I posted here a few times in the past couple of years as an American high school teacher longing to work in Japan again after six months with Westgate over the course of 2019. A lot of people were cynical and discouraged getting back into EFL in Japan, but finally I got a job offer in November of last year from a tiny cram school operation that's basically just one woman and the part-time help she recruits plus me as the native speaker teacher. My job is really good in some ways, even if my boss can be a bit antsy. She's also very kind.
If and when I leave this job, if living in rural/suburban Japan appeals to you, I would be willing to have a few conversations with anyone interested to drop her a recommendation, since I know that my leaving will freak her the eff out.
I've only been here a few months, and I will say that I feel I made the right decision. It's given me some time to breathe, think a little bit more, and get in slightly better shape. But, being in my 30s, I have this instinct to constantly keep looking for the right place for me to just be.
This includes looking for the Golden Goose Egg sort of opportunity back in my hometown in the US, which I don't really see happening, but if the election goes not-horrifically, I might be willing to consider it. It also, however, has started to include a desire to be in Tokyo. Weirdly, when I was here in 2019 and 28, I was completely content with living in Fujisawa, which is also suburban. But living where I do in Tochigi now, it takes two and a half hours from here and 2800 yen to go one way in or out of Tokyo. I feel like I've matured and gotten in better shape over the past five years, so the things that made me not want to stay in Tokyo have diminished. On the other hand, I've also developed some health concerns that, while I'm getting them treated, are a pain in the butt to deal with outside of a major population center like Tokyo or maybe Yokohama.
Therefore, I am looking to maybe change jobs about this time next year. Since I hold a teaching license, I will be looking for (real) international school gigs now that I'm here in the flesh, but I was also wondering if anyone had any familiarity with this company:
株式会社 – J-style
They have some appealing sounding ads on gaijinpot, and googling the kanji and such has shown me that they have a very high customer rating. I can't find anything like glassdoor, though. In a way, I think that's a good sign, because no one has needed to complain excessively, but it's just hard to find a perspective.
My main desire here is to find something that's appropriate for my "experienced – non-manager" type career level that's a bit more centrally located in the future. I am learning Japanese very, very slowly, but I would be applying to jobs that primarily need my English skills. I do plan to… eventually… get to N3 though. No need to scold me that I need to. I know. I'm just a slug in the summer.
by Prixmium