Dec 1, 2021
How to get a direct-hire ALT Position
Omiya Technical High School, photo credit Abasaa
Why do it?
As a JET Program Assistant Language Teacher for a year, I had a stimulating and challenging experience. It was my first time living and working in Japan with the support of a board of education and community members who introduced me to local culture. I got to participate in classrooms and school events and gained an understanding of the language and the school culture along the way. I was never bored as there was so much to learn and explore.
Some municipal boards of education have opted out of the JET Program and eschew recruitment companies. There are opportunities throughout Japan to secure a position as an ALT. If you missed the JET Program opportunity and are already here, direct hire jobs are a close second.
You may have soldiered on for a few years as an eikaiwa employee or a dispatch ALT at a low salary. Landing a direct-hire ALT position may boost your earnings. The range for municipal school board ALT positions ranges widely but you may find some that offer monthly salaries of ￥300,000 or more. You’ll also be guaranteed that your employer honors laws and that you’re included in social welfare correctly.
Where are the jobs?
It’s not that hard to find contacts for municipal school boards that hire ALTs directly. It just takes a little effort, some Japanese language savvy, and knowledge about school board hiring practices.
The first thing to do is find out if your local municipal school board recruits. When you search for these openings, you need to know the job title. the Assistant Language Teacher position may be described as 外国語指導助手 gaikokugo shido joshu, foreign language guidance assistant, or possibly 英語指導助手 eigo shido joshu, English language guidance assistant.
Many municipal boards of education have a landing page or pdf file in either English or Japanese (sometimes both) that indicates the fiscal year. To find these pages for the coming fiscal/school year, start your search with the regnal year 令和４年, the fourth year of Reiwa. Another key term that will help you in your search is 募集 boshuu, taking applications.
Hiring Time
Many of these positions open up for applications in November and December each year. The typical application requires submission of proof of your residence status, a CV, copies of your university diploma, TESOL certificate or diploma, and perhaps an essay. Interviews are scheduled for January and February. Many of the boards of education prefer candidates that have good communication ability in Japanese, so be sure to indicate your JLPT achievement in your application.
Some Caveats
Depending on the employment rules, some boards of education may only offer one-year contracts. Previous hires may have to compete each year, so you have to compete with candidates who already have experience. But don't turn your nose up at these jobs as they provide a good opportunity to gain Japanese language and English teaching skills. It can also provide a stable year or two to do professional development to further your career in education or another field.
2 Comments
Nuon
on Apr 12
Hi there, I have been working as a direct hire ALT for 2 years, this will be my 3rd. Can confirm much of what you say. After my first interview I had here, I actually recieved a rejection letter, but a month or so later I received a phone call offering me a job. Apparently one of their previous ALTs had to leave Japan suddenly, so they were one ALT short. They usually rehire the same ALTs each year, so the yearly contracts seem a little pointless. Maybe it allows them a larger yearly budget? Last year there were no new ALTs in my city (we have over 40 ALTs here), and this year two left, and the places were filled with new faces. The pay is very good compared to many of the eikaiwa, or hiring agencies pay, however, because you are a contract hire, you get paid per hour, so there's no pay during the summer/winter/spring breaks. We get paid holidays too. The number of paid holidays depends on if you work full or part-time, and also how many years you have been rehired. In my first year they introduced bonuses, which are given at two intervals in the year (apparently the wage decreased slightly though). Workloads will depend on whether you are an elementary or junior high school ALT, and also on the JTE. At my school, the JTEs often have the lessons planned out, and so only really require the ALT to make the class a little entertaining, help the students, recite to the class, and make corrections to grammar and pronounciation. We are effectively working the title of our job, an assistant. We also make supplimentary materials for the grammar and vocabulary being taught, and prepare activities and games to warm up the classes. I do know of some JTEs that ask a lot more of the ALT though. At my school, we also have a few classes each week which we teach ourselves. This is up to the ALT, but you'll most likely find yourself making activities, games, worksheets and presentations. Elementary ALTs seem to have a lot more to do, as they have to prepare a lot of materials, and plan out the year so to cover all of the requirements set by the BOE. I have heard many horror stories teaching English in Japan, and so I was very nervous when I was hired, but I've found that I really enjoy it! I think that the bad experiences are largely from eikaiwa, and agency hires. We had a contract JTE in my first year responsible for one class who was hopeless, and basically taught 10 minutes of grammar, and then turned to me and said "games", and expected me to play English games for remaining 40 minutes. This was brought up with the BOE, and his classes were reviewed. From then on, he instead just tried to draw the classes out by spending 35 minutes writing grammar on the board, and the other 15 getting me to recite from the textbook. Suffice to say, the kids had a lot of catching up to do the following year! The job posting was in the local newspaper in December of that year, but it was in Japanese. I had someone point it out to me, luckily. I speak very little Japanese.
TonetoEdo
on Apr 12
@Nuon Thanks for you sharing your experience! The conditions of ALT jobs depend on the types of contracts and employment categories that boards of education use to hire you. It sounds like your situation is rinji shokuin. Perhaps in another post, I'll go into depth about the types of contracts and how they affect your salary and the contract terms. That situation with the JTE sounds rough. From what I see, not many ALTs are able to identify struggling JTEs, but you did. Good on you. And I hope the BoE found solutions to remediate the issue. Best of luck in this new school year, and Japanese fluency. It comes with time and effort. I passed JLPT N2 but have a long way to go until I am fully conversant and literate in Japanese.