Teaching English in the JP

[Beki]

omg thank you both! that information REALLY has helped me..

to begin with teaching English in Japan was just an idea i loved, but i never thought i'd be able to do it due to the questions i asked above..

you've both put alot of faith back into my dream job !!

im currently still only at high school/secondary.. but leave for uni next year.. id like to have a gap year though, and was thinking if i took it and taught Eglish in Japan then i'd have even more experience?

would that help? or would it be much better to just go straight onto uni and then go over to Japan?

Many thanks again Arigatou gozaimasu xx

[jasonbvr]

I have looked before for information concerning the working holiday visa and have thus far not uncovered any specifics. I would suggest inquiring directly with the Japanese embassy in the U.K. to find out your eligibility to qualify for the visa. I know for a fact that the work visa is your potential employer's biggest concern in regards to education requirements. This is primarily true of working in the public schools as an ALT or eikaiwas that focus on small children. You would probably not be eligible to work in one that teaches business English.

I think that you may only face difficulty when it comes to your age. Some companies may view you as too young to be placed in a public school, but I think an eikaiwa who focuses on small children would love to have you. This doesn't mean don't apply as an ALT because you want to explore every opportunity that is available. I really don't know what response you would receive in response to your age. It would be very interesting to find out and appreciate you filling me in when you get to the interview/application process.

This is what you could write to the embassy in the UK:

To whom it may concern, (Dear whoever if name is available)

My name is (your name), and I am a native of the United Kingdom preparing to begin my university education. I am writing to you concerning the issuance of working holiday visas to citizens of the U.K. I am interested to know if I would qualify for a one year visa to live and work in Japan prior to entering the university. I am very interested in living and working in Japan after finishing my degree and feel that the experience of working there now would encourage and embolden me in studies at the university. Thank you in advance for your time.

Sincerely,

(your name)

I would only write in the event that you can not uncover anything on your own. Also I really don't know that much about doing a gap year, do you apply for your university after the gap year or before? If you apply before your overseas experience, I believe you are technically then a student of that university. In that circumstance the letter I have written above would need a bit of editing and your school's study abroad center may be able to assist you with the visa process.

Be sure to let me know how it goes. In this way when another comes along with the same question, I'll be able to help a little more.

[cello77]

Originally Posted by jasonbvr

3) Answer to number 3, no. Especially easy if you are 1) young 2) female 3) really friendly. Why do I say female? Well, the ratio of female teachers to males in Japan is maybe 5 to 1 so finding a female teacher can be difficult. Then you have reason number B, women are generally viewed as better with children which make up the majority of your students.

How young is young? I am in my 30's...not so young anymore?

[Beki]

I will deffinately give it a go! Your letter was superb! Very helpful..

Thank you again, and i will be sure to keep you informed with how it goes! xx

[jasonbvr]

Originally Posted by cello77

How young is young? I am in my 30's...not so young anymore?

What a wonderfully busy Monday, just the way I like them. You will have no trouble finding a job in your thirties, forties and so on. In general I think that schools would prefer to have ALT's who are young because maybe they believe students and ALT's will relate to each other easier. Actually, age may only be a factor when applying for the JET program. They have all sorts of ridiculous stipulations on eligibility like not having lived in Japan for more than three or five years. You can only apply in your home country, not from Japan. It is pretty dumb.

[kawaiinu]

hey pple. im new to this thread so please show me around. thanks. my little sister is going to japn for around 2 months and she wants to get a tutoring job. can someone help her? she's only 18 years old. thanks please pm me or email me at [email protected]. thanks

[cello77]

Are there better companies to work for? I am thinking about Heart for next year...but i hear JET is the best. Any views?

[jasonbvr]

Originally Posted by cello77

Are there better companies to work for? I am thinking about Heart for next year...but i hear JET is the best. Any views?

JET is not a company but rather the government program. Originally all ALT's were JET's, but the trouble is that they don't find and hire enough JET's to fill the positions in all the schools. This is where the ALT companies come in the picture. They lobby for vacancies and find teachers to fill them.

As far as Heart, I think it depends a lot on where you work. As far as I know, Heart teachers are some of the lowest paid ALT's around. Working for them would not be bad, but I wouldn't ever settle for anything less than 250,000 yen a month. That really goes for any company and anywhere in Japan. Some teachers are in such a rush to get over, they'll sign anything.

I work for a regional ALT company called Fifth Wings. From what I have heard of other teachers is that Fifth is really the best to work for in this area although certain parts of my contract are not in compliance with Japan's labor laws. This could've have been easily avoided if I negotiated and knew these things before signing, but I didn't. I have yet to argue with them about it and probably won't because I am figuring out a sly way around it. That way if I resign in August, I can get a better deal because they see me as being a trouble-free employee.

Other companies I know of, Borderlink is fairly new in are region so I don't know much about them. OES, I have never really talked to anyone who works for them. RCS has lost a lot of teachers and a lot of staff. Some complain of having trouble but overall they really seem average to me. Interac sounds very appealing to me. Although they are national and say couldn't take me to the doctors if I had some trouble like Fifth would, they seem very professional and the pay is good.

A lot of your contract stuff will actually depend on the area you work in. Take my situation for example, in Ota we come to school even though we don't have any classes. Take my friend in Oizumi, she doesn't go to school for the holidays but also was paid less those months.

So what it boils down to is 1) the area you work in and 2) what you sign to in your contract

I may have posted it before but in case I didn't, I am very interested in anyone who is in the interview process and talking about exactly what they are offering to you.

Here is a few reasons people like Fifth:

They set up a cellphone for you before you arrive.
They give you a bicycle.
They put you in an apartment and give you a futon, pillow, blanket, sheets, a small saucepan, a frying pan, a coffee mug, forks, knives, spoons, chopsticks, and food when you first arrive.
If you get sick, arrested, or your scooter breaks down and you are going to be late for school, Fifth saves your ass and doesn't complain much about doing it. (Although to my knowledge no Fifth employee has ever been in trouble with the police outside of traffic violations.)

Now why I think Fifth does all these things, very simply put it is owned and run by women. Besides the managers that do the hiring, the whole operation is run by very kind ladies who treat their teachers like lost children. Then again maybe it is just me because women always treat me like a big kid.

[TaichiYamada]

Hi!

So I'm new to the forum. I have been thinking about going to Japan. But I'm not really a die-hard like most of the people here, I just wanna go for 2 or 3 months... Thing is, I'm a student so I don't have loads of money or something so I was thinking about getting a job for this period. Is it possible to do this? I mean, since teaching english is kind of good business, is it possible to do this only for 2 months? I only thing I want is to cover lodging and meals expanses as much as possible.

Hope anyone can give me some advise...

M

[cello77]

I don't think that you can teach for only a few months. I tried that years ago, so it may be different but I think most places make you sign a year contract. Again, I could be wrong. I haven't tried for years.