No degree, 3 years experience

Hello folks

I'm applying like mad all over Japan, planning on flying out in a month or 2 and hoping to have a job lined up.

I have 3 years extensive experience teaching ESL in Spain. I have been told more than once that I'm an excellent teacher, and my CV is impressive. I'm a very good interviewer. I'm a Native speaker, and I'm highly literate. I'm a pubilshed writer and I'm currently translating a french novel into English on contract with the respected publisher.

Here's the deal: I only have 2.5 years of university in the US, no degree. I have no TESOL/CELTA certificate.

Is it hopeless? I'd like a good job, more than 250,000/month, but I'll take what I can get. What CAN I get? I have some money saved, enough to last me a month or three once I arrive. With a tourist visa getting me in, does anyone think I can find a good job?

Thanks for your time

Your experience sounds very good, though 3 years isn't very much.

However I think you will fall down with the visa. You will be looking for work in what is now highly competitive. It's easier for an potential employer to sponsor someone they know for certainly has a very high chance of being granted a working visa (or already can legally work).

Many of the ALT jobs that I see posted now state they require the applicant to already meet the legal requirements for working. So entry on a tourist visa would not be sufficient.
Is a working holiday visa an option for you?

If ucatt went to university in the US, he/she is probably a US citizen, so not eligible for the working holiday visa.

ucatt, while you are probably eligible for a working visa in the eyes of Immigration, nothing about your resume really puts you above the entry-level people with degrees who you will be competing with for jobs in this flooded market, and a job earning more than 250,000 a month would be pretty unlikely.

Experience teaching in Japan is the main thing employers look for here- experience overseas is not a huge advantage unless you are at the university professor level.

I think it is worth a shot for you although don't get your hopes up too much- time it well so you are here for the major hiring seasons, not a dead time like November for example.

For info on hiring seasons etc have a look at dedicated English teaching sites like eslcafe.com's Japan forum:
http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewforum.php?f=11

Thanks for the responses.

I'm actually have dual nationality, both US and EU (France). Should I go for the WHV through my French Passport?

If you are eligible for the WHV, you certainly could go for that - that at least would make it easier for getting started in Japan - but don't they require you to have lived in the country of your citizenship (meaning France) before applying for the WHV?

Well, I was just looking at the MOFA site and since I'm 34 years old that's not an option.

Neither is getting my BA right now, I'm planning on doing that in Paris in a year or 2 (as well as my Masters). Does anyone think someone in my condition can find a decent job arriving with a Tourist visa? Would it be worth it to take a CELTA course before I go? (Despite having learned from experience most of what they would teach...)

nobody in asia cares about CELTA or other english teaching courses. It's all a big joke here. You could be the most gangster yoyoyo sup bro dude from the hood and you'd still be able to find a job.

That being said your lack of a degree will make things a little harder. You will not be able to find a job in a major city most likely, you will be able to find one much easier a little farther from major cities like Tokyo / Osaka. What you need to do is approach companies who reply to your employment application and ask them if they'd be willing to help you get a specialist in humanities visa based on your 3 years of work experience.

You will need to have heaps of proof that you actually did work those 3 years, and just being an English tutor is not enough, you need paycheck stubs or bank records, tax forms, etc. It's not that difficult to get the visa but finding an employer who will still go along with your 3 years of experience will require some hunting.

I wouldn't bother trying in Tokyo or Osaka because there's a billion other people more qualified than you that will get thrown right to the top of the resume pile because of their degree. You're also at a disadvantage since you seem to have plans to leave after a year so can't sign a long contract.