Queries on age when teaching in Japan

[ryanjones2002_506498]

Hajimemashite!

I'm a long time reader, first time poster. This month marks one year since signing up with JapanesePod101 and one year since my studies of Japanese (combining this site, the Human Japanese apps and a 2-hours-a-week university course). This site is awesome!

I, like many people on here, wish to live in Japan. I have found the culture fascinating for my whole life and each year I visit for 2/3 weeks for a holiday. It's really reached the point where I am looking to move there. As my grasp of the language is limited to say the least (I'm only just starting to learn kanji!) I have accepted that my only realistic option at present is to teach (my background in the UK is sound - music producer, boom operator, sound designer, ADR etc. but I also have experience working with film in education and some teaching).

My problem is that I won't be ready to move until next year (so I guess I'll be applying in October for JET) by which time I'll be 31. Does this hinder my chances at getting selected?

I personally feel that I am a much better candidate at the age I am now due to experience, confidence and so on but I realise things may be different in Japan.

Has anyone my age (or older) on here had any difficulties getting teaching work due to age?

Cheers!
Ryan

[community.japanese]

Ryan san,
Konnichiwa.
I don’t think our age matters to be a successful candidate for JET program.
If you are a native English speaker and have a teaching certificate, you probably will get a teaching job in Japan.

Yuki 由紀
Team JapanesePod101.com

[untmdsprt]

I was in my late 30s when I was teaching in Japan. As for the age, it depends on who you interview with. Some of the independent eikaiwas still adhere to the belief that if you're older, you need to be higher up the employment chain instead of just starting out. I did convince a few that that belief wasn't shared in American culture as age is just a number and it was the title/position of the person that was more important.

Good luck to you in being selected for the JET. I never could get in that route and had to go about teaching through other companies.