Working in Japan

[kryss]

Nice to hear from you Darwock! 'Grats on the baby!

Shame you got shafted by the company, having never actually worked as an ALT I'd only heard some things. The golden days of NOVA were just that. Yes, there was a share of BS but at least we got vacation days and the employee health insurance was worth it.

If I could find me a decent job I would be back over there again. Maybe I should just get back into physics and work at a uni somewhere.

Billy: lots of people have lots of different experiences, go in with an open mind and make the most of it. You can always quit after all. Try to pick up some private students when you've gotten more used to the teaching. Tax free cash in hand is always nice

[briareos_kerensky]

Darwock, is this a welcome back? Yes, yes?
Congrats on the baby anyway.

[randombs]

@Yakumo: I'm in Tokyo right now. The ALT position I applied for at Borderlink is Kantou area so could be anywhere, and I expect I'll be contracted to work at a few schools. I'm thinking about applying for some other jobs now. The more I think about it, the more I reckon they'll be weirdos. Unfortunately they still have my degree certificate and transcript. I expect they'll give those back when I sign the contract. Of course, whichever company I apply for will likely not take kindly to my having had Borderlink get my visa and then switching so soon based purely on conjecture/cold feet. I suppose I could just start working and then have a rethink during the August holidays. At least by that point I'd have 'adequate' reasons to leave if necessary.

My previous posts in a nutshell: ALT to begin with, give it a year to gain experience and then decide what to do next year. Either carry on teaching English in a better position or find an IT job but that may not be likely for a few years I think, based on needing business-level Japanese for most of the ones I found.

@Darwock: Oh I figured as much when I decided to go the ALT route in October. It's just that, given my gf situation, I needed to get here asap. I'm not too worried about developing a perception of Japan or whatever - I just needed to get my foot in the door somehow - but I appreciate you posting about your experiences.

My issue at the time of applying was that the jobs advertised for specific schools(although I bet even those, or the majority thereof, are contracted work) wanted experience which I didn't have. I've now got my CELTA so jobs that required or recommended it have become possibilities.

[Darwock]

I thought you were asking if you should stick with the ALT job or go for one of the better jobs you have since found, but if you already knew all of that then I guess you're in the right place to make the decision. I wouldn't worry too much about the visa, it's not exactly ethical but lots of people have done it.

kryss/briareos.. thanks - wow that shows how long it's been since I was here, the baby is already practically a toddler! I might hang around a bit, my gaming habits still don't gel with the majority here but I don't get the gaming time these days anyway, so not so much need to visit those sections of the forum I guess.

[randombs]

Cheers. It doesn't start until April but I'll meet with the school(s) I'll be working at during the training which starts on the 19th.

If it weren't for my girlfriend I wouldn't even want to work in Japan but I expect any English teaching job I start with will be a particular level of crap until I get the requisite experience to break out into the proper jobs...

[Yakumo]

I have a question for you. Are you a white guy or of ethnic background? The reason I ask is because the Japanese are VERY racist and don't care if you were born in the UK. They care about your colour! Sounds crazy but it?s true. If a white guy, black guy and an ethnic guy who were all born in the same city in the same country went for a job interview, the white guy would always get the job no matter how talented the others were. This is the reality of Japan and not a very pleasant one at that.

By the way, I'm talking full time (real job) employment at teaching English.

[randombs]

I'm Indian.

Like, super Indian.

If I was a Japanese energy drink I'd be called Indo-Max.

Looking forward to job hunting

[QualityChimp]

I'm Indian.

Like, super Indian.

I had a crazy bag lady come up to me when I was in Japan, and despite not speaking Japanese, I was able to understand her sentiment by the addition of using the word "gaijan" and gesturing a Pinnochio nose...

[randombs]

[Yakumo]

I'm Indian.

Like, super Indian.

If I was a Japanese energy drink I'd be called Indo-Max.

Looking forward to job hunting

OK, here's how to get along then. Agree to everything, never question authority figures and kiss ass. I have a few Asian friends from India and Nepal. The Nepalese guy works so hard, kisses arse so much but NEVER gets a promotion while dicks from the US who just arrive at the company always get promotions. Makes me sick. My Indian friend, Jatin, got a lucky break. The area where he teaches loves him. It's a very small community and he made a big impact. They really love him there, so the company he works for have to send him to that area otherwise they'll lose the contract. The area where he works have made it quite clear that they either get Jatin or nobody. Jatin has been working in this area for almost 10 years now. That's what you want to be aiming for if you can.

[Darwock]

As an ALT ethnicity is not going to be a problem at all. Certainly not in Osaka.

In my area there are 45 ALTs and I think only around 10 of them are white guys. I work with a group of 6 in a JHS on thursday afternoons and there I am the only white guy, and one of the only two native English speakers. The others are Nepalese, Ghanian, Nigerian, Cameroon(ian?) and an Australian of Indonesian descent.

From talking to those guys about the cool-down period BS in the contract though, they all feel pretty much trapped in the company because as Yakumo says, job opportunities in private education are usually going to be snapped up by the whites and black americans.

[QualityChimp]

I don't know how you can resist mashing them up, big style, by hamming it up like "Goodness Gracious Me", then speaking in a perfectly clear accent.

It totally threw me when I first saw Omid Djalili doing stand up and pretending to be Al Qaeda, then going into a plummy English voice!

[randombs]

This cool-off period - is it what happens when you renew the same contract and work three years?

[Darwock]

Yes and no, it's nothing to do with us as individual teachers - it's between the dispatch companies and their clients (the BOE). Even ALTs which joined the company this year have to go for 3 months with no work, because the company and the BOE have been in a contract for three years which is the limit under Japanese law.

For this reason a lot of BOEs will switch to a new agency when the three year limit is reached so they don't have any down time in the schools. Unfortunately the effect is the same if not worse for us, as in that case we lose our jobs completely and have to reapply to join another agency to get back into the same job (usually at a lower salary if the contract is decided via bidding)

[randombs]

Ahhh, this thread. Just read through it again. How time flies

Update:

Been ALTing since April at two lovely junior high schools not too far from Tokyo. The small school has 170-odd students(50 special needs), the larger one has 700-800.

I love teaching, love being in the lessons with the kids. At the smaller school I have complete autonomy with the 1st and 3rd grade classes and the JTE assists me. For 2nd grade I'm the assistant but the JTE is brilliant and we're more like a team.

In the larger school I'm more like a typical ALT - reading out stuff - but the JTE knows I can control the students better so it's still fun. As I'm not a teacher, I've placed myself somewhere between student and teacher so I muck around with the kids and often sit with them in class during tests or when the teacher is explaining grammar.

I've been seriously lucky with my schools. No problems at all with either of them. No dodgy teachers, no weird rules, nothing.

Going unpaid in August was tough and I've been in super low-money mode since then. I initially had no luck with private lessons at all - compared with a few white friends who would get asked for lessons while walking around town - so signed up with Gaba during Summer for evening/weekend work but it fell through. Luckily, I've now got two students for conversation lessons which is great.

My contract ends in February(alas, I'm here at the end of the 3 year cycle) so I'm job hunting now. I went to a careers fair in Akihabara and signed up with some recruiters. One of the companies wants me to work for them as a recruiter. I'm keeping my options open but IT support work is hard to come by and until I get something permanent I can't relax. There's another fair in December which I'd have to take two days off to attend but that one will be big.

I'll keep you guys posted with my progress.