| Despite current economic problems in Asia, the job market for English teachers in
Japan and Korea is still good. The following job search sites on the World Wide Web may help you find available positions: General
Sites
ESL Job Offered Board (www.pacificnet.net/~sperling/wwwboard4/wwwboard.html),
part of Dave’s ESL Café, is the premier ELT job search source on the web and contains hundreds of postings for jobs in several countries.
Employment Resources for Language Teachers (www.tcom.ohiou.edu/OU_Language/teacher/job.html)
contains a wide range of employment search sites for teachers of various languages. A special feature is a series of pre-structured job searches
using Hotbot (web sites) and DejaNews (newsgroups).
TEFL Professional Network (http://tefl.com/jobs/index.htm)
offers a free weekly listing of around 100 job vacancies and a more comprehensive weekly subscription service, "The ELT Job Source."
The Digital Education Network’s ELT Job Centre (www.jobs.edunet.com)
has job vacancies organized by country, by date posted, and by summary detail.
Agora Language Marketplace-Employ- ment Listings (http://agoralang.com/agora/employment.html)
lists positions from a number of language-oriented web pages and links to other important job search sites.
Jon’s ESL Teaching English as a Second Language Page (http://seamonkey.ed.asu.edu/~jonb)
is a great informational site with links to ESL/EFL job postings in Japan, Korea, and elsewhere in Asia.
The Chronicle of Higher Education: Career Network (http://chronicle.com/jobs)
generally advertises positions only for those with top-level qualifications. Occasional ads from Japanese and Korean universities.
The Linguist List (http://linguist.emich.edu/jobsindex.html)
lists jobs in linguistics and ESL (mostly for experienced teachers).
Japan
O-Hayo Sensei (www.ohayosensei.com),
easily the most comprehensive source of current ELT openings (at both universities and language schools) in Japan; publishes a semi-monthly e-mail
newsletter with available positions.
Japan Job Connections (www.avis.ne.jp/~wil_lisa/index2.html)
provides job listings and information on living and working in Japan.
The Jet Program (www.embjapan.org) has details
on openings for the1,000 teachers (mostly young, recent university graduates) who are hired annually for secondary school positions.
ESL Cafe’s Web Guide for Japan (www.eslcafe.com/search/Jobs/Asia/Japan)
provides links to language school job recruiters.
Korea
The Korean Job Board (www.eslcafe.com/jobs/korea),
a recent offshoot of the ESL Cafe’s ESL Jobs: Offered page, lists numerous current openings in Korea, mostly for language schools.
All Information for Faculty/Researcher Positions (http://dblab.changwon.ac.kr/prof)
contains a wealth of university and junior college recruitment ads (including many for English teaching positions) scanned from various Korean newspapers
(in Korean).
Teach Korea: Resources for Teachers (www.angelfire.com/biz/teachkorea)
contains job openings and links to Korea-related web sites.
ESL Cafe’s Web Guide for Korea (www.eslcafe.com/search/Jobs/Asia/Korea)
has links to job recruiters and news sources and carries first-hand accounts from teachers in the field.
Warnings
Go to the following sites to see what teachers have said about potential employers before you
sign a contract.
The Greenlist of Japanese Universities (www.voicenet.co.jp/~davald/greenlist.html).
Discussions of universities which "have a progressive attitude toward hiring non-Japanese."
The Blacklist of Japanese Universities (www.voicenet.co.jp/~davald/blacklist.html).
Discussions of institutions which maintain "unfair and discriminatory practices toward their educators/staff" (in general, where foreign
faculty are placed on limited-term contracts unlike their Japanese colleagues).
The Korean White List (www.intercom.co.kr/~whitelist).
Language schools in Korea recommended by current or former teachers.
The Blacklist (http://seamonkey.ed.asu.edu/~jonb/blacklisted.html).
Reports of bad experiences with Korean language schools and universities.
The Grey List (www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Garden/2600/grey.html).
Recommendations and warnings about language schools in several countries: "The Good," "The Bad," and "The Ugly."
FAQs
Look at these web sites to learn more about living and teaching in Japan and Korea.
Rob’s Japan FAQ: Know Before You Go (http://thejapanfaq.cjb.net).
Teaching English in Japan: A Guide to Getting a Job (www.wizweb.com/~susan/mainpage.html).
Teaching English in Korea (www.u-net.com/eflweb/korea0.htm).
NEVITT REAGAN has taught EFL at a Japanese university for the past 10 years. He has also taught
at Korean and U.S. universities. He lives in Osaka, Japan. |
