The title pretty much says it all; I’m finishing a graduate degree in linguistics, and speak Japanese pretty fluently. I like teaching, so I was thinking it might be fun to apply for a teaching position in JET for a year. As I see it, there are a few pros and cons.
Pros: they do most of the visa jig for you, you get payed american wages for working in Japan, the hours are fairly light, and since you’re working for an american company you don’t get roped into the insane sh*t that they force the Japanese teachers to go through.
Cons: Really awful pay. Little to no control over where you get sent. Huge classes at irregular intervals, which keep you from getting to know your students well. Dealing with students all day is really hard. “Taught English in Japan” makes a huge stain on your resume.
Well it always depends on the context obviously, since there are reputable and disreputable teaching firms… the problem with JET is that it’s extremely easy to get hired and the job requires little to no background; they’ll hire you with no Japanese and zero teaching experience. There are some really great teachers in JET, and some unbelievably awful ones… but the problem is that employers really can’t tell which you are from your resume.
So I worry about giving my resume a “I couldn’t get a job in the real world, so I ran off and played in Japan for a year” feel.
for a starting teacher (with no classroom experience, no certification and usually only a bachelor’s degree), the pay is pretty good. Unless they’ve lowered the salary recently, I remember it being 100,000yen/month more than what most private schools pay.
I’ve heard it said more than once that the Jet Programme is “a career dead end,” and although that’s true – it probably won’t directly benefit your career – I’ve never met anyone who’s career has suffered because of a stint with JET in Japan. And I’ve never known anyone who’s regretted doing the JET thing – this isn’t the case with some of the other outfits such as Nova, Aeon, Geos, etc. Unless you plan on an academic track, IMO you have your whole life to settle into a career. If you want to do something fun/different/exciting with your life, now is the time! It won’t be a black mark on your resume – on the contrary it’ll make you stand out from everyone else who has more or less the same background and credentials. If you are concerned that it’ll throw you off track WRT career goals, talk with people in your field & see what they have to say on the matter.
Since you already speak the language, you don’t need to confine yourself to the ALT positions. If you’re not too keen on the teaching aspect, have you considered the Coordinator for International Relations position?
None of this is from first-person experience, so take it for what it’s worth.
You do not work for an american company. The contract you sign is essentially the same regardless of where you work, but your employer is the school/board of education/etc. where you work. The amount of work you actually do varies greatly. When I did my stint, I was in an extremely rural environment and taught in a very small school. I had one class a day with virtually no preparation – I was essentially a very expensive CD player. Other people were very busy and although they did the foreigner thing where they left when their contract said they could leave, they would take work at home. It’s highly variable. Japanese teachers are busy, no doubt, but I think you’ll find American teachers also put in a fair amount of time into their work too.
Pardon the language, but this is bullshit. Do not ever utter these words in front of a Japanese, it’s highly insulting. A new Japanese graduate might be lucky to make 200,000 yen per month before tax. In JET, you earn 300,000 yen after tax. That is for doing work you hold no qualification for. Hell, I wasn’t even a native speaker! English teachers in Japan are grossly overpaid with regard to their actual skills and qualifications. The locals know that and, rightfully, complain about it. It only adds oil to the fire when said over-paid teachers have the gall to complain about their wages. One of the pros of JET is that you will most likely be making more money than you would anywhere else. It’s not that hard to save up to 1000$ per month.
Not deciding where you go is certainly true. I think the decision process involves a map a blindfold and darts. If you think dealing with students all day is hard, may I suggest you not teach in Japan. What a few people tend to forget is that teaching english in Japan involves… teaching… in Japan. It’s shocking how many people either have no real interest in Japan or teaching when they come here. If you don’t like hanging out with students all day, then maybe teaching isn’t for you.
The biggest con I see is that for most, teaching english in East Asia can become a trap. You do a year, or two, or three, not wanting to make a career out of it, but if you do it too long, it becomes extremely hard to get out of it. Suddenly things like “qualifications” and “experience” come into play. I only did it for a year, but I likened getting back to “regular” life, like trying to get back on a busy highway after stopping next to the fast lane.
I did JET and I would try and talk you out of it just because it doesn’t sound like you’re really eager to do it. It’s the kind of thing where you have to want to do it for you to be successful. If you think it’s going to be mostly a drag (which is the impression I got from your OP), then it’s going to be a year of hell. Even if you’re thrilled to death to be chosen, like I was, it’s still pretty tough.
As others have noted, you’re dead wrong about the wages, but you do have a fair point with the assignment. I actually got my first choice, as did most people I knew there, but that doesn’t mean anything for you. As far as resume stainage goes, in my experience, it’s been exactly the opposite. People are interested in Japan and want to know about your experience there. I suspect I’ve gotten interviews based solely on my JET experience. Ten years after returning, interviewers are still excited that I did JET. YMMV.
JET is a solid, reliable program. I had a great time there and I think my experience was invaluable for me personally and professionally. I would recommend JET to anyone…anyone who really wants to go. Honestly, you don’t sound like you’re that into the idea. So don’t do it. You’ll hate it if you’re not into it. That’s a guarantee.
French. I got in as an alt because I’m Canadian and that’s enough to qualify you as “native speaker”. You still have to be fluent, I don’t think you’d get past the interview otherwise.
Student: Is it LI-bra-ry or li-BRA-ry?
Me: … that’s a very good question…
I felt exceedingly bad in such situations, which is one of the reasons I would never have done more than a year.
If you are thinking about this, you must read this book.
To quote one of the reviews “Wow. I work at an English school in Kyoto, and I was told by the teachers there that I had to read this book. They had said that the best time to read it is at the six month mark, but they figured that I (having only been here for three months) was “old enough.””
Thanks for all the advice, everyone! If I seem hesitant to do it, it’s only because I’m worried that it would end up being a lot less useful than going straight into research.
Thanks for clarifying that, but it sounds like that main pro still stands: that, as an outsider in most respects, you don’t tend to get roped into putting in all the unpaid overtime and such. (I absolutely refuse to take a job that entails spending my evenings patrolling youth hangouts and yelling at students I find from my school. )
In general I find it best to not directly complain about anything once you’ve been hired, so I hope I wouldn’t be daft enough to do so. When I say “crappy,” I meant crappy relative to my other options. Since I have a PhD in experimental phonetics and a lot of experience running a laboratory I’m looking at JET as an alternative to a job that stands to start at 50-70k a year once I factor in my clinical work.
I absolutely love teaching; the reason I wanted to mention it was to make it clear that I partially knew what I was getting into, to forstall the “You don’t have any idea how difficult teaching is going to be” advice.
Gaijin Smash is hilarious. I’ve taught Japanese high schoolers before, so I found it really amusing to watch his observations turn from baffled to jaded as the editorials go on.
Thanks! I originally learned it because I needed a non-IE language to fulfill one of my undergrad degree requirements, but I kept with it mainly because it was fun. ^^
I came here on the JET programme 16 years ago this summer and I’m still here!
On the other hand, I have a lovely house, lots of good friends, a great (Japanese - why do you think I got stuck here?) husband, and a thriving English school of my own which I worked very hard for. I think I got a good bargain in the end.
I applied for it once, but I was turned down so fast that I knew exactly what the cause was: one of my references didn’t fulfill her agreement. I thought that envelope was a little light, but it was sealed so I couldn’t find out if it was actually properly filled with three copies. She was sick and out and left it for me, and waited till the last minute, so I knew I was going down in flames.
Ditto for those who say you should reconsider, since you don’t seem to be that enthusiastic about it.
I will say this - having served on admissions committees in graduate programs in education, people often think JET or Teach For America guarantees that you’ll be admired and loved by the committee. Not really.
Thing is, a lot of JET or TFA people apply to our grad school. So it makes you blend in, unless you really did something special in your experience. What I’m trying to say, I guess, is that I see a lot of applications that say “JET” or “TFA” and nothing else. Now, if you say “JET” and talk about how it fits in your life goals, and how you see it connecting to your future… it’s an asset.
Just something to think about, because you might end up in grad school after…
I remembered something else I wanted to add: A lot of people (myself included) have the idea going into JET that all Japanese schools are run well and have high functioning students–model for the world and so forth. There are certainly a lot of schools like that, but there are also schools like the one I was assigned to: vocational schools where the students are openly hostile to learning English and your real job is less teacher and more attention-getter. I consider my main accomplishment to be having shown my kids that speaking English is achievable, useful, and interesting. I don’t know if I taught them a damn other thing my whole year there.
And one of your pros is actually kind of a con: doing all that extra shit after school and on weekends is a major bummer, but it’s how Japanese teachers show their enthusiasm for and loyalty to their school (even though they don’t want to do it either). The fact that the JETs are not required to do it can cause resentment, and the other teachers can believe that you’re not someone to be taken seriously. In order to get along with the rest of the staff, you really do have to volunteer to do extra stuff in some capacity. Often the extra stuff is really boring and stupid, but you paste a smile on your face and pitch in to show that you take your job seriously and that people should listen to you when you talk.