I think we all agree most English teaching jobs in Japan are dead-end. I know some people who have been teaching for 15 years, and they only make more money than their juniors because they originally signed on with a higher salary. The newbies just get shittier contracts.
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Working directly for The Board of Education at high schools, or at the college level seem like it’d be really nice, but both also seem very exclusive.
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I make a salary on the lower end of the English teaching spectrum, but also only work about 25hrs a week, so I feel my salary in relation to my free time is actually really good considering there are people that make 0-25% more than me for 15 extra hours every week. But I also feel I don’t have enough money to do anything with, even though I’d consider myself quite thrifty.
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I’m eager to hear if we have any success stories so I can model my plans off them.
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English teaching jobs for foreigners have never been considered career jobs. The national chain schools had an agreement with the immigration service at one point where they wouldn’t employ teachers long enough to qualify for PR in exchange for expedited visa processing for foreign teachers. IDK if that’s still the case, though. Your best bet is probably to teach at the university level but IDK how difficult it is to get in there.
In some prefectures you can get a special teaching license and be employed as a regular teacher. That means you also work the overtime/club activities and deal with the endless meetings, etc.
Otherwise… private schools I guess?
I don’t teach here nor teach English. But I used to teach chemistry when I was in my country. I do enjoy the feeling of teaching, but I realize the problem is most of things you get from teaching experience are useless on career if you want to change your job. No one will hear your word cuz they’re not your students.
As with anywhere nowadays – side hustles are becoming main ones thanks to the ability to freely advertise on socials contrary to just a decade ago. Think of something artisanal you always wanted to do and start doing it with your free time (and document and push every step).
If your only and actual skill is teaching – offer your own naturalized class to help more advanced people improve their English. Advanced tutoring. Etc. Can even be done via video chat.
Society is leaning towards skilled trades, but finally those are no longer limited to some fickle degrees from Unis and thus are a modern renaissance.
Hell, go bartend your off days or something similar.
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Now I have a question to you, OP, and others in your shoes – what was your main reason to commit to a blatantly underpaid, menial work outside of your homebase? Lack of options, lack of other skills, being deathly scared of being a retail cashier for a while?
>Working directly for The Board of Education at high schools, or at the college level seem like it’d be really nice, but both also seem very exclusive.
Not especially exclusive in my opinion, the key thing is getting the qualifications and experience. Like most careers, you need to make at least some commitment to it.
Living out in the sticks, married, double income is more than enough to raise a family as an ALT. Also do a few private lessons a month.
Yes, but I don’t teach English. I’m a subject teacher at an international school.
I’ve worked both private and national colleges in Japan. Just like every other job , pluses and minuses. My friend quit his position in a college to work at an information desk by the train station, never been happier.
I work for a private school now. I get more than 40 paid holidays a year and still take a few more in the summer.
I teach part time with online tutoring side hussle which I plan to expand when the main job gets easier.
I am a qualified science and maths teacher though as well as English.
Works kinda OK (a few teething problems).
Also I’m in a super privileged position because I don’t pay rent.
May not be what many people want to hear, but yes through A) loving kids and working with them prior to coming here anyway and B) the wage I started on when I came here is the same as it is now, 8 years on. I haven’t progressed at all. And I’m fine with it, because the money I made in England was shit, rent plus bills was higher in my crappy hometown than it is IN TOKYO, so perspective makes the deal I have now (and the general well-being and good mental health I have thanks to it) look like paradise compared to where I came from.
Yes, as a homeroom teacher at an international school. Salary is more than enough to raise a family, 3 months holidays per year, professional development and a solid yearly salary increase.
Luckily I was never an English teacher. I worked for a hospital as a support worker in a ward.
I personally know people who made a happy career out of teaching by teaching at universities.
I got an ALT gig at a private senior high school. Talked with the department head and told them I want to plan and lead all of my classes. After 1 year of that, the school was happy with me and gave me the reference you need to get a special teaching license. So now I’m a regular teacher at the school, and the school is really kind to it’s teachers, so there’s no crazy schedule, no overtime, good salary with good bonus and yearly salary increases. Lots of freedom for me to run my classes how I want and deviate from the (terrible) Japanese style curriculums. So I actually feel like I’m making a difference to my students, since they seem to be much more interested in English now.
Overall, I’m incredibly happy I came down this path and can see myself sticking with this for the rest of my working life. Don’t listen to all the English teacher hate if you think you really want to do it. But you gotta show yourself as something different to the normal ALTs and etc. that the schools are used to.
I know someone tenured in university. Over 100k a year salary, paid summers and not many hours a week, maybe in his 40s. Had to get his doctorate first though.
I teach corporate english and I enjoy it.
I did it by handing in my resignation. I was so happy during those final two weeks.
>Working directly for The Board of Education at high schools, or at the college level seem like it’d be really nice, but both also seem very exclusive.
No, they’re just on the ladder of ‘actual jobs’, not just being randomly dispatched. If you want to access them, you’ll need to invest in training. People complain about poor ALT wages when they have literally zero formal education in teaching. People bagging the decent jobs (same low hours but much more decent wage) are the ones with education and experience.
Work for a private school. I also am an IB examiner, Eiken examiner, and IELTS examiner. All those equal a pretty relaxed life. Though my wife always thinks I should make more.
Worked my way up from a coffee shop side hustle to private school teaching over a very long period of time, getting screwed over here and there along the way and learning important lessons.
I work as a homeroom teacher in a private high school. Some days can be extremely stressful as the hensatchi at our school is quite low, but it is pretty rewarding to see students persevering and do well once they have graduated.
The working hours are standard, but I occasionally get overtime, but this is balanced out as I sometimes get to leave work quite early.
I get paid about 6 million a year, which is more than enough for me. It also increases about 3-4% per year.
The best part is that I get about 3 months off a year which definitely makes up for some of the stress, nonsense and excessive bureaucracy at work.
Many a happy “teacher” are married to Japanese breadwinners.
I’m in a bit of a pickle here with regards to this very topic. My hours are extremely short (11-16 hours a week), but I make more than some 40 hour work week ALTs.
It’s relatively easy work as long as you’re attentive and compassionate. The children and their parents love me, and I love them. And I have all morning and afternoon free to pursue whatever hobbies/interests I have; but somehow I’m just not satisfied.
I think many people would be perfectly happy with this (assuming working with children is okay) but for me it’s just not exciting and interesting anymore. I feel like I want to move on to bigger and better things. I want to have more responsibility (watching a bunch of people’s kids for an hour is quite a bit of responsibility I suppose) and I want to affect some kind of change, measure progress, lose and win.
One of the only things that keeps me going here is that I stopped being able to see my own children when they were 5 and 7, and doing this work allows me to express (to a degree) my paternal side. While having this bond makes me happy, it also hurts when classrooms change or children stop attending.
Sigh.
Maybe I should shut up and be happy with my lot.