This post is half rant, half questions.
So I’m a college student in Tokyo and just finished my first year. I’ve been applying to all eikaiwa jobs that I could find on Indeed, Gaijinpot, Jobs in Japan, everything, but I haven’t had any luck whatsoever.
Now, I’m not a native speaker (I come from Southeast Asia) but I have been using English my entire life, and I’m confident enough to say that I’m at least at a native-level. I have about a year of experience in this field from an on-campus job, as well as an online teaching job that I’m doing now. I’ve also helped my Japanese friends get their target scores on IELTS or TOEFL tests so I like to think I’m a decent teacher, not to mention that I speak fluent Japanese as well.
The jobs that I apply for aren’t even that “high-end.” They just have “native or native-level English” under the requirements. Based on their descriptions, I think I have the skills that they’re looking for. So why am I getting turned down? Is it because I’m not a native English speaker? Am I doing something wrong with my applications? Some of my friends who have obvious accents have managed to land positions at Gaba and other schools so what exactly are they looking for in candidates? If anyone has any idea or suggestions, that would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks for reading.
26 comments
Most likely because you aren’t a native speaker. That’s literally all most of these places care about.
This somewhat ironically coincides with their love of illegally hiring southeast Asians and Filipinos who can neither get a visa nor speak English well. But you need connections and a willingness to work for illegally low pay to get in that way.
Eikaiwas also tend to like white faces better. I’m sorry, but that is just the truth.
The Visa is a big reason. Japan is reluctant to issue a working Visa if that job can be done by a Japanese citizen. So if you are not a Native speaker of the language, a Japanese citizen who can speak English fluently would be (theoretically) able to do the job as well as you.
I’m not saying this is a positive or negative thing, just that it is the case.
I know a couple of people from Jamaica who were hired by an Eikaiwa which had to work really hard to convince the Visa office that Jamaicans counted as Native speakers of English.
About 25 years ago (I haven’t taught English since about 2002) I worked for a language school that wouldn’t allow a Quebecois to teach French. Only allowed to teach English.
You’re not white. That’s literally the reason.
Also if you need a visa change or anything else, you are automatically pushed down the list.
Racist as hell but it’s because you’re not white.
When I was a teacher me and this Australian guy handled the recruiting on Gaijin Pot. We used to have fun sitting there going through possible candidates.
One day our boss comes in and she literally says
‘Good work you two! And remember, no Asians and no blacks! :)’
We were stunned and still talk about it to this day
It’s possible your timing is bad. They keep ads out for hiring but they often don’t need to hire any/many people. Sometimes the bar for entry is low, sometimes high. Could be other stuff too of course. It might be worth asking if it’s worth applying again in a month or two. They will probably be honest (though maybe not 100% direct).
This visa is not helping either, as it limits your hours.
Are you getting interviews or are you not even getting that far?
> Now, I’m not a native speaker (I come from Southeast Asia
There’s your problem, really. Eikaiwa jobs are less about English speaking skills and more about appearance. In the eyes of those (scummy) companies, you’re not what they’re looking for.
It’s not about teaching. All you can do is keep on applying for the various ones until one is either a straight shooter/desperate for bodies.
Your passport and your color. Why would they pick someone qualified to teach the abc when they can get Sarah or John from Seattle?
You might have some luck on the big eikawas, despite being shit, they do hire people from other countries outside Canada, US, England and Australia.
I like the “not white” comments, when I’ve seen more and more eikaiwas and schools specifically hiring Asians because they can get away with paying them half what they would pay an American.
I think the jobs you’re applying for are looking for full time workers or those who have already graduated. I’d look at your university job board or sites geared towards japanese students looking for part time jobs.
It’s not very common to work at an eikaiwa school under a student visa. All the teachers at eikaiwa or any other types of schools I know of have work visas. Some overseas students teach their native language in private lessons. Eikaiwa schools also employ many non-white teachers, but they are native English speakers, at the very least.
My guess would be that it’s because you’re not a native English speaker. The chain schools are reluctant to hire non-native speakers because the students might get irate if they find out their teacher is not a native speaker. You might stand a better chance if you focus on smaller independent schools that are more flexible because they have more difficulty finding and retaining native speakers.
Native is the key word friend. There is not one country in Asia that is a “native” English speaking country unfortunately. Even Hong Kong doesn’t count.
But your a college student? Why waste your time with those terrible jobs? Why not tutor , or stand outside the Eikawa and poach all the students? You could literally just teach English on the side ~~tax free~~ 🤫
I know of at least one eikaiwa which employs at least one south-east Asian teacher. I haven’t been involved in the eikaiwa business for a good few years now (thanks the heavens), but unless there’s been a considerable change in the trajectory, it’s now mostly a case of “who can we hire who can speak good enough English for our needs and will work for slave wages?”.
There is quite possibly still a perception that “only” native level speakers can teach a language, and if you try and explain that this isn’t necessarily true (i.e. non-native speakers have had to learn all the rules, exceptions, and general weirdness of English, so they can explain it very well) you just get a general sucking of teeth and “そうですね、考えておきます“ (“thank you for your suggestion, we will completely disregard it”
(PS; I wouldn’t include “I speak fluent Japanese” in applications. Some eikaiwas don’t like that because if the news gets out that the new teacher is fluent in Japanese, the kids will speak Japanese all the time in class, etc.)
I would imagine that there’s at least one company, small eikaiwa, etc. out there which is in need of a teacher ASAP and will “take anyone” (that’s not aimed at you, it’s a reflection on the perception of non-native teachers as I mentioned above). If you really want to get into this area, you’ll just have to keep pushing at it. I don’t think there’s a silver bullet.
Hot take – just SAY you’re native. Give yourself the advantage that it sounds like you need. I mean, given your ability, why the fuck not…
You’re not a native speaker, it’s as simple as that. They don’t particularly care about the skills/qualifications but native speaker is good for their advertising so is what they want.
You’ll still be able to get an English teaching job, just probably not at an eikaiwa. Although eikaiwa jobs are pretty much bottom of the barrel anyway.
You could stand a chance at some smaller eikaiwa though, just not the big chains, try looking into smaller local ones instead.
There are some other good teaching jobs that don’t require native speakers and just want good qualifications, experience etc. There are also some that seem to target non-native speakers (and pay even worse than eikaiwa due to that!). So there are still options, they’re just a bit harder to find.
Because you’re not white. I have a friend who’s not a native speaker but is blonde and blue-eyed and got a job easily at an eikawa with zero qualifications, but another friend of mine who’s Asian but has a teaching degree/experience and speaks fluent English (also not native), can’t get even a baito at eikawa.
Racial Bias.
If it’s for an English teacher job, an uneducated American/European will be preferred over an Asian with doctorate in English literature.
There’s a lot of people here saying it’s purely because you’re not white. I don’t think it’s that straightforward, especially at big schools. You have a few things working against you.
1. You’re not a native speaker. Honestly your written English is better than many so-called “native speakers” but the Japan is still far too focused on being a native speaker to work at an eikaiwa. It’s dumb, but it’s reality.
2. Your passport is not from a country where people grow up speaking English. Again, it’s the “image”.
3. You’re Asian or SE Asian. Yes, it sucks, but yes, it will be a factor. Eikaiwa in Japan is more about image than education.
4. (Guessing here based on “1st year university”:) You’re very young.
Any one of those things on its own shouldn’t kill your application at bigger schools, but the combination of those things together is difficult to overcome.
Not to say that it’s impossible but you’re facing an uphill battle.
Not a native speaker and you are a university student. I didn’t see anyone at my large Eikaiwa who was on a student visa
Gaba are the only major I know that will take non-native speakers, if they are good.
You say you’re a college student, so it could just be that you don’t have a degree. Last I looked, that was one of the requirements for a working visa in Japan.
I’m kinda perplexed at this thread. I know a person from SE Asia who got a baito at the first eikaiwa this person applied for. So I thought it was easy to apply in one. This person’s workmates are from different countries: UK, SE Asia, Africa. Their students are adults tho. What gives? And how much is the average salary in eikaiwas where OP is applying to?
Putting aside all the other issues brought up…I can’t speak for every eikaiwa, but where I worked rarely hired part-timers, because it was hard to schedule them. Usually they weren’t willing/available to work the hours needed by the school (first thing in the morning for earlybirds, then early afternoon for kid lessons, evening and weekends for adult lessons). That might be one reason too. Your 10 hours of availability is less useful than John off the boat from America who loves anime and is willing to work mornings and afternoons and evenings and weekends full time, so it’s not worth the effort of hiring you. I only worked with two part timers, one was always available for kids lessons (which the senior teachers didn’t want to do), the other knew several languages so filled a niche.
Dude imma be real frank with you – let the LBHs take the English teaching jobs. Find an internship with an international organization like UNDP/UNIC/UNU/your country’s embassy. They pay well, and you’ll make some money doing something you can actually use in the real world once you graduate.
Internships go out 2 to 3 times a year for those first 4 orgs, couldn’t tell you for the embassy one though.
English teaching can’t be changed, but let the insecure folks who run it stay in power and keep giving jobs to the fair skinned. You gotta play chess as a minority minority here. Not worth banging your head looking for jobs they don’t wanna hire us for anyway.
I promise you, an international organization will value your English and home country’s language ability more than some “English school” off the books tax write off for some Daimyo descendent.
Wishing you luck friend.