250,000 yen in the Kanto area like everybody else.
I try to negotiate my salary while humbly stating my background in English teaching and just get told that it’s what everyone gets and that’s all that they can offer. I mean I get paid the same amount as my husband who’s never taught at all before coming to Japan and currently have only about 3 years experience.
I just feel like it’s so unfair! If I were an IT specialist, I’d be making double of what I was getting as an entry level employee by now. I read about people earning 600,000 yen a month after getting 3 years of experience in other industries and I feel like I’m stuck in this profession because I’ve never done anything else and then get paid the same amount as someone who literally just landed here a week ago with no prior experience.
I know that people look down on English teachers because like they say, anybody can do it. If you’re from a native English country, then you just talk and you get paid. You don’t need any specific skill to sing songs or teach phonics. But still…
It’s just so ridiculous, honestly… it makes me feel worthless and mistreated that in my 9 years of doing this, I’m still making the same amount as I did 5 years ago when I first came to Japan.
Why are companies so stingy when it comes to giving adequate compensation to their teachers? It’s just so depressing… Why did I dedicate almost a decade of my life to something that never gives me the recognition and the financial reward I feel I deserve? Why Japanese schools are you like this? Why???
4 comments
So you’ve done the same thing for 9 years without any improvement and are upset the industry didn’t magically change around you?
If you enjoy teaching enjoy it and continue on. If you wanna make money learn a new skill and do something else.
Just because you’ve done something for a long time doesn’t mean you deserve to make more money doing it.
The ones doing the hiring only care about “can they teach well enough at this salary.” So your skill level is relatively meaningless for most positions. Work towards a university job or open your own school or find something new.
I worked at Nova way back in 2000 for 4 years or so and had somewhat similar thoughts to yours now. After much thought and contemplation i came to the realization that I enjoyed class a lot but hated dealing with the staff and company. You’re never going to get a decent salary from a run of the mill English school that hires simply anyone who can speak English.
With all of your experience, maybe think about what it is that you can do for the students that the inexperienced “teachers” around you can not. Maybe find a bunch of private students that are after what you have to offer. It wouldn’t take that many to cover a base teacher salary and the possibilities are endless that way.
Maybe think about getting other marketable skills? I went back and got my MBA, you can as well.
If you want to change careers you will have to work for it and dedicate the time and effort
If you have published two papers in the last five years, start applying for university teaching positions here. If you haven’t published anything, join JALT or JACET and attend your local chapter’s next meet. If you need some other pointers, DM me.