First, I want to thank you for taking the time to read and respond to my original post. I really appreciate it!

>Fair or not, this is how many of them operate.
Having read through the forum archives, I am very aware of what you stated. I figured it would be better to be forthright about everything so that I could receive the best feedback possible.

The teaching license would be credentials issued under the authority of the Japanese Ministry of Education (MEXT). Last year, an initiative was implemented to open 200 IB schools by 2018. As a result, MEXT has restructured the certification process so that more foreign instructors could potentially receive teaching licenses. Since teaching in Japan, I have only met 2 foreign instructors with Japanese teaching licenses (both working at Japanese schools), so I am not sure how international schools (for expats) generally view Japanese teaching licenses.

>The other big issue is that if I were an admin hiring you, what are you going to teach?

This is actually one of the issues I am most concerned about. I have started to track job openings at international schools around Asia and am well aware how uncommon dedicated ESL positions are at international schools. I am still not 100% decided regarding what specific endorsements I will pursue, but tentatively I am leaning towards ESL, Media Specialist and/or Middle School social studies. I was originally contemplating computer science, but worry that since I do not have a formal uni degree in the subject area, I would likely get passed up during the hiring process by much more qualified applicants.

Once again, thank you so much for taking the time to read my post. You provided lots to think about and I very much appreciate that!

I would first like to thank everyone in advance for taking the time to read my post. I greatly appreciate any feedback you can provide.

Brief bio: I currently teach EFL & Computer Science at an IB MYP/DP candidate school in Japan (for locals), but would like to start taking the steps to further strengthen my resume should I decide to teach at an international schools (for expats) in the future. My university background is in Linguistics and East Asian Studies. I have no formal teaching credentials, but have taught EFL for ~4 years (JET Program, Department Head @ IB PYP candidate school, and regular instructor @ current place of work). In addition to my classroom experience, I have worked for 5 years as a freelance consultant specializing in edutech integration.

Plan: I am very aware that I need to acquire teaching credentials and for this reason, am applying to the Teach-Now Program. Ideally, I will be able to join the cohort starting at the end of this month, though I am not sure just yet what specific endorsements I will aim for. In addition, I am in the process of earning my Japanese teaching license as well. I intend to spend the next 2-3 years at my current workplace as they are willing to fund my IB training. During this time, I also hope to take advantage of my professional development budget to acquire either an MA TESOL at a local university (Sat/Sun program) or an MED Learning and Technology through Western Governor's University.

Is there anything else you can recommend? Or are there steps you would do differently?

Once again, I would like to thank you for your time and really appreciate any and all criticisms/feedback/bits of advice.