How to find a part time job at an English conversation school

[JerseyBoy]

I have been in the states for many years and have a BA in Communication/Marketing (and an Associate's in Journalism) there, along with 10 years of sales/marketing experiences in USA. Even though I have a good paying managerial position at a USA-based global company in Japan (I speak English at my work quite frequently because my bosses are American and some of my colleagues are from other countries).
For some weekends, I am interested in teaching English lessons in Japan (without using Japanese; so, I am not interested in teaching at one of those ubiquitous cram schools). I am not sure of how the hiring process works. I don't have any visa restriction working in Japan.
If you have information on this topic, please jump in this thread.

 

[Glenski]

You're Japanese, aren't you, Jersey Boy? That may actually work against you, as you may know, because your fellow countrymen are usually looking for foreigners to teach English. So, your first step in advertising yourself is to show how well you speak and write English.

Part-time work can be found in many places. Just look in ohayosensei.com, The Japan Times (or www.japantimes.com advertisements), www.gaijinpot.com, www.eltnews.com, etc.

By "ubiquitous cram schools", are you actually referring to eikaiwa (conversation schools) or to juku (what most people would call a cram school)?

Just apply, have a good resume that shows your English ability, and hope for the best.

 

[JerseyBoy]

By "ubiquitous cram schools", are you actually referring to eikaiwa (conversation schools) or to juku (what most people would call a cram school)?

I was not referring to "Juku." I am not trained nor interested in being a translator; so, teaching the college exam prep courses (which has a heavy emphasis on Japanese/English translation) does not interest me at all.
This will be a part time gig to keep myself in more familiar living environment when I am not at my regular job. Also, this type of the part time position could help me network with other foreign visitors in Japan. I used to live in the New York City area for many years and I feel it is more natural to me to speak English and interacting in the multi-cultural environments.

 

[nice gaijin]

with qualifications like that, it's a wonder that you would consider teaching English, unless it were to ensure that you kept up with your own language skills, perhaps?

I've worked at Gaba, and there was quite a variety of people teaching there, including some half-Japanese teachers. AFAIK the only native Japanese working there were counselors and clerks at the learning centers, but with a native level of fluency (fluency being a pretty subjective measure of ability), you should be able to make it through the interview/test and training. It's tough to say for sure though, as Glenski said, being Japanese could hurt your chances more than anything trying to get a job like this.

Main benefits of Gaba:
★Very tech-oriented approach (student profiles are tracked digitally, updated after every lesson, makes it easy to get to know your students)
★ One-on-one classes
★ Lots of different ways to teach, lots of materials to utilize in your lessons
★ Extremely flexible schedule (work as much or as little as you want)
★ Pretty relaxed atmosphere, friendly coworkers for the most part
★ Wide variety of student abilities, but mostly professionals wanting help with their business English (can be a plus, depending on what you want to teach. It certainly can it easier to come up with a practice topic for higher-end customers)

Drawbacks:
☆ short classes (40 minutes) can make it hard to make real progress
☆ even shorter time between classes can make writing those final lesson notes a real tight squeeze (5 minutes, but you can schedule yourself breaks in intervals to alleviate the stress)
☆ some of the books suck, but fortunately, the clients realize this and have their own ideas for how they want the lesson to go
☆ some clients are unmotivated, which can be a real drag
☆ if you're doing something the client doesn't like (concentrating on roleplay too much, etc), they won't say anything until they give you 'teacher feedback' later. This fortunately only happened to me once, but it's pretty rare to get a student that will readily give you an opinion on your methods or the teaching materials directly.

 

[Glenski]

I was referring to "Juku."

Thank you for clearing that up. Your subject line and text of your original message were very confusing, as "English conversation school" is eikaiwa, not juku.

I am not trained nor interested in being a translator; so, teaching the college exam prep courses (which has a heavy emphasis on Japanese/English translation) does not interest me at all.

Two questions, then.
1) One does not have to be a translator to teach such courses. Most high school Japanese teachers of English teach by the grammar-translation method, and they certainly are not licensed or experienced translators. Still interested in juku?

2) If you are really interested in jukus, being Japanese will be an advantage for you, but if you expect to teach English at a juku, I think you need to be able to teach the grammar-translation style. Most students, I think, attend juku in order to better their grades and better their chances at getting into university. I forget how good your Japanese is, but if I recall correctly, you admitted it had weakened considerably over your years in the USA. Is that correct? If so, that will be a disadvantage for you in a juku.

Also, this type of the part time position could help me network with other foreign visitors in Japan.

Most teachers at jukus are not foreigners.

 

[JerseyBoy]

Thank you for clearing that up. Your subject line and text of your original message were very confusing, as "English conversation school" is eikaiwa, not juku.

Sorry, I mixed up eikaiwa and juku with my previous comment (I edited it a few moments ago). I say and think differently depending on which language I speak. For intellectual conversation, I prefer English as that is the language I have been educated in college.

 

[Bunshinsaba]

No offense because I am sure that you're bright, but I'm throwing this in anyway. The first step in getting a good job - and Gaba is not a good job - is learning how to write a solid resume that makes you sound like someone who is worth paying 4000 - 5500/hr for. I know what you're thinking... "Well d'uh, of course".

Well... one would think that, but...

I have to field teacher resumes as a part of my work. Some of the resumes we get are so poorly written that your jaw hits the floor. Bad grammar, spelling, word choice, words repeated over and over again (responsible for... responsible for... responsible for...) and sentence accuracy (dangling modifiers are just the beginning) worse than the sentence accuracy in pieces of writing from the students that they hope to teach.

And then there are those that list and write about jobs that have nothing remotely to do with teaching. "Nuclear Missile Specialist" was one I will never forget.

And when some applicants write about why they like teaching they either sugar coat it with self importance, "Being around Japanese students gives me the chance to give them the feeling of a special change in their lives, and I can bring a whole new world to them through teaching English" ) .. whatever that means. Or they are just plain idiotic...
"With teaching I am a visual chemist; imaging; transforming; creating; wondering; solving; ing."

Yeah... I don't get the last "ing" either.

So.... resume.... be sure it reads well.

 

[Glenski]

I have proofread dozens of resumes for potential teachers in Japan, and most of them came from people with absolutely zero teaching background. Obviously, they were the toughest to write (and their cover letters were equally difficult).

Just say what you have to offer, and try to address every point in the ad. After that, honesty is usually best, instead of the B.S. Try not to relate certain things to TEFL, though.

"I was a YMCA swimming instructor / Marine drill sergeant / corporate sales trainer / etc., therefore I know what it is like to teach people, and you should hire me for that experience..."

 

[nice gaijin]

...The first step in getting a good job - and Gaba is not a good job - is learning how to write a solid resume that makes you sound like someone who is worth paying 4000 - 5500/hr for. I know what you're thinking... "Well d'uh, of course".

To be fair, I never went so far as to call Gaba a "good job." I enjoyed my time helping my students but I was just working part time for some spending money; I certainly wouldn't try to live in Japan on a Gaba salary. But JerseyBoy seemed more interested in just picking up a few hours on the weekend for the experience and practice than anything else, and Gaba seems to be the most flexible system short of freelancing.

Actually, JerseyBoy, you might try freelancing sites like findateacher.net where you can hook up with students without actually working for an eikaiwa. While being a native Japanese might hurt your chances at a school, some students might be attracted by your long-term experience in the states, and seek you out for it.