Hi! I haven’t been having much luck getting a job in IT lately and I’ve started considering going back to Japan to teach English for a year.
My question is whether, aside from JET, there are programs/companies that are willing to sponsor your visa but won’t treat you horribly? Everything I’ve heard about NOVA, GABA, AEON etc. has ranged from pretty negative to alarming
I am 4 years teaching experience in total. I’ve worked with Westgate Japan before and had an okay experience, however short contacts and painfully long commute times are putting me off applying again.
I’m a simple person and only really need to earn enough money to be able to cover basic expenses, save a little and travel a little. I only want to stay a year to bring my Japanese to a better level.
Are these visa-sponsoring companies really as bad as people say? Which do you consider the lesser evil?
Thanks!
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10 comments
If you have the money to do so, I might consider just getting a visa to study Japanese in a language school, that way your Japanese would improve *much* faster (especially if you worked in a place that activity discourages you from using Japanese) as well as not having your visa tied to a job, so you could quit without worries if you wanted to. The only caveat is you’d be limited to 28 hours a week.
>I’m a simple person
Hmmmm right
With most of them, your experience really depends on the particular school, manager, coworkers, students, etc. When I first came to Japan many years ago I worked for Aeon, and honestly I had a good time. Manager was great, coworkers were great, students were nice. Many people hate doing the “sales” kind of thing but I honestly didn’t mind and found it relatively easy. Some of the skills I learned there served me well while freelancing and now while working for a small company and drumming up my own clients. Yes, it was busy and somewhat strict, but if you go into it expecting that then it’s fine.
I heard plenty of mixed things from others who worked at other schools. But honestly, if you just want a way to get a visa, biting the bullet and taking a job at a big company is a perfectly good way to do it. Anyway, take online negative reviews seriously but with a grain of salt. People who had a good or ok time don’t usually write reviews (I didn’t), and some of the people who had a bad time did so because of their own personality conflicts. I remember before I started with Aeon more than 10 years ago, the main review I could find online was a multi-part blog post by this guy who sounded like an absolute asshole despite his best attempts to make himself look reasonable.
Most decent jobs will be found once you are in Japan. The ones who sponsor visas for people currently overseas are shite. Take a shit job and immediately start looking for a new one. Took a few tries but I found a good one. They exist
OP your post is just post padding. As you mentioned you have already lived in Japan before so I’m sure you know what the job landscape is like.
Basically, there is a trade-off with hours and salaries. The jobs with longer hours have more pay. Someone needs to write the “Dick and Jane Guide to Teaching English” for you it would seem.
Are you completely discounting dispatch companies (Interac, Borderline, etc.) ? Like JET, it’s the most traditional teaching experience (in public schools, with children, etc.). The workload is small. The pay isn’t great, but it’s honestly not terrible. Certainly comfortable if you’re only supporting yourself.
Everyone has to work their way through the shitty jobs. Thats the rite of passage here. OFC there are some people who get hired for very comfortable university positions and international school jobs, but those people are almost always very experienced, and highly qualified beforehand. If you only want to stay a year, save up some cash before coming, Japan is very cheap rn.
The ship sailed with the bubble. JET is the only non-academic, non-professional way to get a “teaching” job without getting scammed.
All black companies
Teachers are disposable and are treated as such