hey smile

i'd like to go to japan pretty soon. obviously theres tons of resources on the internet for finding a job, mainly english teaching, and i can apply for those...

but i was wondering what its actually like going to japan to find a job? how many more opportunities would there be if i went there first, and how would i go about finding them once im there? How long would it be likely to take to get a job and start working once im there? (i need to borrow money to go, so...)

Firstly, does anyone know whether most of the english teacher jobs are posted online, or are there lots more options there, and how would i find them?

and, secondly, i also have the opportunity of getting a working holiday visa. I heard there's a working holiday visa association which helps you find jobs once your in japan, but i can't find any jobs posted on the internet. Anyone know how many they actually have? Or, how easy would it be to find a casual job in japan in general? And what's the usual way to approach that there? Just walk into shops and bars and ask or something?

also, i think i could get JLPT2 in december if i pushed myself. if i did, when would the results come out, and would it be worth it?

Hope you can help!!! アイスクリーム

I am not sure about jobs but I think the JLPT results are issued in mid-February for those taking the test in Japan and the beginning of March for those taking the test outside Japan.

If you are looking for a teaching job obviously you dont need the test. But I have heard that non-teaching jobs can have a minimum requirement of JLPT2 or 1.

I am working on the JET programme teaching in Japan so I have no experience of coming to Japan to look for work. Sorry Im not much help but I am interested to get some advice too as next year I will be looking for a job to stay in Japan.

Not much help there!

If you can get a working/holiday visa BEFORE you come, then you will have the opportunity to pick and choose. There are plenty of part time gigs out there, and not having to count on one place for full time work AND visa is key to freedom in japan. (exlcuding housing issue). I would not reccomend coming to japan without a visa.

Check out Gaijinpot.com for english teaching gigs

It's actually not as hard as you might think. Since you are probably coming from Europe (where you can get those long working holiday visas), you will have plenty of time to apply.

If you really want to go to Japan soon, do it that way.

But I reccommend first trying all of the companys that hire overseas. ECC, GABA (they are recruiting overseas now), GEOS, AEON, JET, NOVA (not sure if they are recruiting overseas but they started up again a friend of mine works for them), GEOS kids, etc.

Its really not as hard as people say to get a job in Japan. You just need to keep applying like some sort of insane robot and have a well put together and professional looking resume.

ECC has a decent rep, and JET is for sure the most supportive organization out there, but the rest of thoses big schools have bad reps. If you can help it, avoid them.


Also, if you are here and applying for work, a simple resume is better than the kind we use in the west. They barely read em.


True story. I have a great resume, detaiing all the awsome things I had done up to that point and there first thing the interviewer asked was "so, how old are you?" and next was "are you married?". so their you go....

IceCream Wrote:hey
but i was wondering what its actually like going to japan to find a job?

The biggest issue will be your visa status.
While it is possible to arrive here on a holiday visa and then find a job, bear in mind that Japan is currently in a very bad recession, so it may be much harder than normal to find work.
For instance, I know there are many English teachers in Tokyo who are on "per hour" contracts, and are getting very little work. I wouldn't expect too many opportunities to arise where a company will sponsor a new visa applicant, when they already have more than enough people.
I don't mean to sound negative, I just think you should get something lined up before coming.

If your Japanese is good enough to work outside of an English speaking job then I think there may be many more opportunities.
I see plenty of signs up around Tokyo looking for part time staff. Of course, most of them are low-paid positions (e.g. Y1000 an hour for work in a convenience store), but it may be enough to get by. I'm not sure about outside of Tokyo.

avparker Wrote:

IceCream Wrote:hey
but i was wondering what its actually like going to japan to find a job?

The biggest issue will be your visa status.
While it is possible to arrive here on a holiday visa and then find a job, bear in mind that Japan is currently in a very bad recession, so it may be much harder than normal to find work.
For instance, I know there are many English teachers in Tokyo who are on "per hour" contracts, and are getting very little work. I wouldn't expect too many opportunities to arise where a company will sponsor a new visa applicant, when they already have more than enough people.
I don't mean to sound negative, I just think you should get something lined up before coming.

If your Japanese is good enough to work outside of an English speaking job then I think there may be many more opportunities.
I see plenty of signs up around Tokyo looking for part time staff. Of course, most of them are low-paid positions (e.g. Y1000 an hour for work in a convenience store), but it may be enough to get by. I'm not sure about outside of Tokyo.

I was just thinking assuming you were fluent in Japanese and young enough, it would be a cool experience working in a konbini for a year or so as a foreigner, just to see the looks of surprise you get. Having said that, I don't think I have ever seen a foreigner working at a konbini.

Yeah the economy sucks right now, but if you are flexibile as to where you live in Japan you can get a job easily. Might be a pain if you want to stay in Tokyo though. But heck of a lot easier to become immersed in some small shanty town for a year lol.

IceCream Wrote:and, secondly, i also have the opportunity of getting a working holiday visa.

I did the working holiday thing in Australia and I have to say it was amazing. It is supposed to be mainly a holiday so I was only allowed to work in one place for 3 months.
I did a lot of work for cash so I didn't stick to the rules. There doesn't seem to be any similar restrictions with the Japanese Working Holiday Visa.

Also you have to submit a "proposed itinerary for the whole stay in Japan (up to 12 months), including details of prearranged employment, if any". I don't know how strict they are about it but its something to bear in mind.

If I could go back in time I would love to do the working holiday thing in Japan.

zazen666 Wrote:ECC has a decent rep, and JET is for sure the most supportive organization out there, but the rest of thoses big schools have bad reps. If you can help it, avoid them.

Ditto.

Sure, there must be serious companies with good people working for them, but I've read really horrible stories about English teaching companies. Be extremely careful and double and triple check whomever you plan to work for.

zazen666 Wrote:Check out Gaijinpot.com for english teaching gigs

Again, be careful. I've read that at Gaijinpot they censor and delete posts when people denounce abuses commited by their sponsors.

For further details, check this post at Arudo Debito's blog:
Michael Collison Case: “Fired from Interac after death of infant daughter”

Check also this post at the The Interac Union – Tokyo Nambu FWC:
Interac and Pregnancy: Getting Fired for Being Pregnant

Assuming you are a younger person who is just teaching English temporarily until you get a firm grasp on Japanese language and a different kind of job, the schools are actually pretty similar.

They all have stupid policies of their own. ECC isn't as great as people claim them to be. Its similar to the rest. For instance, just recently ECC hired way too many employees and as a result started looking for any excuse to axe people. I knew many people who worked for them get offed for ridiculous reasons.

zazen666 Wrote:If you can get a working/holiday visa BEFORE you come, then you will have the opportunity to pick and choose. There are plenty of part time gigs out there, and not having to count on one place for full time work AND visa is key to freedom in japan.

It's also key to being poor. Working holiday visas seriously limit the kinds of jobs that you can get, the hours you can work, and it only lasts for a year so you'll need sponsorship anyways. Having a bunch of part time jobs instead of 1 fulltime job also ensures that your schedule always sucks and you'll spend much of your time on a train. Even fulltime English teacher pay is poor, but at least it's salaried. Doing part-time English teaching means you only get paid for the time you're in the class, which might be only 1-3 hours per day. You also don't get health insurance, bonuses, or ANY other benefits.

That said, if you plan on teaching English, get a job/visa before you come to Japan. English schools that will sponsor your visa if you're already in the country are few and far between. If you want a more career minded job, then you might as well come to the country visa-less but you'll need real qualifications (experience and a university degree in a related field) before someone will even talk to you. You'll also need enough money to live unemployed for a few months (visa paperwork once you find a job still takes 1-3 months).

Nova is not too bad. I have a friend who is working for them now. Doesn't help that he likes to drink, but they have wine days now. Its either once a week or once a month when you can drink wine for your last few lessons with your students.

Most people talking nonstop shit about English schools came in with the wrong impression of them. They had too high expectations on how to be treated etc etc. Like you said, you come into it just expecting to get paid and have a job, and it will all be cool.

You said you'll be going into debt to go which IMO means you don't need to be going. As others have stated Japan is in a big recession. Acquiring debt to move to a country in a recession just isn't smart. IMO I'd save up enough money for at least 6 months of living expenses before considering the move.

activeaero Wrote:You said you'll be going into debt to go which IMO means you don't need to be going. As others have stated Japan is in a big recession. Acquiring debt to move to a country in a recession just isn't smart. IMO I'd save up enough money for at least 6 months of living expenses before considering the move.

i missed the debt part. yeah take this advice and don't go until you have enough money saved up. I got a job lined up yet i am still saving about 400,000 yen after airfare for the first few months (and savings just in case i need it in times of crisis)

yeah i am not sure how you can effectivly save money in england. If you went to Japan, how much would you be bringing with you? Are you in big debt to creditors or just need to pay back some friends?

you should be able to survive for 3-4 months on 2,500 pounds. (not counting airfaire). You could make that last a lot longer if you get a job in Roppongi (gonna be a shit job but its money in your pocket).

You should be prepared to live like shit until you get a decent job.

2,500 pounds is about 350,000 yen.

If you live in shared dorm room with 6 other people gonna cost you about 30,000-40,000 yen a month. You can go cheaper if you live at a place called the crib, (i think its like 25,000 for a private room), but its like the size of a closet. My friend checked it out once, and said it was a truly horrible place. But you gotta do what you gotta do to survive.

as for food, you can go super cheap. this is coming from someone who had to survive on little to nothing for a while last time i was in japan. i went through a month off of like 700 yen a day food. if you do the cheap food route be sure to bring a big pack of multivitamins with you to keep from getting sick.

so you are looking at about 35,000 for rent a month and about 31,000 for food (1,000 yen a day), as for transportation, depends on how moral you are. I payed but many people i knew never did and just ran it. if you pay and you just spend every day near your guest house studying/job searching, then you shouldn't have to dish out for transportation unless you are going to a job interview. in that case the cost is fairly minimal. every job interview costs you about 1,000 yen or 2,000.

you live out of the 100 yen store. you buy one of those big ass packs of rice, natto, maybe a 100 yen apple or a banana every other day. you can get 3 pack natto for 100 yen. apple for 100 yen. you have your big pack of rice (about 3,000 yen for the big pack). you can get bread loaf 100 yen.

So BREAKFAST: rice/bread, natto, apple/banana, big glass water with vitamin (total 350 yen/day)

LUNCH: lots of routes you can go here. just pick stuff that looks high in protein and vegetables from the 100 yen store. they have 100 yen packs of meat (be careful), some shit frozen fish in back, curry, etc. be sure to get some sort of vegetable. (total 300 yen/day)

DINNER: you got 350 yen for dinner. again its up to you but 100 yen store has good amount of options.

you will get sick of eating like that after a while but you are surviving. if you know how to cook you can go to a bargain supermarket and have lots of variety by buying in bulk.

so that's about 66,000 yen a month living on the supercheap. you use the computer at your guest house to apply for jobs. oh one more thing you need a prepaid cellphone so the companies can call you. not sure how much that costs as i had a real one, but cant be more than another 10,000 a month. so thats about 80,000 yen a month. times 4 you are looking at 320,000 yen for the 4 months.

if you cant find a job in when you are nearing the 2 months either bail out or ASAP get a shit job somewhere like roppongi security at gas panic. i knew ppl who did that.

anyways good luck.

lol good advice on the food - will also add that you can eat the precooked udon and ramen noodles (not cup noodles) that sell for 40 yen a pack at any supermarket. not nutritious at all but if you throw a little bit of curry on top it's pretty good. you can add veggies and fix that problem. lunch for 100 yen.

IceCream Wrote:mm, its pretty difficult to save up since i dont have a job already. At the moment i live somewhere pretty isolated, but for free. It's not an amazing idea to move to London where i'd definately get a job because its difficult even to survive there let alone save, and i'd also need to borrow to get set up there too, so... anyway, its borrowing from family, so pretty safe, but id still want to pay back as soon as possible.

Move to Taiwan and then when you've saved up enough money hop over to Japan. Taiwan still has a huge demand for English teachers and the pay is extremely generous compared to the cost of living. Most full time jobs I've seen bring home around $2,000 USD per month. When you add in the fact that a good apartment in the middle of Taipei can be had for about $300 USD per month and food and transportation is extremely cheap you should easily be able to save $1,000+ USD per month.

activeaero Wrote:

IceCream Wrote:mm, its pretty difficult to save up since i dont have a job already. At the moment i live somewhere pretty isolated, but for free. It's not an amazing idea to move to London where i'd definately get a job because its difficult even to survive there let alone save, and i'd also need to borrow to get set up there too, so... anyway, its borrowing from family, so pretty safe, but id still want to pay back as soon as possible.

Move to Taiwan and then when you've saved up enough money hop over to Japan. Taiwan still has a huge demand for English teachers and the pay is extremely generous compared to the cost of living. Most full time jobs I've seen bring home around $2,000 USD per month. When you add in the fact that a good apartment in the middle of Taipei can be had for about $300 USD per month and food and transportation is extremely cheap you should easily be able to save $1,000+ USD per month.

If he goes that route Korea is also an option. A friend of mine is living there teaching English. Super easy to get a job. They pay for his apartment and 2,100 us dollars a month.

Sorry IceCream, I'm going to steal part of your topic, but I think it's related enough

IceCream, do you have a college degree? What's your main goal here? I'm curious the differences in our situations. It's always good to compare, share, etc for good/bad things we might find!

I'm currently in Japan on a student visa, however I'll be moving over to a long-term resident visa soon, so any work any hours. I studied 2-3 years worth of physics/mathematics credits in the US before deciding to come to Japan to finish my education, and currently am planning on entering a university in 2011 Spring (or maybe next year Fall).

So basically I currently am a student, with no 4 year degree, and will be looking for part-time work at around the end/start of the year. A little before, and a little after is fine. I've looked very briefly at English teaching jobs, and most seem full time + degree required. Does anybody have any advice?

P.S. I'm also in Tokyo.

kyeenak. check out gaba. this guy has a blog no university degree under 20 years old and he landed a job.

http://memoirsofagaijin2008.blogspot.com...-gaba.html

Thanks! I'll look into it more later down the road. I don't have TEFL certification, or anything like that, so we'll see what happens later... However I think I can get an AS in mathematics or physics. That might help a little bit, so I'll have to look into that.

Also my hope, not expectation, is to find an informal job. Gaba, from a quick glance, seems pretty formal. Of course I can't be too picky, but I'm not in the danger zone for money yet!

I haven't thoroughly read through that blog, but our situations might be different. I've already been in Tokyo for 6 months, and probably a slightly above JLPT2 level Japanese (I looked at a sample JLPT2 test and it seemed easy, but I won't be taking the test).

But more importantly I'm Japanese-American, so I have a Japanese face. I don't know if that'll make things harder, easier, or the same. I was born and raised in the US, so my English level shouldn't be a problem, but we all know how Japanese like the foreigner face.

I mostly want to teach English for fun. Of course I want money too, but it's mostly for fun. I'll probably eventually look for work in a technical field after I pass the JLPT1. I have programming experience, but I think most of those jobs are full time. Well I'm rambling now, bottom line English looks like a fun temporary job (not a career).

IceCream Wrote:jonjimbo, or anyone else, whats being an ALT like? Is it a good way to start with teaching english? Would you do it again?

Well I have had a great experience being an ALT but as they say "every situation is different". I am working on the JET Programme so that's all I can comment on.

The good things about the job:
- the money is quite good and you have the opportunity to travel a lot.
- the hours are good for me. I have half days on Fridays. I would not like to work the hours that my friend working for a private company works. He works from 12.00 to 9.00 including Saturdays with a day off on Monday. I much prefer my 8.15 to 4.45 working schedule.
- you get a lot of free time especially on the school holidays. I know people who work for the city Board of Education who can "work from home" during the school holidays which basically means they get much more paid holidays.
- I teach high schools and a secondary school. I much prefer teaching the older kids. I don't think I could cope teaching the elementary students and having loads of visit schools.
- I work with some great teachers and the students are generally great too.
- There is a lot of freedom and independence.
- They pay for the flight over.

The bad things about the job:
- I teach at a couple of low level schools so some days (like today!!!) I wonder what's the point.
- There is no real career development or prospects of promotion. I have basically been doing the same thing since I have been here.
- You can't chose where you will work. You can give a preference but there is no guarantee so you could end up somewhere you really don't want to be.
- I'm struggling to think of any more bad things at the moment. I have heard some bad stories from people of their experiences of working conditions and living conditions.

Basically I would have no hesitation in recommending the JET programme. As I say I can't compare it to anything else.