I’m currently working at an academy in Korea. Overall, I love my job.
I work about 28 hours a week in the afternoons (3 hours on Wed, 6.333 hours other weekdays). I teach 20 classes a week. My boss is chill and kind and doesn’t micromanage me. The students are most all well behaved and fun. If there is a bad student, I just send them to the desk teacher to be scolded. I have a private office and when I’m not working I can do whatever I want.
Downsides to my job include vacation (only 15 days per year), my apartment (old and small), my pay (250,000 yen/month+housing) and location (outskirts of the city). I like the location sometimes, like when I walk around at night and there’s not many people out. I like that it’s not as crowded as downtown. But sometimes it’s annoying being far from where my friends want to meet up. About 40-60 minutes away from downtown.
I thought about looking for jobs in Japan, but I’m kind of worried I won’t be able to find one this cushy. It seems most academy jobs advertised online are much worse than this (more hours, less autonomy, etc) and I’ve heard many bosses are not easy to deal with.
I’ve also thought about trying to switch to public school or university teaching, but I don’t really want to work in the morning or teach large classes. And I think teaching university probably isn’t as fun as teaching kids.
Anyways, what do you think? Are there many teaching jobs with similar setup? Looking online, it seems the answer is no. But maybe I’m just looking in the wrong places.
Any thoughts or insight would be appreciated. Thank you, have a nice day.
14 comments
The answer is no. They definitely exist but not easy to find.
It is possible though not standard. Probably the route would be:
Direct hire to a private school, put in the years and prove your worth, then begin negotiating perks. At least that was what I did. I’m in a similar but not identical position to you (no private office for sure, but the people in my desk pod are all foreign teachers so it’s a fun little setting to work in) but I had to start with several pretty grueling years.
If you have a master’s it’s possible. If not then it’s almost certainly impossible.
If you can leave nicely so that if it doesn’t pan out in Japan you can go back there that would be best. But yea likely you won’t find such a cush setup.
There are if you have the qualifications. Mine is similar to yours but I have like 4 months of paid vacation off.
You can find similar perks, but not exactly. As others have said, it depends on your base qualifications, but I will assume you have some teaching experience, but do not have an MA, similar to that have an ALT job in Japan.
The BEST ALT salary I have been was about 360,000 yen / per month. Is there better? Maybe, But I would be genuinely surprised. In Japan you can get 250,000 yen easy. However, its not always about how much you make, but rather the buying power of such said money.
250,000 yen in a large city in Japan is not enough. Most of your salary will be eaten away through rent, food, utilities, you name it.
Finding 300,000 yen per month ALT jobs are not that hard. With a little bit of work (in looking) it can be found.
The best ALT positions will either be at private HS (with future prospects of becoming a “real” licensed teacher) OR direct hire ALT. Both have their perks and demerits though.
Private HS ALT have advancement opportunities, however most will find out they don’t want to be a “real” teacher in Japan. Its quite hell. Private schools often have you coming in on Saturdays too. Get ready to work like a mule. Will you feel good knowing you are put to work just like any other Japanese teacher? Well that will be up to you. I will say that if you do become a licensed teacher, your pay will slowly rise and you will be afforded a sizeable retirement bonus when the time comes.
Direct hire ALT (Working for a board of Education for a local city)
These usually pay a bit less than private HS gigs, and the pay is set. Regardless the number of years you work there, the salary will not go higher (usually). However, you will have a significant amount more of vacation time (most of the time). I would be willing to argue that if you utilize your downtime at work, and long vacations to make more $$ its possible to make more than a private HS gig AND make up for the retirement bonus you would receive IF the private HS helped you get a license etc.
Based on cushy life style you wish for, I would imagine you would prefer the direct hire ALT way. To be honest, I have done both, and I prefer direct hire ALT. Best of luck.
I’m not sure what an academy is in Korea, but it sounds like an English conversation school (Eikaiwa). I think it will be difficult to find similar hours with similar pay and work for a decent company. From what I have heard from friends who work in the eikaiwa chain schools, they are like sales people. They have to work unpaid overtime contacting parents trying to sell programs, books, etc.
I live in a 3rd tier city here, about 3 1/2 hours by local train to Tokyo. There isn’t much to do here in this city or opportunities to make a lot of friends, but I am still working in the same company for the past five years because good companies are hard to find in this industry.
The answer is a resounding no. Youd be lucky to make 250k yen with no benefits no housig in Japan and only 10 days of leave that are chosen by your company.
My job is similar in some aspects and opposite in other aspects to yours. But it’s an international school, so you’d need the qualifications and experience to get in.
‘Only’ 15 days PTO, man, that’s what I get with a salaried career position in the US working well over 40 hours a week ;-;
Currently teaching in Korea.
I have taught in Japan in the past and Im returning next week.
I am taking a paycut to return to Japan but I’ll only be working for 4 days a week in exchange.
I am only returning to Japan because I prefer the quality of life in Japan over Korea. In Japan I felt like an asset in Korea I feel like just a warm body, while always being stressed out over the most trivial things.
If you want to come to Japan you also missed out on the hiring period. Jobs in japan start in March and the visa process can take 3-6months.
Also Jobs in cities are extremely competitive at the moment. Living in the countryside is not possible unless you drive.
Korea is also good because the salaries are climbing extremely fast. My first year was 2.6m +housing. My friends are going onto 3m+ housing for their second year.
In Japan most positions will hire you for 250k a year if you’re lucky. Hagwon jobs experience arent valued by employers so it wont make you competitive.
OP is on a roll:
Eg, [same question here,](https://www.reddit.com/r/teachinginkorea/comments/117t9hm/can_i_find_another_job_this_chill/) and [here.](https://www.reddit.com/r/TEFL/comments/117t8cn/can_i_find_another_job_this_chill/)
My 10c (noting you’ve posted this elsewhere but whatevz):
– If you think the job’s really comfortable then I doubt you’re gonna match it in the ‘English teaching’ world. Finding a boss you gel with can be tricky no matter what you’re doing so enjoy it while it lasts.
– The pay doesn’t really go up the longer you stay in ‘English teaching’ IMO. Thus, you’re unlikely to get paid more in Japan. Also, I find that experience accounts for very little. Each eikaiwa you go to will have its own systems and you’re gonna have to learn them. It’s almost like being an actor… you’ve gotta learn your lines, the dance steps, the character they want…etc. I find people get burned-out and less willing to do this the longer they’ve been around’.
– The one reason I’d travel is if you wanna spend some time in Japan. There’s zero guarantee you’ll find a sweet gig (and if you’re used to LOTS of autonomy, anything else may feel like unnecessary micro-management). Otherwise, I’d be planning your next step and sorting out when you wanna go back home.
Working at a cushy job with a nice boss? Don’t ever let it go. Milk it till luck runs out. Too many shitty jobs out there to risk it.