Hello! This is Scooter.

Today, I wanted to write about my experience finding a job in Japan, the process you have to go through to work there, what working in Japan is like for foreigners, what salary you can expect, and some other things about working and living in Japan.

First of all I want to give some background about myself

I graduated with a degree in Economics from a university in the US; but, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to pursue an Economics job immediately after graduating and really didn’t know what to do next. I had an internship with a potential job offer, but decided to go to Japan instead. At the time, I wanted to take advantage of my situation: I was young (still am young I think:) ) and thought “why not try living in a different country. If not now, when?”

Why did I choose Japan?

Japan was a country that always fascinated me because it was so culturally different than America. I wanted to experience that difference. Also, at the time I was so interested in what life was truly like on the other side of the globe.

After doing research, I found that, if you want to get a working visa there are basically two jobs for people who don’t know Japanese and want to move to Japan: English teaching, or get into the IT industry. Since I don’t have a background in computer science / IT, I looked into teaching English.

General requirements for becoming an English Teacher

• Have a bachelor’s degree in any subject (this is mainly for getting the work visa)
• Be from a native English speaking country
• Teaching certification is nice to have but definitely not necessary. (Most conversation schools won’t ask for one)

That’s all the requirements. So basically, If you are from a native English speaking country and have a University degree then you can become an English teacher in Japan.

What kind of teaching jobs are available?

If you have no teaching experience, there are basically two options to choose from: ALT or Eikaiwa

ALT (short for Assistant Language Teacher) is what it sounds like. You are the assistant to the main, usually Japanese, English language teacher. You will be placed in either an Elementary, Junior HS, or High School and act as the native speaker for the students to practice their English with and learn from. I was never an ALT myself, but from what I’ve heard, these positions are often in rural areas and teachers may have many different schools they work at.

There are many companies that act as a liaison between ALTs and the Board of Education. These companies are known as dispatch companies and are the most popular way to find ALT work in Japan. There are some big companies out there (Interac, Altia Central, Borderlink, etc.) that will look at your location and age group preferences and match you with schools to be an ALT.

There is also the JET program. This is the holy grail of ALT jobs. It pays better than any other entry level English teaching position and is put on by the Japanese government. It’s extremely competitive and a very lengthy hiring process, but if you have the time to go through that process (and aren’t picky about placement) it might be worth giving it a shot.

For a non-JET first year ALT expect a monthly salary of 200,000 – 250,000 yen. Most companies will assist you in the visa process and find housing for you.

Eikaiwa (English conversation schools) These are more or less like English tutor centers for adults and/or children. You can find Eikaiwas everywhere throughout Japan. And if you want to immediately start to work in a city as your first job in Japan, you’ll have much better luck looking for Eikaiwa jobs than ALT.

If teaching children is your thing, then look into kids Eikaiwas (ECC Junior, Peppy Kids club, Kids Duo, etc.). Lots of companies out there.

If you think you’d rather teach adults, or at least a mix of kids and adults, then there are many options for that too. Some of the big companies being (NOVA, ECC, AEON, Coco Juku, etc.).

Expect a salary of 250,000 yen a month. If you get offered anything lower than that you’re being underpaid. Anything more and you are living the Eikaiwa high life.

Where to find jobs

There are plenty of ALT and Eikaiwa jobs that you can find on the internet. Gaijinpot.com will 100% be where you spend the majority of your time searching for jobs. This is the most popular place for jobs to be posted by both the bigger companies and the smaller ones. It was the place where I found my first and second Eikaiwa job in Japan. Gaijinpot has excellent articles all about Japanese culture and teaching in Japan. A really great source for information. There are some other websites, but mostly things are posted on Gaijinpot.

For the big companies head over to their websites and apply from there.

My advice when searching for a job and going through the hiring process

If you just want to teach English for a year and come to Japan to experience the culture, etc… Then it might be worth it to go with one of the big guys. Some big companies are better than others (Westgate and ECC are usually given higher praise than NOVA and AEON), but if you just want to come and get a visa and get your foot in the door… honestly, just use the shotgun approach and apply to all the big companies. If after the first month or so you aren’t happy with your company, hop onto Gaijinpot and look for a different job. After you have your visa and are living in the country, you immediately become more attractive to employers (especially smaller eikaiwas) because they don’t have to go through the process of bringing you over from your home country.

Glassdoor is your best friend. Check reviews! And for the smaller companies be wary of fake reviews written by upper management. Yes, they are out there and coerce many teachers into joining their companies. But still is a useful way to get to know some info before signing the contract.

The interview

When I was interviewing for teaching jobs while still in the US, all my interviews were done over Skype. Make sure to dress professionally (it might sound like overkill, but wear a suit). For kids positions, make sure you give off a bubbly and enthusiastic vibe. Show that you are serious about teaching English and not just moving to Japan for a fun extended vacation.

Basically, they are looking for the right personality for the job. And honestly, you need to have the right personality to be a successful teacher and enjoy your job. If you aren’t a communicative person, from my experience, teaching at an eikaiwa might not be the best option for you.

I interviewed for both bigger ALT companies and smaller Eikaiwa companies. I ended up going with a small eikaiwa, but both processes were quite different. With the big guys, there are typically many steps involved in the hiring process: phone/Skype interview, attending a local group interview, face-to-face interviews, then finally contract offer. However, with the smaller companies it tends to be a more classic interview (possibly two interviews) then job offer. They may or may not ask for you to do a demo lesson or very short 5 minute lesson. (I was asked to sing a song over a Skype interview while in my college apartment…. quite embarrassing!)

Things to be careful about regarding contracts

There are some shady practices that go on in the English teaching world. Be careful! And try your best to understand what to look out for. These are some things that you might encounter.

• 29.5 hours a week contracts: This is most likely the most common “shady practice” that companies will use. From my understanding, if an employee is working 30 or more hours a week the company is responsible for helping pay the employees health insurance. So, because classroom time for Eikaiwa workers is less than 30 hours a week, companies will write 29.5 hours a week on the contract. However, you are still expected to work more than 30 hours a week. So, if you see a contract with anything less than 30 hours a week, but you are scheduled to be at the school for over 30 hours be careful!
• Housing: If you are going with one of the big companies, they will most likely arrange for housing for you. Many smaller companies that bring people over from their home countries will do the same. Usually, it is not a problem and the places they give you should be alright. But you might run into a situation where all employees, regardless of location, pay the same amount in housing costs. This might work out in your favor if you’re living in a city like Tokyo or Osaka, but could be a bit unfair to those living in smaller cities.
• You are a contract worker. This means that the company is not obligated to renew your contract at the end of the contract period (typically one year). So be wary, as if you do anything to make the company unhappy (even if it complies with your contract) your contract might not get renewed and you’ll be out of work.
• Forced savings. Some companies out there will do this forced savings thing. They will not pay your salary in full for some months and then after a given number of months they will pay you your full salary + what they owe you from the previous months. If you quit before your bonus month the company is not entitled to give you your bonus money. If you see this in your contract, make sure to be careful and ask questions about it.
• Make sure you go through the long, but legal, process of obtaining a work visa. While most companies will go through this process by sending you documents and having you go to the Japanese embassy/consulate in your area, some will try to get you to come over immediately without a visa and begin working. This is borderline illegal, and without a visa you can’t get a salary, bank account, internet, even a bicycle! So even though it takes a while to go through the legal process of obtaining a work visa, make sure to go through it.

Not all companies use these practices, and there are many companies that have great work environments and conditions. It’s all about finding the right company to work for and knowing what to look out for. So, like a mentioned before, read up on the companies you are interested in on Glassdoor.

Overall experience as an English Teacher in Japan

Living and working in Japan in general was an absolutely incredible experience. I got to meet so many great people and students and made incredible memories. I really do miss it there… While the salary was not anything to raise your eyebrows at, it was plenty to live off of and save a little for a trip (at least if you’re living in smaller cities, might be a bit tough in Tokyo).

One regret I have is not taking more trips within Japan/Asia. I thought that teaching English would be a way for me to save up money and travel throughout Japan, but that wasn’t the case. I had split days off which made it difficult to travel. The majority of the vacation time fell on Japanese public holidays, which also made it hard and expensive to plan a trip. But in return, I got to work in a job that I really enjoyed and am now pursuing it as a career.

Japan is a wonderful country full of even more wonderful people. It’s a place where you can live a comfortable lifestyle and experience life from a different cultural standpoint. It’s fantastic. You will run into some hard culture shocks (which I plan on writing about in the future), but you will learn to accept them and enjoy your life to the fullest.

Wrap up

This has been a very long post (sorry!) but I hope that at least one person could find it useful! Thank you so much for reading! If you have any questions, I will definitely answer them. If you are thinking about or in the process of finding work in Japan, I wish you the best of luck!