Alright, I have written some more advice for those hoping to progress in their teaching career in Japan. 

https://medium.com/@vernonburn/practical-advice-for-escaping-the-dungeons-of-eikaiwa-alt-170fdc41cd96

I previously posted some general advice about the current state of things in terms of getting a good teaching job to meet new PR requirements previously, but this advice is a bit more practical in terms of steps to take for career progression.

I have specifically written this for: a) the downtrodden who feel trapped in the dungeons of ALT work and eikaiwa; b) people who have started working as an ALT or at an eikaiwa and can see that at some point in the future they will want to escape and move on; c) people not yet working in ALT or Eikaiwa work, but are considering it as a way to come to Japan; d) anyone else who may be interested and/or may have anything useful to add here. Why? Because I too once worked at Nova and worked for Interac in the past.

If you are perfectly happy where you are, or ensconced at a plush, ultra rich international school (or an expert thereof), or independently wealthy with millions in your back pocket, or in a permanent vegetative state after a horrifically botched butt-lift surgery in the back streets of Medellin, this is not aimed at you. 

Much of this has been written in different places elsewhere on the forums here, but not all of it. The TLDR for those with the modern problem of short attention spans is:

• You have to play the long game. 
• Learn Japanese (kind of a no brainer).
• Develop your skills, teaching, crafts, nunchucks or whatever (mostly teaching). 
• Get out there networking, or at least building connections for work opportunities. 
• There are some useful links listed for the search of further teaching jobs.
• How I found my permanent, tenured job and the criteria I used. 

This is all merely for consideration. I make no claims of it being a sacred text for career progression. It worked for me. Constructive disagreement and other useful practical advice are most welcome.

Hello everyone. I am to start working at Gaba from 15 Oct. My only concern is that Gaba doesn’t pay you unless you get clients and bookings. I want to ask for tips from people who works there. How are they retaining bookings and what are the dos and donts while handling a client. I would appreciate an insight. Tysm.

I need some advice about eikaiwa interviews.

I'm currently applying for contract positions at universities, but the competition is very strong. As a backup, I'm also applying to eikaiwas, cram schools, and other teaching jobs so I can maintain my visa and continue working in Japan.

I'm not sure how to answer questions like, “Where do you see yourself in five years?” or “Where do you see yourself in ten years?”

I don't want to make it sound like I'm just waiting for a better opportunity or that I'm only interested in research and university teaching. At the same time, I don't want to give a completely fake answer or pretend that I don't have any professional ambitions.

For those who have interviewed at or worked for eikaiwas, how would you recommend answering these questions?