Hi all. I've been considering going to Japan for a while and I decided to make the leap. I'm aiming to find an ALT job and after reading subreddits ( r/teachinginjapan and r/japanlife ) and looking online, here's what I devised :
First, I'm a 41yo moroccan citiizen living in France and who's fluent in english and french. I have experience in teaching IT topics (3D and game development) and kids (guitar lessons). I've been to Japan 3 times before for a total of 6 months. I'm aiming for ALT jobs in mid-sized cities, ideally in the Kyushu region but I'm open to anything. My goal is to try life there and learn japanese to blend as much as I can.
What I considered doing is :
- get a TEFL certification
- study japanese for N5
- make a resume focused on teaching in english and japanese
- contact ALT dispatch like Interac, RCS, Altia and Heart Corp
- try to find direct job openings
So my questions are :
- do I need a TEFL and N5 japanese ? I read that it's not mandatory but since I'm not a native speaker I want to maximize my chances
- is it better to go through dispatch companies like Interac ? What's your advice for that ?
- what would be the expected duration to find a job ? I know it's hard to quantify but I want to make plans accordingly if it usually takes 3, 6 or 12 months
Thank you.
by rezgi