I’ve read through enough posts to get a basic gist of the situation in regards to coming to work in Japan. A bit of backstory is in order though, I am basically the type of person that is looked down upon (rightfully so) when it comes to teaching. Due to personal reasons, I was unable to continue attending my crappy community college and living in my state. So I bit the bullet, moved to China. That was 6 years ago. I just turned 29. I’ve been teaching the entire time, have only left the country twice. I have savings in the number of 5 figures, and have the opportunity to go back home to do school. I want to finish it, and do something legit for once in my life.
I think Japan would be a good fit for me if I actually went through the proper procedures. I have an HSK 5, I’ll take the level 6 test before I move. Atleast its something extra to bolster my resume. haven’t taken it because of how annoying doing anything is here (zero covid policy/ city lockdowns).Learning the language or assimilating into a different culture isn’t easy, but its something I genuinely feel I’m prepared to handle.
I’d like to pursue a masters in education, and begin self studying to take the JLPT. N2 would be ideal before I go there. I genuinely love teaching, and I wouldn’t want to pursue anything else other than my own business. The pay isn’t glamorous, but neither are a lot of jobs that pay similarly, or even much higher on the totem pole. I simply wish to have a stable income, perhaps have a family, and be an active member of my community. A simple life. I’d like to take part in fundraisers, clubs, school activities, and overall be helpful to Japan. A lot of people in Japan seem jaded in regards to teaching, and I can understand how people get like that. People in China are like that too. The big difference is, while I’ll never be fully accepted in either country, atleast in Japan I could have some form of rights and attain my goals. Having the right credentials will also be the best decision for me to move forward instead of playing teacher. I’ve taught, and have done accent coaching, for nearly every age you can imagine. It’s my passion in life, to actually make a small difference in a persons life. If they had fun, and learned something, I did my job and I feel fulfilled. No feeling is greater than leaving a fully satisfied and happy classroom of students that adore you, look up to you, and wish to better themselves.
As for teaching in America, maybe the salary is much higher, but then again I really don’t want to teach back home. Thats out of personal reasons, of which there are many. I have some friends who took the route of doing anything and everything they could, tests/certificates/licenses and actively going out of their way to volunteer their time. They finished their masters in 4.5-5 years doing so. I’m willing to take the plunge and start late in life. Atleast I’d be doing it right.
In your opinion, what are the best routes to overcome the competition? I’m going back home in December, and I want to make a solid game plan now before I try enrolling into school. I want to make responsible, informed decisions. My search isn’t just limited to this sub, but I am actively searching for any and all information, and will sift through it and make comparisons. I’m interested in both public schools and international schools. Will be willing to have the credentials to do either. Its noted that I will need a fews years of teaching experience for the international school route, if I did a year at home and network correctly after I get my boots on the ground, there may be some place willing to accept me though, I’d imagine.
I may consider other asian countries, but I’m not particularly too interested in going somewhere else other than Japan. General advice is wanted. I’ve basically done ”Eikawa” work in China, i.e white monkey job. I’ve done the equivalent of nearly any teaching job you can imagine. Fake it till you make it though is all fun and games till it bites you in the ass, I want to be legit.
4 comments
Get your Master’s in Education and a teaching license from your home state, and get a few years under your belt. Just a Master’s by itself isn’t really enough anymore. Even with a Master’s and publications, the market is getting flooded and a lot of those people can’t find anything other than rotating university contracts that force you to uproot and move every couple years.
Don’t worry about your age. Believe it or not, you are still young. I didn’t get my Master’s until my late 30’s.
Getting a masters will at least get you well above the minimum requirements to work in the English teaching industry.
The lowest tier and easiest to get hired is obviously the eikaiwas and ALT work. It seems you can just apply online or even search forums like Gaijinpot. These jobs unfortunately aren’t very high paying and you might max out at around 3.5M yen per year, which while isn’t poverty level in Japan, it is somewhat on the lower end of the income bracket spectrum.
The next tier up are those BOE direct hires or maybe international schools. BOE direct hires at least allow you to bypass the middleman ALT organization which may give you a good 50,000 yen per month boost. But these positions are much more competitive with fewer slots available. International schools I think you can actually be a teacher, in comparison to an ALT where you are a teacher’s aide at best. I am not too sure how to get hired by an international school other than knowing it probably requires some kind of connections.
I guess the highest tier would be university teaching. Usually this route requires getting a good connection with a university department and professor(s) so that they will hire you on as a lecturer. A plus would be if you contributed some kind of research and publication to their university in addition to teaching duties. If I had to guess what a starting University lecturer salary is, it would probably be about 5M yen.
>I’m interested in both public schools and international schools.
For the former – assuming you’re looking to be a direct hire lead teacher, not an ‘assistant’ – see Nanashi5354’s response below.
For the latter, you’ll need a valid teaching licence (ideally from your home country), and qualifications in your subject. If you want to teach ESL, then something related to that. Just keep in mind, majority of international schools are English-language curriculums (IB, AP, GCSE, Canadian, Australian) so the demand for ESL may be an issue. If you wanted to teach English the *subject* (as in like literature and more complex conventions), then that may at least have more openings.
>Its noted that I will need a fews years of teaching experience for the international school route, if I did a year at home and network correctly after I get my boots on the ground, there may be some place willing to accept me though, I’d imagine.
That, luck and good timing also plays a good part in it. The “2 years domestic teaching experience” is not a requirement but more of something to help you avoid getting exploited by shady “international” schools or also having to start from the very bottom.
Also because the assumption is that the first 5 years of teaching (as an accredited, lead teacher) is usually the toughest for many people and therefore doing that ‘at home’ where you have support and are familiar with the environment at least takes some of the stress off of it versus doing it in a foreign country where you don’t have family/friends, don’t speak the language, etc.
However it isn’t impossible to get a decent international gig with even 1 year of experience. As I said, luck and timing can play a big part, which was the case for me too. Of course, having connections will also be useful even if you don’t get something for it now but maybe later down the line.
>I simply wish to have a stable income, perhaps have a family, and be an active member of my community. A simple life. I’d like to take part in fundraisers, clubs, school activities, and overall be helpful to Japan.
Definitely doable, especially from an international school teacher perspective. Though of course if you get married and/or have kids, it’d be ideal for your partner to also have some work (not necessarily FT) unless it doesn’t happen until you’re quite far up the pay scale. Most of my married colleague’s spouses do freelance/PT work, and those of coordinator or higher ‘rank’ their spouses don’t work.
The only thing is that even international teachers do move around a bit (within the country), presumably because you eventually hit a ‘ceiling’ of pay as a domestic expat at that school (some won’t offer you an expat package after your first contract since you are already ‘in Japan’), so they move around to other international schools to restart at a higher base salary. Seems to be the case with the majority of long-term expat teachers here that I know at least.
Honestly? Why even bother coming to Japan? Japan is a country to visit not to live. Salaries are lower, hours are longer, healthcare sucks, the social culture and work culture is super toxic.
I don’t necessarily regret coming to Japan because I met my wife whom I love.
But being an eikaiwa teacher there are days where I want to drive off a bridge. And I don’t even work at a chain eikaiwa, I work at a good local one with a high salary, bonus, benefits, etc and it still makes me want to jump out 8th floor window most days.
So if you choose to ignore that, which I understand why you would, please at least consider getting experience in a real field and get at least N2 before you even set foot in Japan.