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If you wanted to go to Japan and look for a job its generally recommended to have $5000 in savings. The cost of living in Japan is high compared to other Asian countries.
Visas in China can be expensive (like $120 or so) if you are an American. So if you want to enter on a tourist (L) visa and look for a job you are going to have to pay for a couple of visas until you get a Z visa (legal teaching visa).
If you want to teach where everyone else wants to teach then it will be harder.
These preferences are common in East Asia.
Its easier now to get a job in Taiwan largely because the visa rules have changed. Now US citizens can get 3 free months just by showing up.
They are discriminatory, but thats the way it is. I think employers have these sorts of preferences even where I grew up (the USA), but the difference is that in the US these preferences – which are discriminatory are never openly advertised like they can be in Asia.
I can only speak from experience so I will be focusing more on teaching in East Asia: China, Korea, Japan and Taiwan.
Now if you have the basic requirements then you can get a job somewhere because some schools hire teachers without experience.
The requirements can vary from province to province and city to city. The largest cities like Shanghai, Beijing, etc. will be the strictest and most competitive.
If you have no experience or related qualifications then its going to be awfully hard trying to get a job teaching in a more prestigious school.
There is also the JET program that hires from abroad, however the process for applying and getting in takes almost a year.
If you want togo to these placesand look for a job – which is how I always did it then you will have to do avisa runafter you find a job to change your tourist visa to a work visa.
What kind of teachers do schools in Asia REALLY want?
The more experience and better qualifications you have the easier finding a job will be, but there are always jobs for those without experience.
Id say its not that hard, but it depends on you and where you want to teach. If you want to teach in Seoul in a public school then its going to be harder because a lot of people also want to do that.
For example, if you want to teach in Seoul, Korea well guess what? So does everyone else. And that makes finding a job in Seoul, Korea harder.
Most people only teach abroad for a year or so which means that there is a lot of turnover especially with entry level jobs.
For starters lets focus on the basics…
The same can be said for big cities around Asia like Shanghai, Taipei, Seoul and Tokyo. There are more jobs in these places, but there is also more competition too.
If you are picky then it will be harder.
If you are not young, caucasian or one of those other preferences mentioned above then it might be harder.
The bottomline is that it largely depends on you. It also depends onwhere you want to teachand that includes the country, city, and school.
Although the requirements may be stricter than they used to be I think its still the easiest place to get a job in East Asia.
You can get a job from outside the country that includes paid flights. That makes getting set up in Korea pretty easy compared to getting a job in other countries.
Most teachers get jobs in Taiwan by going there to look. Many schools wont even consider you if you are not in Taiwan. Some will, but they are fewer in number.
Its generally easier to get a job in ahagwon compared to EPIKand thats because there are more positions in hagwons.
Now other than that some schools may preferexperience,TEFL certification, related degrees, teaching licenses, masters degrees, etc.
If you dont have experience then its going to be harder (but everyone started somewhere).
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If you are flexible and dont care too much about the kind of school that you work at then it will be easier.
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The law of scarcity is at play here. The fewer the positions there are the harder it is to get in.
I think this is the harder place to do it in East Asia because there is more competition and fewer jobs compared to China or Korea. Many schools will prefer teachers already in Japan who have visas too.
Generally Id say in East Asia theeasiest countriesto get a job teaching in are in this order:
Therequirementsto teach in Asia are that you need a 4 year degree and to be a native speaker to get a legal working visa most of the time.
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Its easier to get into a buxiban compared to a public school or university where you will need to be a licensed teacher or have a msters degree.
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In this post Ill cover a few factors that can determine how hard getting a job teaching abroad actually is.
How to get a good job teaching abroad
Its easier to get a job in a place where there is less competition. So if you are flexible with your location then it will be easier.
If you dont have the basic qualifications to teach abroad then its going to be harder.
If you are not flexible with your location and school then its going to be harder to get a job.
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But getting a job inKorea requires a bit of paperworkwhich can take a few months to complete. You should do that before you apply for jobs otherwise schools orrecruiterswont take you seriously.
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If you are not that picky and you are flexible with your location then you can get a job pretty easily.
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Your personality comes into play here. Getting a job teaching abroad isnt that different from getting a job in your home country. You may think the above preferences are racist or discriminatory and they are, but everybody has preferences.
Schools have different preferences for teachers. If you are not young, pretty, handsome, caucasian or not from Canada or the USA it doesnt mean you cant get a job it just means that at some schools it will be more difficult.
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If that is not you then you can try to get a job from outside of Japan. Some of thebigger companies(AEON, Interac, ECC, etc.) do some hiring from abroad and these positions are theeasiest to get into in Japan.
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But again, it all depends on you, your situation, school, etc. And remember that its not always best to just take what you can get too. Sometimes it helps to be more discerning.
Well, then its going to be easier for you. Someemployers have preferencesfor various types like:
If you have a likeable personality then its going to be easier. If you are really picky (like me^^) then its going to be harder.
How hard is it to get a job teaching English abroad? Well, it depends on you and where you want to teach.