Hello!
A bit of a backstory, I’m almost 40 years old. My Japanese wife and I live in the UK, we have one 7 year old daughter together. Circumstances beyond my control mean that we need to move to Japan within a year or so, quite possibly for good.
I’m aware that my career here is not transferrable to Japan and that working as an ALT is at least a decent stepping stone, though to be honest I’d be looking forward to it as I love kids and having worked hard in my current career, I’m quite drawn to the idea of a job that doesn’t require as many hours from me as I put in currently!
The information that I’ve seen online states that you only need a bachelors degree for visa purposes and I would already have a spousal visa, would I definitely still be able to get work as an ALT without a degree? Would me not having a degree offer any obstacle at all?
Also, as I said, I’d be 40ish when we move and nearly every picture of an ALT I can find online is almost half that – it sounds silly but would my age be a barrier?
Additionally, is it difficult to get a permanent contract as an ALT?
I’d be quite keen to hear positive stories of ALT work too as I all to often read negative ones, especially if anyone’s been in a similar situation to myself.
If it makes any difference, we’d be living in northern Saitama, my Japanese skill is fairly basic at present – around N4.
Thank you for reading.
25 comments
Unsure of whether the lack of degree would stop you from an ALT position. I think it’s with the board of education so they may have that higher standard.
Eikaiwa work may be much more attainable as a fail safe, especially with your visa.
Either way, you probably won’t get a permanent contract with any of those big dispatch companies. You can try to get your foot in the door and skill up in your free time as ALT contracts I’ve been offered tend to have quite a bit of it.
Generally junior and high schools want their teachers to have university degrees. Eikaiwa are often more flexible.
-The bachelor’s degree is a visa requirement not explicitly an ALT requirement. You can still try and see if they would be willing to hire you based on your sole experience. Otherwise eikaiwa is also an option.
-Age probably isn’t a huge factor. I think most ALT places just care that you are white as in US, UK or Canadian origin.
-Unfortunately yes. ALTs positions are almost all exclusively contractor based.
-Positive: I guess I could be someone the JHS students looked up to and realize that growing up wasn’t all boring. I could see students occasionally on the street and they’d greet me. While this was frowned upon, but I would regularly go to an arcade and sometimes see students there and we’d play together. Now that I regularly worked in an office, I felt like I’ve become a corporate nobody. Nobody looks up to me, nobody respects me like before and I am for the most part alone, which is OK, but I do think back to my teaching days every now and then and think it was fun while it lasted.
-N4 makes you overqualified for ALT work.
Are you dead set on being an ALT or would you be okay with eikaiwa work or working as a direct hire at a private kindergarten? It’s just that as far I know the bachelors degree is a requirement to work in the public school system whereas any privately run organisation (like a conversation school or private kindergarten) i know that a degree is still preferred but isn’t a requirement. With the spouse visa you’ll have an unrestricted work visa which can be very appealing to potential employers, i dont believe you’ll have trouble finding work, just not work as an ALT.
Age isn’t an issue. Especially if you’ll already be living here with your own visa.
Ultimately you’re always far more likely to hear about people’s negative experiences in the industry online and on Reddit. I would argue that this is absolutely the last thing you should be focusing on, especially if you have no choice in moving here and finding work. I worked as an ALT when i first came here and I loved it. I also worked for one of the worst eikaiwas by reputation and didn’t hate it, had some great classes, worst thing was the pay.
While I can’t be 100% sure about this I’d say (within the English teaching industry) a permanent contract is not so likely if you’re working for an eikaiwa or any other company that would employ someone without a degree. A private kindergarten may eventually offer one but again I cant say that with 100% certainty.
If you’re going to be here for the long haul and you end up enjoying working as an English teacher then I’d strongly suggest you get your BA online / through distance learning. It will give you a lot more power and control over your working life here. I said not to focus on the negative however I should say that one of the main reasons that someone with a spouse visa and no degree is so appealing to the eikaiwa chains is that the company knows that it’s very unlikely you’ll find something better and can therefore take liberties with how they treat you.
I know a married bus driver from the USA who worked as an ALT and eikaiwa dude in his 40’s or so (was actually pretty good as he was happy and had a bit of life experience, rather than ‘growing up’ while trying to live overseas without a family/plan).
My only question would be ‘what next’? I dunno your background but can you do a trade or something. I know a welder who makes more than any English teacher (and speaks flawless Japanese because he uses it all day while on the tools). If you’ve got some sort of a trades background, that kinda work could be solid.
I left Japan at the end of 2013, but I did work both Eikaiwa when I first arrived (Nova, Sept 04 to March 07, then Interac March 07 to Feb 11, then a Non Profit School which had the local contract for Elementary schools in a city called Kashima in Ibaraki Feb 11 to December 2013).
I enjoyed all the places, Nova was crazy with classes and drinking culture and it was just before their collapse so the life of a young-ish new teacher, I was 26 when I went over, was a lot of fun. Hours weren’t great for a family life, 1:30 to 9 a lot of the days. But fine when single. If you work for an Eikaiwa you might end up working hours that go into the evening.
Really enjoyed Interac, despite the low pay but back then it wasn’t terrible, with some business classes through Interac two evenings a week and teaching JHS and Elementary I made about ¥300,00, nowadays I’ve read the starting salary is lower with Interac, I started on ¥270,000 and never got a raise.
The final job was my favorite but hard to find, I got ¥315,00 basic and then an extra ¥50,000 a month from also doing a business English class twice a week in the evenings. And teaching elementary schools during the day.
You get a lot more vacation time as an ALT so that’s good for family time.
For Interac and the last job I was working on a spouse visa and had no trouble working with the BOE. I did have a bachelors though as I went over on that visa and married a Japanese girl and changed my visa to spousal in 2008 or 2009. So I can’t say for sure you can work as an ALT without a bachelors.
Age wise I worked with ALTs ranging in age from 22 to 56, lots of varying ages over there.
Never saw a permanent contract though for anyone. My friends who stayed long term opened their own Eikaiwas and have had success after building a good student base. That might be your best route to a more permanent job, go over teaching Eikaiwa or as an ALT if you can get it, make connections, be a super “Genki” friendly teacher and once you are settled open your own Eikaiwa after a couple of years, I have 5 friends still over there running their own schools. You don’t need qualifications for it, and your wife can help with set up, advertising, taxes etc…. The guys who have done it successfully were very happy, friendly, outgoing teachers, the typical genki gaijin that students love.
I will say I had a great 10ish years there, but I saw salaries declining as I left and I don’t think they have stopped. You can also pick up private students to boost income.
I was turning 38 when I started in March 2018 with Interac. As far as age you will be okay, I met many ALT’s that were slightly younger than me and there was one in his mid 40’s.
So to answer the most important part of your question about the degree, yes even on a spousal visa not having a degree will be a massive barrier for you. Almost everyone, foreign and Japanese nationals, here has one so the competition for someone without a degree would be intense and many companies won’t even look at you without a degree.
The age isn’t an issue. I teach with someone near 40 years of age myself who is an ALT. You might fit in with some of the other faculty better actually.
As for a permanent contract, those are hard to come by. Not impossible but most ALTs renew yearly. Especially with no degree I would advise you to plan for not being able to find something stable in this sense. Anything can happen, but realistically the no degree thing will be a huge obstacle especially with borders opening now again.
I live in Saitama btw. It’s a lovely place and I hope you enjoy it here. I’ve had a great experience here as an ALT at work and in my personal life.
I think you have a tough time ahead of you, unless your wife is also willing to work. ALTs don’t make much money, and the type of contract they are on prevents them from attaining full employment status. There’s also no advancement or pay raises, or job security – if your company loses its contract with that school, and if you can’t just up and move to another city where they do have classes for you, your contract will simply end and you’ll have to go job-hunting. It’s not meant to be a career; it’s meant only to be a short-term job for new grads or people interested in traveling. While they will hire people like you, who have a family, the job isn’t meant for someone supporting a family. That said, if it interests you, there’s no reason you shouldn’t try it out. Just be sure that you understand that there is no advancement – you’ll never make more money at that level, and that you will need to have a fallback plan of some kind, whether that is your wife being the breadwinner or a side hustle or something else.
Alternatively, you could try to find work at an English conversation school. Depending on where you work, you should get more job security there, and there are often chances for advancement in that you could become a teacher-manager at your branch. You wouldn’t be in management exactly; but at least you’d be able to make slightly more money. However, do be very careful about the type of contract they are offering. Do not accept the one they refer to as “independent contractor”. Those are designed to skirt labor law, and to keep the workforce fluid. They are also semi-illegal (exist in a gray area) and put you at a distinct disadvantage. Examples of schools that have these contract types include Gaba and Nova. I would recommend you try Berlitz or ECC – they have the best reputations of all the chain English conversation schools, and both have unions, too – which is a real advantage.
If you wind up liking teaching, that’s great; a lot of people stay in such jobs as a career and manage to make ends meet and raise a family. But if you find you don’t like it, you’ll need to work twice as hard to get out since many doors are closed to you as a foreigner. As a fallback, you really should study Japanese like mad. It will open up more doors outside teaching, as well as help you to integrate into the culture and foster a sense of community. If I were you, I’d start now.
Do keep in mind that there are better, professional contexts for English teaching – for example, there is high school teaching, teaching at accredited international schools, colleges, and university jobs. The problem for you is that these require a teaching license and other ESL qualifications, e.g., BA in Ed; MA in TESOL. If you decide to go that route, you’ve got years of study in front of you.
But who knows – you might start out as an ALT, learn Japanese, and then find a job in an entirely different feild. As an example, a friend of mine started out teaching kids at a preschool making very little money. Then he learned Japanese, and began to sell used cars. Finally, he got some sort of IT qualifications, and now works for IBM Japan.
You know your weaknesses and strengths; so play to your strengths. Good luck!!
Consider your financial goals. While everyone else in Japan sees yearly raises and bonuses, as an ALT your salary will remain stagnant. And in fact it’s only been getting lower over the past couple decades. It’s not very motivating for a long term career. Currently I’m at ¥230,000 a month. There are ways to get more, like working as a direct hire for a school, etc. but even then you’d most likely top out at ¥300,000 / month. If your wife will be the main bread winner, maybe you’d be fine.
But with low salary comes a lot of vacation time. Like 6 weeks off in summer, 3 weeks off in winter, 3 weekend off in spring. It varies by contract, but that’s the idea. So if you have any plans to take your kid or family back to the UK for extended visits, it’s not a bad idea. That is if you can afford the travel costs with your families combined salaries.
Good luck!
If you are fairly financially secure then being an ALT for the remainder of your working life might suit you fine. There is basically zero responsibility and the hours are good for spending time with your family.
However, if you are looking for a job that will enable you to support a family and save for a comfortable retirement then being an ALT is not that job. Along with zero responsibility and good working hours comes zero job security and no chance of career progression or salary increase. Basically, the 250,000 yen you earn today will most likely be what you retire with.
Your age probably won’t be a factor or the lack of a degree (if you have a spouse visa) and as long as you can appear genki and approachable then it’s not difficult to get a job as an ALT. Just think carefully if you want to be doing this for the remainder of your working life because honestly, there aren’t many other options.
I have a friend who just started teaching part time at 50 years old, without a degree. I don’t think age is an issue. May depend on the school and staff.
I suggest reading other posts on the topic of being an ALT. Not knowing your previous career, it could be a big blow to your ego.
Working conditions as an ALT vary dramatically. Not to mention that you’ll be dealing with major culture shock unless you’ve lived here before.
With that said, I moved here at 40 after a career in NYC in advertising. I tried to parlay my experience there here, but the doors closed due to my N3 language ability at the time. So I went the ALT route and worked four years for a really good company which no longer exists.
I knew I wanted to be a teacher for the remaining life on this planet so came up with a game plan. Went for a masters degree in education (TESOL) and taught business English, private jr and sr high school and uni to see where I’d fit in best. University was it!
In the end after publishing a few papers and graduation got my foot in the door and been teaching uni ever since.
ALT is good to see if you like teaching and to get an income, but do not get stuck doing it until you retire. And if you can get that bachelors degree before you land.
The best thing you can do is start a completely different career. In five years you’re going to say to yourself, “ I wish I’d never become an ALT.”
Most of the ALTs I’ve met have been gray haired married men. 😆. You’ll be fine.
One year? Start a masters in linguistics. You’re going to be about half way through before you arrive in Japan. Find a piss easy ALT position for the remainder of your masters and then you’ll be in a much better job
>[W]ould I definitely still be able to get work as an ALT without a degree?
No, not definitely.
>Would me not having a degree offer any obstacle at all?
Yes, actually. It’s a big obstacle. And people downplaying it need to stop sugarcoating it for you. Everyone saying you can get a job without it are either misinformed, or talking about the type of companies you really don’t want to work for (which to be fair, is most of them regardless.)
>[W]ould my age be a barrier?
No.
>[I]s it difficult to get a permanent contract as an ALT?
Yes because, for the most part, they don’t exist.
>I’d be quite keen to hear positive stories of ALT work too as I all to [sic] often read negative ones
Gee. I wonder why?
>I’m quite drawn to the idea of a job that doesn’t require as many hours from me as I put in currently!
lolno, that’s not how this works. I mean, I obviously don’t know what your last job was, but ALT-ing is not a guaranteed easy job you can coast on. Sometimes, sure, you’ll get that sweet gig that’s one school, 2-3 classes a day, you’re T2, they let you leave early, etc. Other times YOU will be T1, your teachers will NOT help you in class, and you will teach 5-6 classes a day at multiple different schools throughout the week.
You don’t know which one you’re going to get, you will be paid the same (like shit) regardless of which one you get, and if you do get the sweet gig, it’s not permanent. If your company loses the contract for that Board of Education (BOE) you’re fucked because you’ve lost that school, if not your entire job. If they do keep it, many companies / BOE’s have policies against anyone being at any particular school for too long, so you can, again, eventually say goodbye to that dream school.
I’ve said this before on this sub: **ALT-ing is not worth it anymore.** It’s not even worth it for travelers or gap-year tourists. Those days are over. The pay and support are worse than they’ve ever been.
What you need to do is start hitting those Japanese textbooks, hard. Don’t expect your wife to tutor you, it’s not her responsibility to teach you the language, and don’t expect her to take care of everything for you when you finally get here. You’re her husband, not her baby. Speaking of children, if yours doesn’t speak Japanese you need to start rectifying that NOW. They are going to have an *incredibly* difficult time here if they don’t.
Another option is to get some tech certs and start looking into IT jobs. Many of them don’t require advanced Japanese.
Honestly, you’d be better off working at a factory or something. ALT pay, especially living in Saitama, would be really hard to support a family on unless your wife has a decent paying job.
Maybe go with your wife to your local hello work and try to find a factory job that pays at least 1000¥/ hour. You’ll make more money and you’ll most likely get social insurance and normal benefits.
For example;
ALT – maybe 200,000/month, usually no pay during summer and winter breaks, no seishain, no shakai hoken, no bonus, etc.
Factory – maybe 250,000-300,000/ month, holidays are off, bonus, shakai hoken, possibly rent assistance, and maybe even bonus.
OP, please tell us more about your work experience and education. You may have better options than ALT work.
If you could share what you currently do, someone might be able to better advise how you can try to pursue a career that you already have skills for.
ALT pay is extremely low, and there is no guarantee that their “short hours” will continue. Previously, a number of dispatch companies would limit work to 29.5h/week, to take advantage of the shakai-hoken “loophole”, so they could avoid paying that for the ALT. However, as of October 2022, the law has changed, and most (all?) of them now have to enroll the ALT in shakai-hoken.
Some dispatch companies enrolled their ALTs as of April this year, and in those cases, their new contracts for this year were for 40h/week, but at the same rate of pay as when they were doing 29.5h/week.
There is a good chance from next year, ALTs will be working 40h/weeks instead.
One of the larger dispatch companies pays JPY215,000/month. These are the deductions to expect:
a) Health insurance (half of 9.9%): 10,643円
b) Nursing insurance (age 40 and above; half of 1.73%): 1,860円
c) Pension (half of 18.3%): 19,673円
d) Unemployment insurance (0.3%): 645円
e) Income tax withholding: 5,340円
Total deductions: ~38,160円
(Note: % used were for Tokyo. It might be a little different for other parts of Japan)
Leaving you with a take-home pay of just ~176,840円 each month.
On top of that, you will need to pay residence tax, which is about 10% of your income the previous year; so you’ll have to set aside about another 21,500円 every month (probably a little less, since they usually pro-rate the salary over the March/April months).
So, you’re potentially looking at working 40h weeks, and bringing home ~155,340円/month.
At the current exchange rate (USD1=JPY149), that works out to ~USD1,045/month. Even at the previous rate of USD1=JPY125, that’s still just ~USD1,243 only… but who knows when it might return to those levels again, or if it even will at all.
ALTing is not a career.
>Additionally, is it difficult to get a permanent contract as an ALT?
Yes. Contracts are renewed yearly but there’s always the chance that the board of education for your city will go with a different ALT company and you’ll be out of a job. Job security is non existent and the pay and benefits are terrible, bordering on non existent, too.
>stepping stone
Sure, it’s work to keep you busy while you figure out what to do next. My advice would be to work on your Japanese as much as possible and go from there.
You can get a spouse visa, so whether a degree i’s needed for that is pretty irrelevant to you.
The bachelor’s degree is usually just part of the contract between the provider and the BOE / school.
It just requires the BOE / school to waive the requirement.
Thus is unlikely for an overseas applicant, but if you are already here on a spouse visa and can start immediately then it is entirely possible, especially when an ALT leaves mid year.
I know this first hand as this is exactly what I am doing. I also happen to be in my 40s coming from a long IT career.
I was in my 30s when I started and you’re definitely going to be in the minority, but it can have its advantages. (The biggest of which is that, because Japan’s a very seniority-based society, you’re going to get a bit less of the condescending treatment than some of your juniors may).
I think you might find it harder to connect with your average ALT coworkers (that said, plenty are at least in their late 20s / 30s, you’ll probably have a bit more in common with them) but you might actually find it easier to relate to your Japanese coworkers. I wouldn’t worry too much about it overall, though just treat people decently and keep your expectations modest.
One thing to note is that the English education system in Japan is abhorrent and the country as a whole is very resistant to change, so try to keep your expectations low there as well. Changes are possible, but it’s best to take a more slow but steady approach and try to ease into your social surroundings first. (To note: Other than being able to do very basic teaching stuff I feel like being able to get along well with others / adapt to the difference in cultural vibe is way more important here than “hard skills.”)
Many ALT jobs will require you to have a BA, but not all. Once you get experience, it may be easier to find long-term employment in the field, or you may be able to find a niche you can fit into at a foreign company, depending on your experience back in the UK. Since you have a spousal visa, which is a big plus, you can choose to apply for part-time jobs instead of one full-time job – for ALTs, the wages for these can actually average better than full-time and you are less likely to get an employer that uses you (and if they try to, quitting won’t put you in a compromised financial state).
I can suggest you find an ice cabinet, a liquor cabinet, a liquor glass, and a variety of ice that you deem taste good before you move-in. I think CO-OP sells some good pure tasting ice, it’s called ROCKS something.
Also blast this Initial D song : MEGA NRG MAN / BACK ON THE ROCKS
Sir, you have a family, and you will have a spousal visa. Why bother being an ALT? There are many options like combini work, which will be easier, and pay more! There’s also overtime. If you want something more prestigious, get a cert for IT, and become an entry-level data engineer at the companies that don’t require a computer science degree.
You have limitless options, well your only limit may be your command of Japanese, but you’re trying to pick the one job open to all where you will be mistreated for circumstances outside of your control? Nitpicked on for the slightest detail, and might even get fired for no reason, or ageism.
In my intake, we did not have older ALTs, I know they exist, but we had only youngins, because it’s easier to pull the wool over their eyes.
Interesting. Who suggested this job, was it your wife? Does she know the actual job market for ALTs now? I suspect your wife is also 40, well 25 years ago… ALTs were paid very well when your wife was still in school, and it was considered a prestigious job to have among both the Japanese community, and expat community.
Why suffer like the rest of us? Are you really that bent on becoming an alcoholic?
I hope your wife isn’t planning to divorce you and take the child
You are moving from a country where you have the power (legally and financially) to Japan where you will have no power (legally). Moreover, as an ALT you have no financial power with your poverty wage.