こんにちは. I teach uni in China, and I would like to do so in Japan if at all possible (teaching adults in other avenues such as eikawa is also fine, albeit less preferred). China has a few China-centric job sites such as Dave’s ESL Café and eChinaCities, but are there any adult-teaching networks for Japan such as those? The “international” Dave’s board has some Japanese options, although mostly for teaching children. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. ありがとう.
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[JREC-IN](https://jrecin.jst.go.jp/seek/SeekJorSearch?fn=4&prefecture_2=00007&ln=1)
ohayosensei.com is a general job site with some uni jobs.
The JALT website has some job posts. Mostly uni positions.
Depending on the uni, full time jobs require applications between now and September with interviews in the autumn for an April start.
Not being already in Japan, you won’t get hired for any part time positions.
> The “international” Dave’s board has some Japanese options, although mostly for teaching children.
Just as a heads up… IMO most of the gigs (and the money) are in teaching children as they’ve gotta study English at school, so parents want them to get a leg-up through extra study.
The big eikaiwas (just google ‘big eikaiwas’) will run most of the ‘conversation schools’. These are sorta cool for people who don’t really wanna work with kids and wanna work in bigger cities. Picture generic shop-fronts in malls or shopping/business districts (usually near stations) where they have say 5-10 booths that fit 4 students each, a reception area and a staff room for their books/rolls/materials. The industry doesn’t pay very well but IMO these eikaiwas are better than being an ALT (unless you’re getting the JET $$$) as you run your own lesson, there’s no disciplinary issues and you’re not an ‘assistant’ with an undefined role (can be anything from ‘human tape player’ to ‘teacher will go get a coffee while you run the class’).
Gaijinpot’s traditionally been one of the better job sites too. Maybe have a look at it? I know it’s changed a lot (it used to be the goto forum and job board) but I’m guessing it’s still solid https://work.gaijinpot.com/working-in-japan/eikaiwa/
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I remember several years ago, I posted my resume on there, and specifically said “no China positions please”, then was contacted by a bunch of obvious bots from China lol
Wow! Dave’s ESL Cafe is still around? That’s a blast from the 90’s.
Basically, you’ve gotten all the correct information, but let me consolidate it into a single post.
**1. Japan Research Career Information Network (JREC-IN)**
[https://jrecin.jst.go.jp/seek/SeekTop?ln=1](https://jrecin.jst.go.jp/seek/SeekTop?ln=1)
This is the main site for all academic postings, not just language teaching. It is run by the Japan Science and Technology Agency. All credible university positions will be listed here. It is usually the first and last stop for people looking for university work.
**2. The Japan Association for College English Teachers (JACET)**
[http://www.jacet.org/job-openings/](http://www.jacet.org/job-openings/)
This is the second largest academic society for language teaching in Japan. The main language of JACET is Japanese (administrative, publications, presentations, etc.) and it is primarily aimed at Japanese teachers of English, but they have job postings in English.
**3. The Japan Association for Language Teaching (JALT)**
[https://jalt-publications.org/tlt/departments/career-development-corner/jobs](https://jalt-publications.org/tlt/departments/career-development-corner/jobs)
This is the third largest academic society in Japan for language teaching. The main language is English (administrative, publications, presentations, etc.) and it is primarily aimed at foreign teachers of English.
After that you will find a smattering of university job postings here and there, in places like [Ohayo Sensei](https://www.ohayosensei.com/), [GaijinPot](https://jobs.gaijinpot.com/job/index/function/3000/lang/en?utm_source=jobs_landingpage&utm_medium=search_teaching&utm_campaign=browse_jobs), [Jobs in Japan](https://jobsinjapan.com/), [Daijob](https://www.daijob.com/en/), etc. but jobs on these sites are either re-posts or posts for outsourcing companies. It is exceedingly rare to find something on these sites that isn’t listed on the three main sites above.
*HOWEVER….*
There is one site that universities looking to hire overseas candidates will post on:
**4. TESOL International Association careers site.**
[https://careers.tesol.org/jobs/](https://careers.tesol.org/jobs/)
Most Japanese universities prefer to hire people already in Japan, not because of policy, but because it’s cheap and convenient and there are lots of candidates. However, there are still a few university that want ‘untainted’ foreigners without any Japan experience and they advertise here. For anyone looking for university work from outside of Japan, you should pay attention to these postings.
Good luck!
Jrec and Jalt are the two sites you are looking for. However you almost always need a Master’s to get a university teaching job here.
It is possible to work for Westgate and eventually pivot to university though while working on a master’s online.
Is that grade-A a-hole ‘Dave’ still peddling that crap?
The 1980’s called they want their absolute appalling website back.
remindme! 12 hours