Over the course of about four years, I worked for 2 different contracting companies and one private English school in Japan. The private English school was just a tiny little building with two rooms where people came to practice English conversation. I would not recommend this type of work. The contracting companies sent me to teach at junior high schools. The schools in this city are not the greatest, but you’ll have more free time, regular working hours and guaranteed national holidays this way.
When I found my first job in Japan, I found it on the Internet. I regret I no longer know the site, but maybe that’s a good thing, because it was a terrible job. I do recall having “googled” the phrase “teach English in Japan” or something like that. I interviewed on the phone. It was simple and easy – a formality. You don’t need experience, for the most part, you just need to seem personable.
I quit my first job after a month, which is perfectly legal and will not affect your visa status. They threatened me to the contrary, but I called the immigration office and the local consulate and they assuaged my fears.
Your local consulate is there to help you and will do so at any time. You can call them on the phone and ask questions about a number of things, especially legal questions. If they can’t answer your question, they will direct you to someone who can. Here is a page from the US embassy in Tokyo which has some useful information / links:
http://japan.usembassy.gov/e/acs/tacs-7108.html
The other companies where I worked were recommended by acquaintances. Nothing beats going out and meeting people. The two contracting companies that hired me are pretty big and were fairly well known in the community. You can also look for job openings through the city office. If it is a small town, they probably won’t have staff that speak English. Regardless, it is easier to find a job when you are actually in the country.
I was referred by acquaintances for these jobs, but still had to interview. The interviews were exactly what you’d expect – do you have any experience, why did you come to japan, greatest strength and weakness, etc. Nothing to get nervous about.
When I found my most recent job, I was in the US. I had worked as a substitute for a couple weeks for the company previously. The company is poorly run so the turnover rate is very fast – the owner of the company was the only person I recognized when I went back. She didn’t recognize me. I interviewed over Skype. It was the same routine as above.
The official JET program is definitely the best way to go if you want to teach at a public school. You will make more money and you will have people looking out for your interests.
If you want to learn to speak Japanese, I would recommend you avoid people who can speak English. When I moved to Japan, I had only attended UVM’s elementary Japanese course, and I had forgotten most of that because I lived in China for a year after college. When I arrived in Japan, I wrote a dictionary and that helped quite a bit. It will be tough at first, and most likely, you’ll have no idea what’s going on for several months, but you’ll get it eventually.
As far as work goes, if you work for a private English school, you are often expected to go early and stay late. If you do stay late, you probably won’t get paid extra, but if you leave early, or arrive late, you will probably notice it on your paycheck. If you work for the public school systems, they have to let you leave on time.
In public schools, you will share an office with the other teachers. On your first day, you will probably have to make a short self introduction in front of all the teachers. That might be a good thing to practice in class now – I always just made something up on the spot and occasionally made a fool of myself.
From my experience, the kids do not behave and the teachers don’t discipline them. Patience is a virtue. As far as your behavior is concerned, they don’t like piercings or tattoos or skimpy clothes or weird hair. Generally they will have get-togethers for the teachers a few times a year. You will be expected to pay. Usually everyone drinks quite a bit but all social blunders are forgiven the next day.
You can no longer smoke on school premises, so now the teachers all stand outside the gate and smoke in front of the students, instead of the private teacher’s smoking room.
I used to make a modest, but sufficient wage which was around 2 grand a month. You will probably get taken advantage of if you work for a private employer. As of this year, I was forced to use my company’s insurance plan which is $100 more than the national health insurance. I also had to pay into the Japanese pension service – $250 a month. Subtract a few other things like taxes and I was only making $1500 dollars or so a month. Then you have to pay rent, utilities, Internet, phone, etc.
I actually think they may be beginning to phase out the private ALT contracting business in many cities in Japan. The local governments don’t have a lot of money to hire contractors. In addition to paying less for teachers, they have also shortened the lengths of the contracts. A 3 month vacation sounds nice until you check your bank statement half way in… That is one of the reasons I joined the Army.
UPDATE: November 10, 2013
I graduated from Officer Candidate School in September and am now attending the Basic Officer Leadership Course in Georgia. I have been assigned to a duty station in Japan but am not 100% sure what my job will be when I get there. In case you were curious, the Army DOES NOT guarantee any particular duty station or Officer occupational specialty to applicants. I consider myself extremely lucky to have been given the job and duty station I requested.
In any event, if most of my spiel seems specific to teaching, it’s because, unless you have some special skill and are fluent in Japanese, those are the only jobs you are going to get. Honestly, if you want to live in Japan for a while, you are probably better off just doing a study abroad or something.
If you just come for a year, work at a public school, you won’t get paid much, but it will be a great experience if you put the effort in to make it one. Don’t sit around watching TV and playing with Facebook, you could have done that at your mom’s house. There is always something fun to do, great food and interesting people to talk to. Good luck.
Suzuki’s comment: I traveled to see Tyler years ago. I was so surprised by his incredibly fluent Japanese (if I just hear his speech, I would think he is a native speaker) and how much he has become accustomed to the Japanese culture in a tiny, remote place. When I arrived in the town where he lived, I felt, “Wow, Tyler. You’ve come to the far corner of the earth!” Wherever we went, so many people knew Tyler so well. The local restaurants’ owners treated him as a regular. He had so many friends….everywhere! He took buses, trains, and boats to get to work. I would say that the town he lived in was not an easy, convenient, and friendly place to live in, especially for non-Japanese. However, he tried new things (including new food that I have never tried before), played in a band for years, spoke Japanese as much as he could, and made so many Japanese friends. He took advantage of being in Japan and learned so much!