[JoeSensei]

Hi everybody,

I don't post here often but would like to seek advice about prospects of working in Japan in the future.

I'm from the UK and I have a BSc in Computing and an MSc in Applied Artificial Intelligence. I'm currently finishing my first year of a PhD but am starting to consider quitting it, since I don't think academia is where I want to stay. I also took a working holiday in Ibaraki last year working as an eikaiwa teacher. I haven't taken the JLPT test yet, but I would guess that I'm somewhere between the new level 3 and 4, probably closer to 4. I plan to take the JLPT level 4 test in December.

I could pursue a career in computing in Japan, but I hear that I'd need better language ability in order to be employed by any respectable companies. However, I fear that if I take yet another year off for study (of Japanese this time), that's one more year without work experience and if I finish this PhD I'll be 27 with only the experience of a part time Summer job in web development behind me. Ideally I'd like to be able to partake in some programme which enables working in Japan and language learning in parallel. Does anybody know of any such programmes, or of any other alternative solution to this dilemma?

My other option is to go back to English teaching. I really enjoyed it, but I'm not sure what the prospects are. I hear from friends that work / have worked as ALTs that such jobs are hit and miss, but even with the good ALT jobs it's difficult to earn above a certain amount. If I took something like TEFL or TESOL, I hear that I can get better jobs, but is this really true? I'm told the starting salary is 250,000 yen a month. Is this good? And if I REALLY worked hard, how much could I be earning in the future? If I chose English teaching in Japan as my career, could I be earning enough to support myself and potentially a family for life? I also don't really understand the TEFL / TESOL structures. There seem to be so many different awards they can offer, so how do I choose which one to pursue?

Yes, that's a lot of questions, but I'm not expecting everybody to answer all of them. Any answers to any of these questions would be very much appreciated.

Thanks,

- Joe