I was supposed to go to Japan in April…but my dispatch company lost their contract with their client. They said they would get back to me in summer for a potential position in the fall.
Since then I’ve been using the online job boards (gaijinpot, jobsinjapan, careercross, ohaiyosensei etc.) and applying to different places. However, no success yet. I’m not really enthusiastic about the postings on there (looking at you, Yukari Switch).
Are there any other avenues I should consider when applying from overseas? It’s also almost April, and I really want to go in the fall or sooner.
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Most people will tell you “hiring season is april” so expect the postings to decrease in the immediate future. Of course there is year round hiring but this is the busy season. There really isnt anything you could do other than apply through those online avenues.
Most eikaiwa still need warm bodies. Sorry to hear about the contract, at least you were told before you got on the plane. Cold comfort.
I think those are best places to search for job openings if you are overseas. I always got hired though those methods. The best time to get hired is before the new school year starts in April if you want to work for an actual school, not Eikaiwa. There might be a rare private schools that follow western school start date of fall. Because you are overseas, you need to get hired a lot earlier than April since it takes at least a month to get CoE. Maybe try getting hired by Eikaiwa, they are hiring year round.
What kind of job are you hoping to find? A career advancement type of job or a lark about in Japan for a year or two type of job? The fact that you mentioned a dispatch company suggests the latter, and there are no shortage of ¥250k a month donkey jobs here, that I can assure you. You’re in the right places online but the problem is that even a lot of those jobs require you to be here.
My advice? Take an eikaiwa gig, where at least they won’t require you to pretend to be something you’re not: a teacher. Go in, do your shift, check out, go home. Rinse and repeat. Stay away from ALT gigs-nowadays they really rank among the lowest of the low when it comes to pay.
Just want to add maybe search by city and look on their homepage for any direct hire positions.
r/gaijinjobs
In a few months you’ll start seeing job postings for no shows and people who almost immediately bailed. Good luck with your job search.
A lot of jobs simply aren’t advertised on these kinds of job seeker sites. Look up eikaiwa and juku places in the area, they are abundant.