The importance of a Japanese Resume
If you are looking for an English teaching job in Japan you might be aware that the competition is much higher in Tokyo. This is especially true if you’re applying from overseas. In this post, I’d like to share my experience of how I got an English teaching job in Tokyo, the importance of writing a Japanese style resume to getting a job in Japan, and the difference between two Japanese resumes: the rirekisho and shokumukeirekisho.
Is a certification required to teach English in Japan?
Japan is one of the most popular destinations for native English speakers who want to teach English abroad. The reason why it’s popular among foreigners is the ease of employment and higher standard of living. To teach English at a private school, you don’t need a certification such as TESOL. If you have a bachelor degree and enthusiasm you can teach English at many places.
Applying for a job in Tokyo from overseas
When applying for large dispatch companies and Eikaiwa it’s important to note that you usually don’t get a choice in your placement. If your goal is to simply be in Japan obviously this won’t be a problem. But for me location was really important as part of the reason I wanted to live and work in Japan was so that I could close the gap with my long distance boyfriend. While I got lots of responses from these big companies, after interviewing with one it was pretty clear that having a choice in placement wasn’t going to be a viable option.
So I decided to start applying for smaller Eikaiwa in the greater Tokyo area. There were SO MANY postings but most of them required that applicants already be located in Japan. This is because there is more risk in hiring someone from abroad. For smaller companies, taking the time and money to invest in an applicant is a huge risk. Once such employees arrive in the country there’s a high possibility it will become clear they are actually not a good fit for the job or they might end up not liking living in Japan, etc. Whatever the case if the employee ends up not staying it is a huge loss and ultimately not worth it for the company.
So what worked to get a job in Tokyo?
So how did I end up getting my job in Tokyo? Two things, a personal connection and a Japanese style resume. Something I learned from a personal connection of Yuki’s in the English teaching industry is that applicants that submit western style resumes tend to not know very much about Japanese culture. In a situation where you are applying from abroad your resume is super important because it’s hard to get a real idea about someone from just a Skype interview. If someone comes off as not knowing about Japanese culture the Eikaiwa is very unlikely to want to take the time to hire them from abroad.
I asked Yuki and my friend to help me to write a Japanese style resume which is called rirekisho (履歴書) because the format of Japanese resumes is completely different from their American counterparts. I chose to not fill it out in Japanese because this would have been an inaccurate representation of my abilities. Yuki and my friend helped me to find the perfect balance of info in Japanese and English while staying true to the constraints of the rirekisho.
What’s the difference between rirekisho and shokumukeirekisho?
Rirekisho is mandatory for applying for work in Japan, which is a brief overview of your educational and/or work history. It only shows basic yet important details about yourself such as your graduation dates, companies you have worked at and the time you have spent at each company. It is almost a more informative business card for job seekers. All rirekisho follow a specific format; there are templates available online.
Shokumukeirekisho is equivalent to a traditional resume/CV. Traditionally it is attached to a rirekisho; it contains more information such as detailed previous job duties, your skills, and professional pitch or why you make a great candidate. This is the opportunity to explain thoroughly why your past experience makes you qualified for the position for which you are applying. There is no agreed upon format for the shokumukeirekisho.
And… Sweet Success!
After I made s Japanese resume, I applied for two English schools by using rirekisho and it worked! I got replies from both companies and managed to have interviews. As a result, I successfully got a teaching job at a small Eikaiwa in Ota-ku. The company mentioned that I stood out amongst their other foreign applicants from abroad because I submitted a rirekisho. They could tell I was serious about getting a job in Japan and that I cared about learning about Japanese culture.
Having someone to help write my resume was super helpful. If you need some help editing and writing your own rirekisho Yuki is offering a service on Fiverr! You can also message us on Instagram if you have any questions. We would love to help you!
Thank you so much for reading this post! We hope you learned something new from this post in order to get a job in Japan.
Good luck and please also check them out too!