Hello everyone, my name is Keith and I run an English conversation school called Summit English School in Ishikawa prefecture in Japan. I’m posting today because I’m currently looking for a full-time teacher starting April 2024 for our second school which we opened this year. I previously posted to reddit last year and was lucky enough to find an absolutely amazing teacher right here, and after that success, I’m hoping to find another as we’ve grown quite a bit this year. We’re a private school for all ages from young children to adults and our teachers mostly teach independently without Japanese support. Therefore, we’re looking for a teacher with at least conversational Japanese ability in order to communicate with parents, help kids when they have a problem and occasionally explain grammar and vocab to students when necessary. We do have a Japanese manager and secretary and they’ll be able to help if the Japanese is above your level. I’ll be happy to provide more details of the benefits and responsibilities during a follow up email or interview with any potential candidates you may have, but here’s a brief overview.
**Requirements:**
**Only accepting applications from native speakers.** I met some really amazing people last year doing interviews, but unfortunately, even if their ability is near native, we can’t accept applications from anyone who’s native tongue isn’t English.
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**People with a four year college degree, or spouse visa.** Again, I met some really great people last year, but then later found out they don’t have an acceptable degree to sponsor a visa with. (If any of you guys I met last year are reading this, I hope you’re doing well!) The degree doesn’t have to be in English or teaching, just as long as it’s a Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent. Mine was in German for example.
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**Conversationally proficient in Japanese.** As I stated before, we’re looking for someone at least conversationally proficient in Japanese. They don’t need to have taken a proficiency test (the JLPT for example), but it would be a plus.
**Ready to work by April or late March 2024.** We will provide the visa sponsorship, but as this process takes a long time, we will only be accepting applications through December 31st, 2023.
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**Is willing to work with kids (and adults).** Although we offer classes to all ages and abilities, more than half of the students are children ages 4-8. The teacher doesn’t need to have experience with children (but it would be a plus!), but they would need to have the demeanor and attitude to work with young children. We will happily provide the training to someone even with no experience as long as this sounds like something they would be interested in.
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**Be willing to work nights and weekends.** Because most of our customers are either students or working adults, the majority of our business falls outside of normal business hours. This means we have classes at night and in the morning on the weekends. We won’t schedule anything later than 9pm though so that gives enough time to still go out if you want to experience the nightlife. Likewise, weekend classes end in the afternoon to still be able to go out and enjoy time with friends. (Also, as someone mentioned last year, it’s convenient for going to the doctor, doing your banking, etc.)
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**Be willing to stay 2-3 years minimum.** One thing we pride ourselves on as an English school compared to others is that we very rarely switch teachers for our students even after new school years. This way the students can bond with the teacher and it will encourage them to come back year after year. Therefore we would want someone that could minimally stay for several years. If the teacher likes us, and we like them, we would love to renew the contract for as long as they’d like. Additionally, as you’ll read below, due to our commission system you’ll be able to make more money if you stay on longer.
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**Benefits and pay scheme:**
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**260,000 yen a month or 35% of sales.** We pay a flat rate of 260,000 yen a month or 35% of gross sales, whichever is higher. We want to reward teachers if they decide they want to go the extra mile. Therefore, if they take more classes, or they keep more students, then very quickly 35% of their sales will add up to more than 260,000 and they will make more for every student that walks in the door. There are other opportunities with better commission rates we can discuss in an interview.
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**6.5\~ weeks of paid vacation a year.** We have 7 weeks without classes a year, but during those vacations we will have to prepare for some school events such as an open campus and what not. Those only collectively add up to about half a week, but it could be a few days more or a few days less depending. We want to enjoy our vacation time as much as possible too, so everyone tries to finish as much as we can during regular work weeks so we can plan trips, go back to the states and visit family etc. During that time you will be paid 100% of your salary as if you had been working.
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**Freedom to do outside work.** Many companies don’t allow teachers to work outside of the company. We have no such rule. We only ask that they don’t interfere with our schedule and most importantly, the teacher doesn’t teach any of our students outside of the school separately.
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**Half of insurance and pension covered by company.** Many many English schools in Japan will not count any work outside of classes as work time in order to keep their weekly hours under a certain amount and avoid their legal obligation to pay into the teacher’s national insurance scheme and pension. We don’t mess around like that. We believe it’s a good system and we want to make sure our teachers are covered.
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**Assistance with relocating and housing.** While we don’t pay for housing or the flight to Japan, we can do everything else to help a new teacher get settled. For housing, a friend of ours helps us find deals on good quality places, and has many times helped us avoid some of the fees at the beginning of a new lease. If a new teacher has no way of paying for a plane ticket or housing, let’s talk. We won’t let a good chance slip by us because of that.
**Low cost of living area.** Many schools and entry level jobs in bigger cities such as Tokyo and Osaka pay as much as, or sometimes even less than we do at our base salary. However the cost of living in those areas are quite a bit higher, not to mention the rent can be double or more. It’s very easy to go out, have a social life and still save money here.
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**A combination of big city perks with beautiful nature.** We are located in Nonoichi city, which in 2023 was voted the best place to live in Japan. It is a suburb of Kanazawa which is a beautiful and historical city with many temples and cultural events. Kanazawa has a wide variety of restaurants, bars, dance clubs, music venues, sports gyms, libraries and shopping. As it’s located near the mountains and the ocean, Kanazawa is ideal for nature lovers too (though personally I’m not much of one myself). And if you want to go to Tokyo, the bullet train starts in Kanazawa and it’s just a few hours ride away.
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If you are interested in this job, please DM me here on Reddit as soon as possible and I will send you my email address. If you read this far, thank you!