Teaching in Japan, Underage and Unqualified: Is it possible?

[BobbyCooper]

Originally Posted by Nyororin

I mean just what I said.
There are a number of well known cities in Japan. 90% of the people who want to teach English in Japan tries to move to these cities.
However, there are a lot more other cities in Japan, full of people and opportunities... but because no one has heard of them, or they aren`t the "cool" places to go in Japan - almost no one tries to move to or work in most of them.

So basically, if you`ve never heard of it and it`s a decent sized city - you`ll find far more opportunities with less competition there.



Then don`t. No one is going to force you to do so.



If it is your dream to work as an English teacher, then go through the normal routes to become a teacher - not a WHV.



Once you have the WHV in hand, what you do with it is really your own business. It is easier for a school to hire someone who is on the WHV for a year than get a working visa for someone. It`s not the school`s business to plan your holiday.
Most of the people working on the WHV that I have had contact with were working for 9+ months, and doing "tourism" on their days off and after their work term ended.

You are talking about blatantly lying and deceiving a school. No matter what your visa is, if you tell them you are available for a year of work then run off - you have deceived them.
If you only want to work in little bouts here and there... LOOK FOR LITTLE JOBS HERE AND THERE. You will have considerably fewer opportunities when compared to looking for longer positions, and the WHV won`t provide an advantage, but at least be honest.

Nowhere have I even so much as implied that a WHV gives an advantage when looking for very short term positions. I have only said that it is an advantage when you are competing for a LONG TERM position. It won`t give you an advantage for a short term position. That`s life - deal with it. Don`t go lying for your own personal satisfaction. It`s incredibly childish, selfish, and flat out disgusting.

When I visit Japan next year, I just finished my A-Level here in Germany. I won't have a degree, but I am actually not planning on staying for more than a year anyway. I also want to visit Korea for 3 months too.

Really, the WHV is the best thing out there and for me! It's like a gift from somewhere else.. I can't really describe how happy I am that Germany and Japan have such an agreement with each other.

But again honestly, do you really believe that 6 months is a short time for a school to hire somebody on a WHV?? I could even work for 8 months if I have too. But the rest I need to travel around the country! We are not talking about 3 months here.. 6 months is half a year already, if this is not a lot of time what is?

Well, if that is life.. then I don't have another option other then telling them that I am available for the entire year, do I?

[MMM]

Originally Posted by BobbyCooper

I Love Japan and the lovely people who live overthere and it would really hurt me too to do this and just leave earlier. But I Love Japan that much, that I would like too see some more from this country and don't spend my entire WHV in a big city like Osaka or Tokyo. It's really not worth it!

It would really pain me to do something like this, to the Japanese people.. but if I have no other choice, what should I do. And I don't want to work somewhere else and do a different job. It's one of my biggest dreams to work as an English teacher in a country like Japan.

The great thing about working and traveling in Japan is that it doesn't take that much time to get from one place to another. I lived in Hyogo-ken, but often went to places like Nagoya, Tokyo, Kyushu, The Japan Sea, etc. for weekend trips. I was lucky to have a schedule where I worked in the evenings on Monday, so I could take off to, say Hiroshima on Friday afternoon and get there in time for dinner, then spend three nights have lunch in Hiroshima and be back in time for work on Monday. Especially if you want to work part time, you should have no problem seeing the country without constantly being on the move. I lived near Osaka, but was less than an hour from some gorgeous hiking areas and small towns with populations of only a couple hundred people.

I think you see my point.

Originally Posted by BobbyCooper

Also I really don't think you correctly understand the meaning of the Working Holiday Visum. It's really not at all designed too work! It's only there too support yourself so that you are able keep on traveling. Cause the Holiday in WHV should always stand out the most and goes for the Japanese as for the traveler. Everybody who deals with the WHV knows this and also the teachers in Japan must know this.

If you want to travel Japan and do small jobs here and there, then more power to you. I am just saying, as one non-Japanese to another, don't be lie and deceive your employers, because that makes it that much harder for the next guy.

Originally Posted by BobbyCooper

Also like Nyororin mentioned a couple posts back.. they love o hire people with a WHV because it just makes things much easier for everybody. Because of that I am going to assume, that most likely 90% of them if not more only work a short period of time.. cause otherwise it wouldn't be a WHV anymore.

Nyororin's addressed what she said, if you want to work short stints and focus on the holiday, that's great. Don't lie about it.

Originally Posted by BobbyCooper

Also, would you recommend me Osaka more? Or perhaps even a much smaller city??

Personally I like Kansai (Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe, Nara) area more than Tokyo. I think Kansai has more variety, more flavor, and more charm. All of these cities have their own distinct personalities, and are within about an hour or less of each other. But I also like Fukuoka, Yokohama, and Nagoya a lot as well, so I can't really tell you what you would like without knowing you.

[Columbine]

Originally Posted by BobbyCooper

But again honestly, do you really believe that 6 months is a short time for a school to hire somebody on a WHV?? I could even work for 8 months if I have too. But the rest I need to travel around the country! We are not talking about 3 months here.. 6 months is half a year already, if this is not a lot of time what is?

Well, if that is life.. then I don't have another option other then telling them that I am available for the entire year, do I?

Emphatically, yes, 6 months is a short contract. 3 months is ridiculously short. You have to stop thinking of it in terms of years and visas, and look at it from the point of view of the school. 3 months is barely a single school term, but curriculums or courses may cover a whole year. Depending on the time of year, terms might also be very connected in terms of work done (if holidays are short). It's highly disruptive to have a class change teachers each term; especially unexperienced ones as it takes time for the teaching to settle in and become anywhere near effective. It's way too much effort as well. When you're looking at teaching and working with schools, even a year can seem a short time.

Telling lies about your availability and bumming out on a contract deal is exactly why foreigners get a bad rap in japan over issues like this, why apartment landlords often ban foreigners and why employers become harsher. You DO have other options, you're just being too selfish to consider them.

[cxeq]

I'd like to thank you all emphatically for your responses and while I can't detail and haven't even made my decisions yet as I am going through my half-yearly tests at the moment; I would like to promise a write-up on what I'm taking from your input.

All I can say now is I know that you've all had a definite impact on my life and future

Thank you.