Working in Japan

This is SH again. I have couple of queries I like to ask you about. I do have some concept what I should, but I like to get more suggestions and hope you can point me in the right direction.

1) Are you now a permanent resident of Japan? If not, do you intend to get permanent residency? Please share with me any information you know, typically about us Singaporeans getting PR in Japan.

2) Moonlighting while working as an ALT. Because an ALT’s pay is so marginal, it seems like moonlighting is the only way to save real money and to recoup the heavy start up costs invested in coming to Japan. I really wish you can give your insights on this.

Eg.

Are ALTs allowed to seek part time work on top of their day time teaching jobs? How can an ALT who wants to work on the sideline find part time work? What are the legalities involved?

3) Lastly, what are the avenues you know for a gaijin to find jobs? Does the fact that as Singaporeans, we are multi-lingual come into play in this?

Because as you should know, working as an ALT is a dead end job with no job security.

If I want to prolong my stay in Japan, I need to source for other jobs that have more stability.

It will be cool if you can open a thread on this, but if you don’t want to leak too much info, you can just PM about it too.

PS: I tried to ask an Ang Moh who stayed in Osaka for 15 years on the above, he wanted to charge me a fee for it to have a Skype session with him  {=_=|}

Thanks Bro.

SH sent me another mail asking a few questions, and I’ll reply with what I know. If you have any additional information or notice that my response is inaccurate, please feel free to correct me in the comments section.

1) Are you now a permanent resident of Japan? If not, do you intend to get permanent residency?
– No, I’m not. If possible, I would like to but I’m not eligible to apply at the moment. I’ve read the Japanese immigration website and spoken with a few other foreigners to confirm that permanent residency application requires the applicant to have resided in Japan for at least 10 years, and among which, have worked for at least five (and of course have duly paid your taxes, pension, and at least the required basic national insurance).

2) Are ALTs allowed to seek part time work on top of their day time teaching jobs? How can an ALT who wants to work on the sideline find part time work? What are the legalities involved?
– ALTs are typically hired as either dispatch or contract workers. To be frank, I’m not sure about the exact legalities involved although I believe dispatch workers are allowed to do part-time work. So should contract workers be unless stated in the contract. When I was working under a dispatch company as an ALT, I also did part-time teaching for Aeon’s Corporate Division. My part-time work with Aeon continued even when I was hired as a contract worker under the Board of Education (BOE). Many other ALTs were also teaching on the side and the Head at the BOE didn’t stop us even though she knew about it.

3) Lastly, what are the avenues you know for a gaijin to find jobs? Does the fact that as Singaporeans, we are multi-lingual come into play in this?
– I’ve posted a number of job searching websites somewhere in this blog. I don’t remember where but maybe you’d like to try searching. Speaking several languages definitely puts you in advantage, although it doesn’t mean you will be scored too highly over other candidates unless the position specifically states that they require your skill sets. Not every company requires you to speak English or Mandarin. In fact, your Japanese language skills will probably be more important unless the position doesn’t require you to use much Japanese.

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