getting a job at a university

Are any JREF members employed at a university in Japan as English conversation 'teachers'? How did you get the job? What qualifications are necessary? What are your working conditions like? How important are personal connections in landing a job? What kind of publications have higher education job vacancy adverts?
I have a degree, an MA (neither are directly related to English teaching), and six years English teaching experience in Japan and would like to break into the world of higher education. I would be very grateful for any tips from those with experience at Japanese universities.

I am employed by Matsumoto University (you can find it on the net, but the homepage is in Japanese only). I have been working here since 1998, and enjoy it pretty much. It is better than doing AET stuff, more room to develop your own course, and such--but it may be good to keep in mind that this school is private, and that can make a difference, it seems.

I will provide more information a bit later, I have to run over to Admin now. Getting the job was a matter of my experience teaching in Japan with another private school, as an AET, and through the 14 years of experience with those, at the time of finally getting the interview for the job. I had applied twice, lost out the first time, and accepted, of course, the second go round. Personality may have played a role too. As it turns out, I do (just as a fact, not to boast) have a high popularity rating among students--as attested to through surveys taken by the Faculty Development Committee. So that may play a part too. An MA is good enough, in most cases I would think, and it doesn't need to be in linguistics, either, really. One friend of mine teaching at a different university, moved into teaching from a postition with Epson...so, there you have it. Talk to you later !

Thanks Mars Man - I appreciate your reply.

I would be really grateful if you could give some more info about where you heard about the positions you applied for - should I be reading any publications in particular to find out about these jobs?

May I also ask : what is the nature of your contract at the university - is it a one-year thing or do you actually have a permanent position?
And : what kind of lessons do you take - English conversation practise or more formal teaching of literature or translation?

I took JLPT 2-kyuu last December (waiting for result in a couple of weeks, but quietly confident) and plan to take 1-kyuu this year - a good part of my spare time since I came here has been spent learning Japanese, so it's not a big problem for me to read Japanese publications or web-sites.

Thanks again.

Mars Man said:

I will provide more information a bit later...

Click to expand...

I would really appreciate that.

I have ZERO qualifications to answer your question, but are you already signed up with JALT? They have an employment section:
Career Enhancement | JALT

Just for your information, I know a person who teaches (or taught?--I don't know for sure) at Aoyama Gakuin University for more than a decade. He taught English at various schools and acquired an MA in TEFL (or TESL?) at Temple University while teaching and eventually landed university jobs with Aoyama and others in the Tokyo area.

Hope it helps!

Thanks epigene - I'll take a look at the link.

Mars Man : if you're out there I'm still hoping to pick your brains a bit more.

Thanks epigene - I'll take a look at the link.

Mars Man : if you're out there I'm still hoping to pick your brains a bit more.

Howdy, howdy...I'm still here, just doing some priority stuff first. Sorry to have kept you waiting.

Yes, well, I had been here for some time in this area, since 1984, January, and so just kind of knew the scene, so to speak. I didn't go through any journals or through the net--no net then, basically, I just got the info from a friend who was a friend of someone who was quiting at that time. I applied, but failed to get an interview, in 1996. By that time I had a fair enough resume, but just missed out. I was called by the head of the English Dept. again in 1998-the person who had been hired at that time, was pulling out--and asked if I'd be interested. I got the interview, and, well, here I sit.

At first, it was simply a yearly contract. In 2001 I was asked if I'd like to accept a full time position, and I did. . .so, again, now here I sit, in my office.

I am employed, basically, through the Junior College division of the University, but teach both. I focus on the conversational elements of English, but there is always going to be a bit of all four skills involved. With my Jr. College classes, I am doing tourism courses; at the four year division, I do general foreign language related stuff. Our University is private, and is primarily a business school, so there is no literature and no major in English--totally functional English.

Any other questions in mind, just let me know. PM might be a good way too.
Again, sorry to have kept you waiting. Talk to you later on !!

That was interesting, thanks. I don't work for any of the big chain schools and so don't have much opportunity to meet up with other teachers - the probability therefore of me hearing about a job on the grapevine is virtually nill. Maybe I need to work on my networking...

Do companies like Interac provide English-teaching staff to universities, I wonder? I have a decent c.v., it's just breaking into this world of higher education that is leaving me scratching my head. What would you think about firing off some well-put-together introduction letters together with my c.v. to the heads of English departments at nearby universities, perhaps seeking an interview?

That may be ok, about firing off some well-put-together introduction letters and such, but there may be a low probability of a hit; due solely to openings.

In otherwords, I feel that most institutions would tend to not file letters of introductions so carefully if there were not any immediate or foreseen opening--not that it would never happen, but just with less memory of it as time went by.

However, I would not want to say 'don't do it' at all--please do. Only I would want to forewarn you that that alone is not too much 'money in the bank'. I'll see if I can find the net source for such openings. Please do give me some time for that, though. Thanks, and talk to you later !!

Thanks, Mars Man! If you could find that net source, I'd be most grateful...