Entry-level Teaching Jobs in Japan

There are several types of entry-level EFL (English as a foreign language) teaching jobs in Japan. For those who have a bachelor’s degree (in any field) there are opportunites with many different eikaiwa (英会話 - English conversation) school companies. The big 4  3 in this field are NOVA, GEOS, AEON, and ECC. For those interested in teaching in Japan’s public schools as an ALT (assistant language teacher), there’s the JET programme, which is a government-sponsored program, and there are several ALT employement agencies. The most well-known of the ALT employment agencies is Interac.

There are direct-hire teaching jobs in some of Japan’s public schools. The positions are usually either teacher positions or ALT positions. Getting a direct-hire teaching job without having previous experience teaching in Japan is not the norm. There are teaching jobs at universities, but a master’s degree or better is usually required. International schools also hire foreign teachers, but the most reputable reportedly only hire those with teaching certificates, whether received in Japan or in the foreigner’s home country.

Descriptions of Work 

Eikaiwa teaching usually consists of a foreign teacher working at an eikaiwa school branch, teaching between 1 and 8 classes per workday. Of course, workloads vary from company to company, and from school branch to school branch. Work schedules are often from early afternoon until night. 1pm to 9pm is a good example. Classes usually consist of 1 - 10 students. Often, pre-written lessons are taught and the foreign teachers are mostly there to facilitate speaking and conversations. Some of these schools have grammar-focused classes as well as classes that teach conversation structures. Other schools have “free talk” classes.  Students can range from very young children to adults (there are quite a few senior citizens). Students study English at these conversation schools for various reasons. Some wish to pass certain exams, like the EIKEN, TOEIC, or TOEFL tests. Some study English as a hobby.

The standard salary for an eikaiwa school teacher is around ￥250,000 per month. The big 4 eikaiwa companies provide foreign teachers with an apartment, either single or shared. These companies take care of the start-up costs associated with the apartments and the teacher just pays the rent. Smaller eikaiwa school companies may require the foreign teacher to pay the apartment up front costs, which may include a security deposit as well as something called key money (a non-refundable deposit seen generally as a gift to the landlord). The big 4 eikaiwa companies sponsor work visas for foreign teachers and usually hire teachers from outside Japan.

ALT work is usually done in Japanese public schools. ALTs team teach with JTEs (Japanese Teachers of English) at the junior and high school levels, but are often solo at elementary schools. At the junior and high school levels, the ALT is sometimes used solely as a “human tape player”, just engaging the students in “listen and repeat” drills. Other times the ALT is asked by the JTE to create and lead exercises to put learned English into practice. Many ALTs spend a lot of time participating in international exchange outside the classroom and are commonly thought of as ambassodors of their respective countries. Salaries for ALTs with the JET programme are a bit higher than those for ALTs with employment agencies like Interac (~￥250,000).

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For all of the big 4 eikaiwa companies, NOVA, GEOS, AEON, and ECC, you can apply online. An internet search with keywords that include the company name, “teaching”, and “Japan” will lead you the homepage of the company you’re looking for. NOVA and AEON can also be found on GaijinPot.com. You may also be required to submit a resume and a short essay about why you want to work in Japan. For ALT jobs with employment agencies, you can find information and company links at GaijinPot.com. For the JET programme, go directly to the JET homepage for information.

Good luck!