Teach English in Japan w/o degree, etc?

Hello. I am an ESL tutor in here the US. I am an American citizen, but I have lived most of my life overseas, so working with ESL students is second nature to me.

I want to teach ESL in Japan. So far, I've found I might be too young, and I don't have a degree(yet). Do I REALLY need a bachelor's degree and to be over a certain age? Is there anywhere I can get hired in Japan without these requirements?

Please, forgive my ignorance, I lack knowledge in this matter, which is why I ask.

Thank you. ~Kaley

To be eligible for a work visa (which your employer will sponsor you for), the immigration requirement is either: a bachelor's degree, or several years of work experience in the relevant field. The latter means if you want to teach English, you need to have at least several years (I have heard 3 years fo English teaching) of English teaching experience already. Do you have more experience (full time) than that?

The rest is whether you interview well with the potential employer. But considering how the English teaching industry (English conversation schools at least) are doing badly in Japan currently, and that one such company has just gone out of business recently, the hiring situation might not be easy for newcomers to Japan.

Please search through this forum for other threads of similar nature.

As AK says, this topic comes up here regularly, as well as on other living in Japan/ESL sites, so do plenty of checking.

AK is correct in saying that you need 3 years full time work experience teaching ESL if you do not have a degree. She is also correct about the current state of the ESL industry here, which is not wonderful. Recent reports say that new enrollments to English schools dropped by around 35% just last year, probably due to the recession as well as a general decrease in interest in learning English among Japanese people. Another large school (GEOS) recently went bankrupt.

Combine that with more people than ever wanting to come and teach here because the job market back home is not good now, and you have a very competitive hiring market. Have a look at the Japan branch of Dave's ESL cafe www.eslcafe.com and look through the threads there for lots of info on the current state of the market.

in australia, i always thought that anybody could do a TESOL course, and the qualification for the TESOL would make you eligable for the working visa ?

zuoteng,
If you are Australian, a native speaker of the English language, and under a certain age, you can take a TESOL course (you don't even need to take the course) and qualify for a "working HOLIDAY visa," which is not an option available to the original poster of this thread as he is American.

zuoteng, that is not correct. To qualify for a working visa you need a bachelor's degree or a number of years' experience in the field you will work in, usually 3 years for English teaching.

Whether or not you have a TESOL certification has no relation to these requirements- a TESOL certification by itself is not enough to get a visa if you don't have a degree.

Thank you very much for your replies. They were helpful, and confirmed my findings.

I can't say that I have had teacher/tutor "status" for straight years. It has been on and off. US citizen I am born, I lived in several countries amongst different cultures of every continent. I suppose teaching ESL in Japan will have to be set aside. I picked Japan because I have been learning and researching the language and culture. I'm very culture-based. I will have to pick another country in the meantime. Thank you very much for all of your replies.

To AK..."he" being an American, would be a "she". I'm female. Thank you, though.