I have been working for my company at Shibuya school since 2005 and don’t really have any desire to move ‘up the ladder’ but when the Senior Teacher position became available in that school recently I decided to go for it. The bigger schools usually have a Senior Teacher in that school four days a week who does a few extra things around the school (sorting out flashcards, organising parties/events etc) in return for a measly pay rise.

Such positions are often advertised around our Tokyo schools but I have never applied for them as I don’t wanna change schools and leave Shibuya where I work two and a half days a week. As I don’t want to leave there this could be seen as the ideal post for me. For years I have worked under the present Senior Teacher with maybe one eye on replacing him one day…….which I never thought would come in all honesty. He has decided its time for a change and so the post was advertised. Given that I know the school set-up well and have had quite a lot of involvement in events over the years I applied with confidence and found out that another colleague was applying who had been rung up by our boss and offered the position. However, he was bemused that the vacant position was then advertised to all. After mailing my covering letter I was invited to go into the head office for what just sounded like a quick chat about the job. As it was it was actually a proper interview and to be honest he didn’t really sell me the position during that half hour meeting. Some of the questions and situations presented to me were far trickier than I had anticipated but I thought it went well enough and was told at the end that I would hear back later that day.

However, that day just happened to be the day of the typhoon in Tokyo so the decision was left hanging in the air over-night for understandable reasons. Overnight I was wondering about the job quite a bit and realised that maybe it wasn’t the job for me as it would give me some stress which I rarely get. Now I know that most teachers in our company think its an easy job (and it probably is!) but you do need to take a far more active involvement in how the school is faring in terms of student numbers and in a way your head is on the chopping block if things start to decline which is kind of out of your hands but could easily happen given the decline of the industry in Japan in recent years.

I woke up in a better frame of mind the following day but was slightly relieved when my boss said that I hadn’t got the job. Of course I was a bit annoyed that I didn’t get offered it as I felt I was the perfect candidate to bring continuity to the school but the boss felt the school needed a new, fresh change and so the one female candidate got the position. Girls often seem to get offered these positions as the company needs female teachers who don’t usually stay around as long as the guys who tend to get involved with Japanese ladies. Its not very common for the opposite to occur so giving them a bit of responsibility is one way of trying to keep them from leaving the job/country. Anyway, as I’ve never met or heard of the successful applicant I can’t say too much as I don’t know her situation, plan or how she came across in her interview. Whether or not I would bother applying for the position again should it become available further down the line I really don’t know at this moment.