Hi, I don't know if a topic about this has been made before, but anyways I will go ahead with this.

I am 23 years old, with a college diploma in Computer Tech and I am going to be taking the TESOL course in the next few months to get my certificate in teaching overseas. What I wanted to know is if anyone had some information that they would be willing to share with me about this.  My main concerns that come to mind is 1. I don't have a university degree 2. Do I need one to teach there 3. Even though I don't have one could I still get a job, but would it affect the placement I get for example. I get a job, but because I don't have a uni degree I wouldn't be able to get say one in Tokyo, but rather get one in like a farming town.  I have done some research on this and checked testimonials from the TESOL site and have even done some checking up on the Japan embassy site about qualifications. Though I would like to hear from some people who have actually done this and can share some information that would be helpful and maybe say what qualifications you had when going over to teach English. ie. jus a uni degree, uni degree and esl certificate(places like TESOl) etc.

Any information would be very helpful and much appreciated. Thank you

It really all depends what kind of teaching you are looking to do. Probably the most well know would be the JET program, I'm sure you've heard of that and there are plenty of other places to ask people about it, but the main problem with it is the the application takes time, almost 1 year after you turn in the application until you actually begin teaching.This job, once you start will be in a classroom working with kids anywhere from grade school to high school, and really isn't all that demanding, all you really have to do is be an English parrot and say the lines so the the kids can hear how it's supposed to be pronounce, at least in some cases. There are also a number of other private companies that line up these kind of jobs, but JET pays the best, from what I've seen. All JET "requires" is the you have bachelors degree and be a native English speaker, you may need a bit more for that to win one of the acceptances spot however.

On the other side of the coin are the companies that do private tutoring, such as ECC, Gaba, and NOVA. (Yes, I know the went bankrupt but they were bought out and are running again, I believe.) My Sister worked for NOVA a couple years back and said it was kind of like a small class room environment and could be anywhere from small kids to adults, but not usually in the same class. I can't say what exactly was required for her to get accepted I think it was just a Bachelors and being a native speaker. As for me This spring and early summer I worked for Gaba and had a decent experience with it. The situation there is one to one with a client for 40 minute sessions. the pay was good but the atmosphere was very competitive. you see how much you get paid depends on how many lessons you teach and thus instructors are always trying their hardest to encourage clients to book only them and fiercely hold on to their regulars. Pay scale is based on how much training you go through, after initial most training is optional, but also on client ratings. If you don't get,and keep a certain percentage rating they can drop your pay rate. Now it's not hard to keep a decent rating for the lower levels, quite the opposite so long as you don't screw up in every lesson, but at the higher levels they only let a set number of people in so the rating is variable from month to month and very cut throat. If you don't mind that it's a very fun place to work and outside of the workplace everyone is cool. As for Qualifications they do an initial interview, take a resume and give you little test to make sure you really can speak English. After that you'll be called in for a second interview to make sure you have a decent dose of common sense and won't beat or throw poo at the clients then tell you when to come in and sign the contract and for initial certification. Beyond having a strong grasp of the English language and being able to write legibly I don't recall any requirements.

The first thing you might want to think about is attaining a work visa. The Japanese government has been cracking down on people trying to switch their visitor visas to work visas of late because of a large number of people coming from other countries (mainly China from the stories) that has come seeking work and over staying their 3 month visitor to find work and then trying to get the work visa after they find a job. Whatever you plan to go with I wish you luck Japan is a nice place to live and work, you even get used to the stares after a while. 😀

[img]http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj56/Spanky858/Avis/1226195917014-1.jpg[/img]

I'm actually in my 4th (and last) year at university, and I'm applying to the JET program. I've been doing a light amount of research and just like the OP, I too have a mountain of questions I wish to ask (specifically aimed at people who have done or are currently doing JET, so if you're either, give me a PM I'd appreciate it). With JET, you DO need a degree for sure, and one of my main concerns is whether I'll be able to get a spot with zero teaching experience (and zero teaching qualifications). I also checked out sites like TEFL.com, and from checking out the job postings, they also want you to have a university degree. So from what i can tell, having a undergrad degree is very very important in finding a job. 😳

Can't write a big reply right now but I saw this topic and though you might like to skim

http://www.gaijinsmash.net/archives/my_kids_are_perverted.phtml
( http://www.gaijinsmash.net/ )

Your best bet is to try and start out with a program like the JET program. I haven't gone over to Japan to teach myself, but I do know two people who have in different programs (one JET), and I also have studied over there for two summers. A lot of the teachers that were teaching English at the university I attended (Josai Kokusai Daigaku) had either connections to a sister school of the university, or they had been over in Japan teaching English in a program and were able to get hired because they showed their capabilities in such. Though English is in big demand over there, there is an overabundance of teachers for it already, so they have to be more strict with things like qualifications. It doesn't hurt to also have some knowledge of Japanese, too. Of course, that's not necessary, but if you at least know the culture and some basic phrases, it will make you a better candidate as well as it easier for you to actually live there.

I also know that no teaching experience is technically required for programs like JET. My friend who went through JET was an English teaching major, but my other friend (blanking on the name of the program right now) was a law major with a minor in Japanese! He took a couple years off to teach English in Japan and study Japanese for himself, but now he went back to taking that big ol' test ya gotta to be a lawyer. Though teaching experience is a plus, it's not a necessity. Your best bet is though to either get the teaching experience, or, at the very least, pick up some Japanese language and culture.

~Sanzaki Kojika
(Project Kurai Ryu) - (Kojika's DA Page)