The BEST job you can get

by Hugo Deslippe
(www.japanese-buddhism.com)

I just want to share my experience so far.

I have worked in 4 different work settings as an English teacher in Japan. Here is my ranking by job experience :

1-ALT for the Jet programme: good pay, great work conditions and great support from your employer to set-up in Japan.

2-ALT for a dispatch company: working as an ALT is great as you don't teach many hours in a day and you have a lot of free time at work to do other productive stuff like studying Japanese or working on a website.

3-Eikaiwa teacher: It's fun to work in a team, with other expats. It creates bonds and you make friends. Unfortunately, big companies fall one after the other, thus making eikaiwa a precarious situation at best. The teaching hours can be long and the support not constant from places to places.

4-Juku (cram school) I worked at a juku for 2 years. My boss was nice and helped me a lot but the classes are mixed levels, the students not interested in English and you have to work on national holidays as Jukus don't close.


In conclusion, if you have enough time to prepare, try applying for the JET programme. Unfortunately they are losing contracts in many places in Japan. dispatch companies are cheaper for the board of educations so they often get the contract.