It's nearly the end of first semester, and hiring season will start soon!
Today our topic is the hiring season for the academic year in Japan. If you have ever worked in a Japanese school I am sure you are familiar with the panic that comes around the middle of January/February if your school or company have yet to mention about your position from April.
Generally, schools usually notify their part time Japanese teachers if they will be able to continue teaching at the school or not around December. This can be slightly earlier or later depending on the school schedule.
If you are employed through a dispatch company, they will likely have a meeting with the school around December as well to discuss your situation and their desires for the next school year.
Depending on your company, you will be asked before December (via questionnaire of some sort in a lot of cases) if you are keen on staying another year at the school or not, after which you will be informed if the school would like to keep you for another year... or not.
I have heard that a lot of dispatch companies who, despite the wishes of the school and teacher, move their employees to another school, or even another area just because of the staffing and contract situation of that particular year.
Providing both sides are happy, our dispatch teachers here at EduCareer / Global Partners are not moved out of a school unless they ask to be, which we believe gives peace of mind and stability for the school and teacher.
On top of that, contracts with private schools tend to be more stable than those with the Boards of Education which constantly seem to be cutting their budget on teachers, which leads to a downward spiral of lower wages, and often lower quality teachers.
The hiring season for most private schools in Japan can start as early as October, but the peak is generally in early January. While I am not an expert on the public sector, I’ve heard that teacher selection can run up until the last minute, right up until the end of March.
We would generally advise teachers to start looking and registering with dispatch companies (if that is the route they would like to take) as early as possible, sometime mid to late autumn is probably the best time.
We believe that it’s never too late to be considered for teaching positions. The first step is getting yourself known to the dispatch companies. Simply register with us or send in your cover letter and resume for screening. If screening is successful, the next step would be an interview/consultation to discuss your background and preferences.
Whether it’s in person or online, we look forward to connecting with you!