Hi guys! I’m 27, I lived here in Japan for 5 years and I’m working as a part time lounge staff in the airport. I read somewhere that it is possible to become an ALT even if you don’t have a degree. But of course its all in the internet; so I don’t know if its a lie or whatever. 😅
But if its possible to work as an ALT without degree,
What certificate do I need to take?
And what do I need to expect in terms of salary? The workload?
And some tips please.
Thank you very much.
13 comments
It depends. What kind of residence status do you have? Student? Citizen? WHV? If you need a company to sponsor your visa, it will be nearly impossible to get an ALT job.
You need a degree for immigration. If you’re here legally with citizenship or PR, then immigration doesn’t care what work you do.
Most ALT dispatch companies have enough recent graduates with a degree that they probably won’t feel a need to hire people without one, although your presence in Japan may also work in your favor. I’d assume schools would prefer someone with a degree over someone with only high school, but that only applies to direct hires.
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Lots of people on spouse visas do it because the pay is so low it’s easy to stay under 1.3 million yen so they can be covered by their spouse’s benefits.
Most important thing you need is a pulse.
The degree is for the visa. If you’re a Japanese resident, get married or have another type of visa that allows you in without bachelors then you can be anything you want.
Yes, if you have a spouse visa
yes ,try heart school
A CELTA, or the equivalent, might help.
You need the degree to get the Visa. If you’re already in Japan, and your Visa allows the work, you can theoretically get hired without a degree. It will be up to the school in question, because you’ll be competing against other people with degrees. But theoretically, yes. If you have PR you techncially could.
On paper, no. But I do know a few people where it was an open secret they didn’t actually go to college.
As far as I know (as someone who is moving to Japan this fall to work at an eikaiwa), a college degree is required as part of the visa application. It’s not that the job necessarily requires the degree (they may, or they may not care), but the requirements to get your COE (certificate of eligibility) which then allows you to get a working visa, requires you to verify your college degree. This us what you have to submit for your COE:
2 passport photographs
Copy of your degree
Copies of any previous Japanese visas and any entry or exit stamps in your passport
A signed contract (solely for Immigration purposes at this point)
A copy of your resume
Once your COE has been approved it generally takes 3-4 weeks to get your visa.
I’m pretty sure that during my research of jobs, I did see one or two English programs that said they could use x amount of years of work experience and letters of recommendation instead of your degree, but that might’ve been for people who already live in Japan. Honestly, if you just google English teaching jobs and go to the company websites they always list their minimum requirements.
Did your previous job offer visa support?