First hit I got on Google was Teaching English Abroad. It's an extremely comprehensive site, categorizing by country/region/continent, allowing you to pick which region you are interested in teaching in. Each section includes several essays from people who have taught there and links to the largest ESL companies in that country. Most of the essays I read gave both the good and bad points of their teaching experiences. TEA was the primary source that helped me make this decision. However, keep in mind that most of the articles are a few years old and may be outdated (especially those concerning China), but I found they still give you the gist of life as an ESL teacher.
The forums at Dave's ESL Cafe is another good place to hear feedback. Be wary, though. I've found that a lot of the users there tend to be jaded and unrealistic. For example, they keep going on and on about it being impossible to find a job in Japan and that ESL work in South Korea is now in the same straights. It took me three months of applying but I still landed a job here and they are always looking for English teachers (not just at my company but everywhere in this country.) I may not have had job offers within the first week of job hunting but you can still get work. As for South Korea, I can assure you that that's not the case as all.
So You Want to be an ESL Teacher
Great! Now, where exactly do you apply?
I was specifically concentrating on Japan when I was job hunting, so most of the places on this post are Japanese based. However, in the future, I may make another post about ESL work in South Korea.
In Japan, there are two types of jobs you can get: an Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) or an eikaiwa teacher (English language school teacher). When applying in Japan, you should probably decide which you would prefer. I just applied for both but I was better off applying for eikawa jobs. There are pros and cons to each one.
ALTs work at schools in real classrooms, teaching with Japanese teachers. You work normal hours (about 8 am - 4 pm) and get weekends off. It's far more professional than being an eikawa teacher. However, most people I know who were ALTs said that the job is pretty boring. You're essentially a human tape recorder. The Japanese teacher does most of the teaching (at least, in JET). One negative I noticed a lot with ALT positions is that you're usually stuck in the middle of nowhere. If you want to live in Tokyo or Osaka, you'll find ALT work... impossible to find. And because you're the designated English teacher at that school, you'll find that you're the only native English speaker around. It can be very lonely.
Eikawa teachers don't work in Japanese school classrooms. The company has their own classrooms where you work out of, usually by yourself. Some eikawas have you live near your classrooms while other have you go to several classrooms around a certain area (much like mine.) Hours vary per eikawa. I know some schools operate from 12 pm - 9 pm, usually to accommodate adult and younger students. I'm an eikawa teacher, but I usually work from 5 pm - 8:30 pm (sometimes I have an extra class that runs until 9:45 pm.) Even then, that depends. I sometimes have classes that start at 3:45 pm and if I work Saturdays, they're usually earlier in the day. Even then, I get to the classroom early (about 2 - 3 hours) to prep for my classes. You usually don't get paid as much as ALTs and with some companies (like mine), you have to travel a lot. While you get to sleep in, it's a bit of a drag getting in around 10:30 pm - 11 pm at night.
My best advice is to keep your options open! Here are some good places to start off with.
The Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme, or JET, is the most heavily sought out ALT job. It's no surprise: they pay the best (I hear about 300,000 yen or about US $3,900), they give you the most vacation, and most importantly, they pay for you to fly over. With Japan, that never happens anymore. It's an extremely competitive program so don't be disappointed if you don't make the cut! Applying is heavy duty: your application package is at least 12 pages of various documents including a personal essay, college transcripts and a massive online application form.
With JET, do not expect to be placed in a big city. The idea of JET is to bring native speakers to the more rural areas of Japan. However, it's common to be placed in suburbs of cities. I've known JETs that are in a prefecture right next to Tokyo so it works out. If you're lucky enough to be accepted to JET, keep in mind that once they place you somewhere, that's it. You either accept it or turn down JET altogether. This is extremely important to keep in mind especially after the disaster in March. A friend of mine knew someone who was accepted into JET and they tried to place her in Fukushima. It would be one thing if they asked her if she minded being placed there. For obvious reasons, she didn't and subsequently turned down the job even though it was JET.
If you're like many others and don't get into JET, Interac is a good alternative though not the best. Like JET, it recruits ALTs but isn't as selective about it's process. It's a mixed bag with this company. I've heard people have decent experiences to completely horrible ones. I've also heard that they pay less than what some eikawa teachers make; again, that's some instances. However, they will take more into consideration where you want to be placed than JET.
As far as eikawas go, ECC is the top English company in Japan. When in Japan, you can't miss their ads. You teach both kids and adult students. Their hiring preferences vary. I've heard of extremely qualified and complete newbies getting hired. Unlike other companies, you have to apply on their time. As in, they go through periods when they hire and when they don't. I've heard they're on a hiring freeze at this time (after years of saying they would be while hiring new teachers.)
Second biggest eikawa in Japan is Aeon. Their pay is actually pretty high; I've heard they pay 280,000 yen/month (Aeon teachers, correct me if I'm wrong.) Aeon conducts group interview sessions in a certain city per month (when I applied, it was Chicago.) Again, they teach both kids and adults. However, other people have told me that Aeon teachers do a lot of things that other eikawa teachers wouldn't have to. One friend told me that Aeon teachers were passing out flyers at the train station. Not exactly what you sign up to do in Japan.
iTTTi Japan (specifically the Peppy Kids Club division) is the third biggest and my own employer. They actively recruit and go on a rolling hiring basis. They're more than willing to hire people with little to no working experience and train them themselves (it's about a two week training session that others call "boot camp;" I don't disagree.) They have a specific curriculum that they want the teachers to teach, which can be frustrating to people who were normal teachers before PKC. Peppy is different from the other companies in the sense that they don't cater to adult students. So, for it to be number three in Japan teaching only kids is not too shabby if I say so myself. They really take into consideration where you want to be placed (again, no classrooms in Tokyo but people have been placed in Saitama which is only a 45 minute train ride.) The big thing about PKC is don't be late; parents trust you to be there for their kids. Again, first hand experience I had to learn the hard way.
If the big companies don't appeal to you, try Dave's ESL Cafe. Japanese jobs are listed in the International Job Board. A lot of smaller schools post there and the site gives you the opportunity to post your own resume there. I've heard of people getting hired at really good schools because officials from the schools have checked the forums and contacted them. However, there's a lot of machines reposting the same job offers and plenty of "too good to be true"s, especially in the Korean Job Board, but I will cover that later.
Legitimate schools in Japan usually pay around 250,000 yen per month and will sponsor your visa. GABA is infamous for getting teachers to come here on tourist visas and have them work this way. I advise you to stay away from them. A lot of places will insist on "hiring within Japan," but a friend has told me that if you tell them that you plan on moving to Japan, they accept that, too.
Westgate is a legitimate, good company. It gives you the chance to be a real teacher and teach at colleges/universities. Unfortunately, their contracts are short term (as in three months) and they will only hire people with at least a year of teaching experience.
I want to warn you right now to stay away from RCS. I have only heard bad things about this company. They underpay you (as in, pay you 190,000 yen/month) and it's a nightmare dealing with them. Troll around the ESL forums and you will find plenty of horror stories.
Documents You'll Need
If you get lucky enough to get hired, these are the essential documents you'll need:
- Passport - honestly have this before you even apply.
- Three letters of recommendation - some companies ask only for two, but it's not bad to have three already prepared. It makes things smoother.
- Cover letter - this one isn't really required, but if you're a complete newbie like I was, then most companies will ask that you have this.
- Travel insurance - Unfortunately, it's necessary. Didn't get mine until the day before I left. I really, really don't recommend going about it like that.
- Criminal background check - make sure to find out which one the company wants! A South Korean recruiting company told me to get my FBI one while PKC asked only for a state background check. One can be more expensive than the other, but just asking saves a series of headaches.
That's all I can remember from my own experiences. I'll come back and edit this post if I feel like there's anything I should be adding.
