Advice on working in Japan

Towawa said:

I am a new member and would love to get some help/ advise on what to do .
I was born in Taiwan yet spend most of my childhood in Singapore .
Later , moved to Australia and Completed my bachelor .
Would love to get a teaching job in Japan but after lots of research online, Taiwan's hardly on any program's list .
Is there any way for a Taiwan-passport- holder -Australian -girl to get an English related job in Japan ?
Does finding a job agent help ?
Thank you

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Glenski said:

You should come to the ESL Cafe teachers' discussion group, Japan section. If people aren't already teachers there, they want to be.

Bottom line:
Sadly, your nationality and upbringing may work against you, but this is not to say that it is impossible. There are essentially 2 types of work visas you can get for teaching, plus (possibly) a working holiday visa.

The Instructor visa lets you work as an ALT in public schools.
The Specialist in Humanities/International Relations visa lets you work in conversation schools (eikaiwa) and at companies that want employees to learn English.
The WHV lets you work anywhere, but it's limited to a year and to certain conditions of age, funding, and such. Plus, you get taxed more (20 percent).
MOFA: The Working Holiday Programmes in Japan

The first two visas usually require of non-native speakers like yourself that you prove you have had 12 years of your education all in English.

To get a visa, you must first be hired. After that, you apply together for the visa. But, you need to figure out first which visa you want and whether you are eligible to get it. Employer conditions for hiring can easily be different from that of immigration's requirements for a visa.
Immigration Procedures Guidebook
Application for Certificate of Eligibility

Don't bother going through agents.

Come to the ESL Cafe and see what other Taiwanese have managed to do.
Job Discussion Forums :: Index

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MisoGood said:

If you are not a native English speaker and do not hold a passport from an English speaking country it is going to be almost impossible to find a job teaching English. You need native level English to teach and to qualify for a visa to teach English.

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nice gaijin said:

This is not true, though it does seriously limit her options. I picked up a gig with Gaba when I was a student, and in my "interview" class/seminar, there were people from several different non-English countries, including a French guy whose accent was so thick even I had a hard time understanding him. To my knowledge, everyone who stayed through the orientation was offered a placement.

This is just my own experience with one company, so take it with the appropriate amount of salt

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MisoGood said:

IF you have a work visa - student or whatever, then you may be able to find a job teaching, however if you need sponsorship it's going to be extremely difficult to be sponsored. Immigration will not accept applications from countries that do not have a visa program wirh Japan.
If you qualify for a visa then by all means go for it but saying anyone who can speak some English can find work teaching English in Japan is not true.

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nice gaijin said:

I was responding to your statement that "it is going to be almost impossible to find a job teaching English," and I was only relaying a situation that I experienced personally. I didn't say that "anyone who can speak some English can find work teaching English in Japan," so I'll thank you to not misrepresent my comments.

Also, please be careful not to put your own comments inside the quote tags, it looked like you quoted me with no response; had I not hit the "see more" button I wouldn't have even seen your comments.

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