me teach english real gud

[flonnebonne]

Okay, so my friend's brother has a plan to go to Tokyo and work there for a year...but the thing is, he hasn't set up a place to stay or a job. And he's already bought his plane ticket. The guy doesn't know any Japanese and has never lived outside his parent's house. He thinks it's going to be easy to just walk into a foreign country and get a job

Comments

[caithion]

I'm afraid I don't have anything terribly helpful, except a warning. I've been told it's extremely difficult to get a job with the usual "easy" eikaiwa companies when you're already in the country (many require you to be living abroad for the interview stage). Particularly because of visa issues, if you enter on a tourist visa. I had a friend lose her job last fall, and she spent nearly a month unemployed living with a friend (since she lost her housing along with her job) trying to get another one. Most recommended that she return to the US so that they could simply get her issued a work visa and straighten things out that way, and eventually that's what she ended up doing. Since he doesn't speak Japanese, that limits a lot of the other choices, doesn't it? Although there are always those types who can fall into any country and land on their feet through shear force of personality.... I wish him luck, in any case

[flonnebonne]

Ack. Sounds like a pretty bad situation. Your poor friend! And I forgot about the whole NOVA going nova thing. I'll be sure to pass the warning on to my friend's brother. Thank you!

edited for coherence

[aiwritingfic]

Now is a bad time for him. There are still many desperate NOVA teachers in Japan, who will accept very low pay just to get a job until they can get a better position when regulars from other companies decide to quit. Added that to his not having a work visa (when many ex-NOVA peeps have visas still okay for the next 6-9 months) and your friend is definitely at a disadvantage.

Finally, I presume he is American--working on a tourist visa can get you deported as the Tokyo authorities are currently in the midst of a "no illegal workers" campaign. This is really a bad time for your friend's brother to decide to just try his luck!

As he cannot speak any Japanese, I can't even begin to suggest anything besides teaching English. You can't just waltz into someone else's country and expect a job! If he actually manages to land one, it'll be pure dumb luck.

Re: edited for coherence

[flonnebonne]

This is sounding worse and worse for the guy! I'm going to tell him he basically won't be able to get a job (well, a legal one) unless he gets one before leaving the country. *sigh* What a dweeb.

Thanks for the advice!

[harumi]

Your friend's brother sounds like an idiot, sorry to say. Now is definitely a bad time to go to Japan to "try his luck". And honestly, if I were you I'd tell him to get a job in his respective country first for experience and for understanding exactly what reality entails, since in Japan, he won't be able to run back to Mama the first night he goes hungry because he can't find a job.

Partially because no sane company would hire an inexperienced gaijin when there are currently hundreds of experienced NOVA teachers begging for a job, and the Japanese really aren't that desperate at the moment. He'd have better luck in China, Korea, or Taiwan.

[flonnebonne]

Yeah, I think he IS kind of an idiot. He does have a job here in Vancouver, but it doesn't have anything to do with teaching or with language. I almost want him to go over to Japan without a plan so he can see how bloody hard it is to get by in another country. But I guess he ought to be helped.