Hi guys,
I’m writing this hoping that there’s someone around here who was in the same situation before and maybe can share some info on how/if they succeeded in getting a job cause tbh I’m somewhat discouraged atm.
I’m a 23-year-old Romanian guy with 0 experience as a teacher except that one time I taught Russian to some random American dude for a couple of months when I was a student.
My bachelor’s degree is in foreign languages (Polish and Russian) but I got no teaching certification nor 12 years of English education.
For the past 3 years I’ve been working in multinational companies on roles that required a business level of English, but I’m not sure if that would help me whatsoever in this situation. I also have a C1 Cambridge certificate which I got like 5 years ago and if I were to take it again today I’d most likely get a C2 I guess.
Since last year when I went to Japan to travel and visit some Japanese friends I really liked the country and I want to find a way to move there, but it turns out to be way more difficult than I anticipated. I’m learning Japanese for roughly over a year now and I’m quite positive that I’ll get the N4 in December. Do you think that would somehow boost my chances?
Also, I’ve read some posts around here recommending GABA as they’ve been hiring some Eastern European people and I just did that but I got a negative answer which looks like this:
>The applicant must have completed at least a Bachelor’s level of education with English being the medium of tuition prior to submitting an application to Gaba OR at least 3 years of full-time English language teaching experience. Should you become a successful candidate for the position, the Immigration Bureau of Japan will request for submission of a copy of your university diploma OR proof of work experience for the visa application.
So this being said, from what I understand the 3/12 years thing is a must in order to get the visa sponsorship. Does this mean there’s no way a company can sponsor me without fulfilling one of those 2 requirements? I’m really curious about this cause it would save me some time I guess so I hope there’s some people who could give me some advice.
For more context (cause there must be someone reading this who switched from teaching to web development or is planning to) I’m doing this just to get a visa and then find a web developer job. I’m a self-taught but they don’t really sponsor juniors from what I see and this teaching stuff might be a way for me but again this Gaba response got me thinking I got no real change whatsoever. Any thoughts?
Also last thing, I’ll be in Japan in December as a tourist, do you think an in-person interview would be any different or give me at least a small advantage?
Anyways thank you for getting this far and I’m very sorry for the long post or if it’s dumb af and makes no sense, I’m at a loss right now and any advice is welcome.
7 comments
I believe one of the requirements is either 12 years of education in English or 3 years of demonstrable experience teaching English for a specialist in humanities visa.
N4 won’t help you with a language school. Neither would N1. Not for the kind of jobs you’re looking for. Where did you get your BA from? That’s the ultimate deciding factor, I think. If it’s from one of the main English speaking countries (US, Canada, Australia, NZ, UK, Ireland) then you might be fine. If it’s from a university where the education was done in English (like Singapore or something) then it might be okay, depending on how desperate the company is. If you got it in Romania, I don’t think it would fly.
Interviewing in person is probably not much of a help. It doesn’t matter how much they love you, if they can’t sponsor your Visa (because it wouldn’t get approved) then they can’t hire you.
You could potentially come over on a language school course/as a student, if you can afford it, and then shop around for the web developer job you really want.
I’m a Romanian who teaches English in Japan. If you’re applying for jobs from Romania, I’d recommend getting your ESL/EFL certification from a reputable institution.
If that is a no go, another option is coming here on a student visa for a language school and applying for jobs locally once you’re about to graduate. It’s much easier to transfer from a student visa to a humanities visa than getting your work visa in your home country. From what I’ve seen over the years, employers aren’t as picky when you job hunt locally (plenty of non natives teach in eikaiwas) but do expect low pay and long work hours.
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The difference between visiting and living in Japan is the biggest I’ve seen in any country. It’s really night and day. I’d think about why exactly you want to live here. Salaries and working conditions keep getting worse and there are tons of people trying to do the same as you.
> Also, I’ve read some posts around here recommending GABA as they’ve been hiring some Eastern European people
Sorry, but that’s because GABA is the lowest of the low. They prey on people unqualified for less bad positions, and now apparently they’re making things even worse with some new invoicing system.
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Worked with a Romanian chick at an eikawa years ago.
What you officially need
1. Bachelor
2. Finished
With that said, it’s hard to get hired because of the abundance of people that’s already here.
And to be frank, being from Romania ain’t gonna do you any favors.
You just need to apply like a mad man to every company.
Don’t be discouraged if they don’t reply tho.
Even for people here getting a new job can be a total bitch.