Currently on my first year of JET and fully aware that JET is pretty much as good as it is going to get for teaching English here at the primary/secondary level. I know that all the other companies pretty much sucks (and I know pretty much everyone else agrees with me). The main reason I became interested in Japan is that I'm half-Japanese and spent a lot of my summer's here growing up. I graduated from a top college (yes, I realize that sounds douchey) back home so with networking should be able to eventually land a semi-decent job back in the US.
BUUUT, I'm wondering how many people end up teaching English in Japan as a career (get married, have kids etc).
What can the pay for a direct hire top out at after 10/15 years? 4.5mil?
I've read other threads saying that it's pretty much stupid to be a career English teacher and I kind of feel the same way except for a couple of facts.
I feel like I would be perfectly content teaching in the Inaka, small town (I enjoy the community feeling), maybe be like some of the other Japanese ALTs in my town who farm rice on the side and are essentially the same as a JET job.
How would I be able to farm rice you ask? Well, hopefully the person I marry would have parents who grow rice etc. There seems to be a much better chance of this in the Inaka.
I realize that most of the kyoinjyutakus are too small for raising a family (although the family down the hall with two children is somehow doing it where I live), but there's always the chance of inheriting the in-laws house right? Yes, I realize this would be a best-case scenario...
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Thread: JET4lyfyo
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2012-06-20, 02:49 PM #1Junior Member
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JET4lyfyo
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2012-06-20, 03:49 PM #2
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Averages
Not that high. Maybe 4mil tops, 3.7 is more like it. What you gain in pay, you usually loose with hours. The only way you would make that kind of money in ESL is if you opened your own school, or hustled 24/7. Pay doesn't scale much with years of experience except for tenure positions (either secondary or university), so someone with 10 years experience working an eikaiwa isn't getting any more then someone new. It averages about the same, the only real way to earn more money is work more hours.
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2012-06-20, 04:51 PM #3Junior Member
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Thanks for the response! I appreciate it, I realize eikaiwa work sucks, and I wouldn't be interested in pursuing it, but for the rural/semi-inaka you really don't think it would be possible to make more than 4mil as a long time ALT (talking 20-25 years) who is really part of the community? Married to a local, kids in the school system, etc.
Originally Posted by vallient
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2012-06-20, 04:54 PM #4
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No
No, I don't.
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2012-06-20, 09:25 PM #5Junior Member
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Originally Posted by vallient
Damn, anyone else have some opinions? I'm thinking they're not going to be what I'm looking for...
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2012-06-20, 09:56 PM #6
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And I think you`ll be right. Originally Posted by DougieFresh
THEY DON'T WANT ALL YOU GAIJIN HERE ANYMORE!!!
-Anycaduser
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2012-06-21, 08:25 AM #7Junior Member
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Originally Posted by Ken44
Anyone with direct hire experience in the inaka/semi-inaka who can speak to the salary levels? Also, I feel like out there where the cost of living is so low, it might be possible to get by on that, your wife having a part-time conbini type job, rice farming, and inheriting a house...
Thoughts? Once again, I realize this would be the best possible situation...
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2012-06-21, 01:55 PM #8
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No
Salary and budgeting are two different things. The latter is all about you, and your lifestyle.
If there are people in Tokyo, living on 3 mil a year based on the Tokyo economy and cost of living, what makes you think that with the "much lower cost of living" in a rural region you'd be able to earn 4.5 mil from that lower income community?
We can tell you anything you want to hear, if you want to hear you can make 8 mil teaching ESL to mermaids and singing lobsters under the sea, just let us know.
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