I did it at 44 pre Covid. As long as you are cheerful and willing, doesn’t seem to be a problem. Just keep in mind there might be a backlog of people trying to get into Japan so supply might exceed demand
Yeh old ALT job had a lot of people who were 40s or 50s. Normally they were married to Japanese spouses abroad who had to come back Japan to care for aging parents. When they came to Japan ALT was the easiest kinda ok paying job to find.
Definitely not a non-starter, though I’m not sure why you would want to take an entry level ~3 million yen a year job at 42 unless you have literally no skills in life other than being an English speaker.
as long as you’re ok with bus driver wage or full time mcdonalds employee wage with no incentives and bonuses. No freedom, no lesson planning, no giving any suggestions or no talking back to anyone. No pay raises, no speaking japanese during working hours, no translation or language support for official paper work. No english teaching, except for pronunciation or scripted conversation. yes to playing Games, singing, dancing, overly exaggerated emotions and body language.
if youre over 40, you look like a boring, crazy, out of place weirdo. of course they take anyone. So.. No
What do you mean by all uphill?
If you don’t mind living in the countryside and making… well, what a dispatch ALT makes at 40, you’re all good.
At long as you don’t mind 20,000 dollars a year for the rest of your life.
I worked for one of the big Japanese logistics firms doing ocean export to Japan and Asia. Salaryman life gave me carpal tunnel and need to get out of a cubicle. Currently I am a trainer at an autonomous vehicle tech company and I know this will a pay cut. I’m looking at all the options. Even export stuff from Japan to the US business but I would need a few years to improve my kanji.
I am 32 and make 80.000$ per year and planning to quit to move to Japan. I’m taking the N4 in a months and I’ll go to a language school in Tokyo for half a year from July. After that I hope to get a job in a company doing marketing or as an ALT. Call me crazy but I’m not happy I’m my current situation and want to live out my life a bit before it’s too late.
If it’s something you want to do, do it now. I never really thought about age being a hindrance on life goals but health-wise absolutely anything life changing can happen at any time.
I recently went through a health scare that would have stopped everything in its tracks if the doctors concerns were right. Time is short, and I can imagine at 40 (even though it’s still very young) I wouldn’t be hanging about on any life experiences I want to have.
Go for it!
Not a problem at all
I did it for 10 years after 15 years in eikaiwa and it was a huge mistake looking back. I combined it with a wedding gig so I had a fairly comfortable lifestyle and could raise my two boys who are now in excellent universities. I’m now doing general maintenance for a manufacturer and teaching karate. Again good money but I miss the sweet junior high kids.
I mean if you’re okay with 23 year old graduates telling you what to do and when to open your mouth then sure.
> I’ve always wanted to give it a shot but I wasn’t sure if it’s all uphill as a 42 year old. Yes I have a degree.
Do it then! The JET program used to have an age limit but there’s no hard barriers to spending some time as an ALT.
My only consideration would be your broader plan from a career perspective. Dunno where your career’s at but if you have the capacity, I recommend going on leave without pay from your current job and spending a year in Japan as an ALT. IMO this can be one of the best experiences as you’ll (ideally) come over with a bit of money stashed away and enjoy everything without the whole ‘discovering yourself’ experience that most youngsters will have (which grows their personality but can be stressful/emotional).
The only people in the 40+ category who I wouldn’t recommend it to are those who are a bit grumpy, closed-minded and have reached that stage in their lives where they don’t have a lot of patience for learning new tricks. I’ve met a few who are grumpy as fuck, hate the kids and are having some kind of a mid-life crisis that others don’t need. Not saying this is you but IMO just make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons…
Started when I was 49, I find the job very easy, and the pay is terrible, but it has been very fun and rewarding at the same time. Age is only a number, don’t worry about it. The ALT companirs are looking for cheerful, dependaple and caple people. if you have thoze three qualities, getting a job djoild be easy.
It’s much easier than a few years ago, and it also depends how you present yourself to a degree
If you got the energy and don’t care about money then go for it. If you care about actually teaching and making a difference then maybe not.
I joined at age 46
Being an ALT at age 40 is effing pathetic
It is doable! Just stay away from people who will look down on you.
20 comments
I did it at 44 pre Covid. As long as you are cheerful and willing, doesn’t seem to be a problem. Just keep in mind there might be a backlog of people trying to get into Japan so supply might exceed demand
Yeh old ALT job had a lot of people who were 40s or 50s. Normally they were married to Japanese spouses abroad who had to come back Japan to care for aging parents. When they came to Japan ALT was the easiest kinda ok paying job to find.
Definitely not a non-starter, though I’m not sure why you would want to take an entry level ~3 million yen a year job at 42 unless you have literally no skills in life other than being an English speaker.
as long as you’re ok with bus driver wage or full time mcdonalds employee wage with no incentives and bonuses. No freedom, no lesson planning, no giving any suggestions or no talking back to anyone. No pay raises, no speaking japanese during working hours, no translation or language support for official paper work. No english teaching, except for pronunciation or scripted conversation. yes to playing Games, singing, dancing, overly exaggerated emotions and body language.
if youre over 40, you look like a boring, crazy, out of place weirdo. of course they take anyone. So.. No
What do you mean by all uphill?
If you don’t mind living in the countryside and making… well, what a dispatch ALT makes at 40, you’re all good.
At long as you don’t mind 20,000 dollars a year for the rest of your life.
I worked for one of the big Japanese logistics firms doing ocean export to Japan and Asia. Salaryman life gave me carpal tunnel and need to get out of a cubicle. Currently I am a trainer at an autonomous vehicle tech company and I know this will a pay cut. I’m looking at all the options. Even export stuff from Japan to the US business but I would need a few years to improve my kanji.
I am 32 and make 80.000$ per year and planning to quit to move to Japan. I’m taking the N4 in a months and I’ll go to a language school in Tokyo for half a year from July. After that I hope to get a job in a company doing marketing or as an ALT. Call me crazy but I’m not happy I’m my current situation and want to live out my life a bit before it’s too late.
If it’s something you want to do, do it now. I never really thought about age being a hindrance on life goals but health-wise absolutely anything life changing can happen at any time.
I recently went through a health scare that would have stopped everything in its tracks if the doctors concerns were right. Time is short, and I can imagine at 40 (even though it’s still very young) I wouldn’t be hanging about on any life experiences I want to have.
Go for it!
Not a problem at all
I did it for 10 years after 15 years in eikaiwa and it was a huge mistake looking back. I combined it with a wedding gig so I had a fairly comfortable lifestyle and could raise my two boys who are now in excellent universities. I’m now doing general maintenance for a manufacturer and teaching karate. Again good money but I miss the sweet junior high kids.
I mean if you’re okay with 23 year old graduates telling you what to do and when to open your mouth then sure.
> I’ve always wanted to give it a shot but I wasn’t sure if it’s all uphill as a 42 year old. Yes I have a degree.
Do it then! The JET program used to have an age limit but there’s no hard barriers to spending some time as an ALT.
My only consideration would be your broader plan from a career perspective. Dunno where your career’s at but if you have the capacity, I recommend going on leave without pay from your current job and spending a year in Japan as an ALT. IMO this can be one of the best experiences as you’ll (ideally) come over with a bit of money stashed away and enjoy everything without the whole ‘discovering yourself’ experience that most youngsters will have (which grows their personality but can be stressful/emotional).
The only people in the 40+ category who I wouldn’t recommend it to are those who are a bit grumpy, closed-minded and have reached that stage in their lives where they don’t have a lot of patience for learning new tricks. I’ve met a few who are grumpy as fuck, hate the kids and are having some kind of a mid-life crisis that others don’t need. Not saying this is you but IMO just make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons…
Started when I was 49, I find the job very easy, and the pay is terrible, but it has been very fun and rewarding at the same time. Age is only a number, don’t worry about it. The ALT companirs are looking for cheerful, dependaple and caple people. if you have thoze three qualities, getting a job djoild be easy.
It’s much easier than a few years ago, and it also depends how you present yourself to a degree
If you got the energy and don’t care about money then go for it.
If you care about actually teaching and making a difference then maybe not.
I joined at age 46
Being an ALT at age 40 is effing pathetic
It is doable! Just stay away from people who will look down on you.