I’m currently living in Japan, only been here for a few weeks and have been working at an Eikaiwa. It’s not… bad… but it’s also not great. I don’t dread going into work but I think I’d prefer the ALT life for better social connections. I enjoy working with kids and I’m not insanely passionate about teaching so the relaxing ALT angle looks like a good fit.
I only plan to be in Japan for about 1 year. I’m not sure if I’ll even seek to renew my visa sponsorship. As I’m switching professions from teaching to programming. Heading back to the U.S. before I turn 30 next year and plan to get an associates or bachelors degree in computer sciences and a couple of years experience in the tech field before returning to Japan for better job options (with the benefit of Japanese language skills and some better work credentials).
But that’s all for later.
Right now I’m just wanting an ALT job. My life in Japan is mostly just learning Japanese, practicing my programming skills, and enjoying the culture (karaoke bars kick ass).
Anyone have any suggestions or tips? I’ve seen some people say you can contact the local board of education for direct-hire openings. And I’ve seen some info on dispatch companies operating in the area. I don’t have any Japanese language skills yet. I only starting learning when I arrived in Japan a couple weeks ago and I’ve got the Hiragana and Katakana memorized enough to pronounce the words I see, just don’t know all their meanings yet.
11 comments
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It’s a little difficult to get a specific spot as an ALT. You’d have to apply to the dispatch companies and tell them your preference.
You could try contacting BoEs but that’d be rough since they have no idea who you are. So unless you know someone who can vouch for you, it may be very difficult.
Good luck on your programming journey!
If you aren’t planning to stay longer than a year just tough it out and stay at the eikaiwa.
Not sure why you came to work here if you were just going to fuck off right after to do something else. If you wanted to improve your language skills and experience the culture it would have been better to enroll in a language school. I could understand if you needed to make a living I guess. Just stick it out with the Eikaiwa.
Lots of salty assholes in the comments here. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with coming over to work as a gap year before moving on. Better that than staying well past your welcome and becoming a bitter gaijin who hangs around The Hub far too much.
Anyway, your best bet is a dispatch company. Start on GaijinPot. If you don’t get anything, ohayo sensei is another resource you can browse. Direct hire jobs are almost always filled through word of mouth and I don’t think any BoE would want to hire someone who’s only going to stick around for a year.
Anyway, good luck!
The minimum contract I’d expect for an ALT would be for 1 year starting next April and running through to March ’25. If you are here just until September ’24 then nobody should really hire you as they’d be left in the lurch half way through their academic year.
Enjoy your time in Japan and if you ever come back for a longer time maybe you could find an ALT job.
I loved being an alt!
I saw ads for immediate start on Craigslist.
Be ready to do a demonstration lesson and be upbeat, when you interview.
Good luck!
Stay where you are. Your company made the bad choice of bringing you on, don’t make public school kids suffer through another foreigner who has little to no interest in teaching.
When you’re talking to the ALT recruiters, if you do plan on leaving before the school year is over (which is a sick move, but if that’s your life plan then so be it), try to not mention that in your interview. If they catch a sign that you’ll cause more hiring headache for them later on, you’ll have 0% chance of getting recruited as an ALT.
If you are leaving in a year, don’t switch to alt, just stick it out in the eikaiwa.
In order for them to hire you you would have to commit to a year long stint. If you lie and say yes to that, knowing you are leaving in less than a year it then leaves the school without an alt.
Having teachers come and go often like this isn’t good for students, isn’t good for the schools, doesn’t look good on the dispatch companies and is a big reason why it’s difficult for foreigners to get decent jobs here. They think we flake out and quit in the middle of contracts, which is exactly what you would be doing.
Normally eikaiwa and alt jobs require different visas, so you’d have to switch over your visa type.
Ignore the jaded people here, they just suck. I completely understand your train of thought. I felt eikaiwa vacuumed the living soul out of my ass and I was at AEON making a decent amount compared to nova or others. ALT is definitely way chill and better suited for you and half my day is spent just hanging out with kids playing sports or studying Japanese with help of nice teachers around me. It’s a great environment but that depends on the school you get.
The problem my friend, is that it’s October. You’re here for a year and the best you could do is get in maybe January if someone bailed on their contract or start April with the new school year with everyone else. Then you’d have to leave midway through. It’s honestly a lot of hassle to get hired on, go through moving, onboarding and all that shit just to leave pretty quick. If you can handle it, I would just stay at the eikaiwa if you’re not going to be here long anyway.