Ski & snowboard instructor internship in Japan

How the courses work in Japan

The first four weeks take place in Kaprun, Austria on the Kitzsteinhorn Glacier. Training runs five days a week and covers practical ski instruction, HD video analysis, snowsports theory and avalanche awareness training. Your PSIE Level 1 assessment takes place at the end of this phase.

The fifth week takes you to Rusutsu Resort in Hokkaido. Through SIA’s partnership with Rookie Academy, you take part in the Job Ready Camp – a week of job-readiness coaching, children’s teaching methodology, Japanese ski school procedures, and culture and language workshops. Accommodation is in a 4-star resort hotel.

On successful completion you move directly into a paid instructor position in Japan. The Job Guarantee requires a valid Japanese Working Holiday Visa and successful completion of all course modules and assessments.

Courses vs Internship — what’s the difference?

A course gives you the training and the qualification. An internship takes it further – you get the training and qualification, plus a job-readiness camp and direct placement support toward paid work in a Japanese ski school. If your goal is to actually work in Japan this season, the internship is the route.

Visa requirements for Japan

To take up the Japan Job Guarantee you need a Japanese Working Holiday Visa. Eligible nationalities include Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Republic of Korea, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Taiwan and the United Kingdom. You must be between 18 and 30 years old (18–25 for Irish passport holders).

Read more about visa requirements here

How job placements work in Japan

Before the course starts, we hold an online meeting with you to understand what you are looking for – the type of resort, the ski school environment, the kind of season you want. From there we start reaching out to our partner ski schools in Japan on your behalf.

The final decision on who to hire always rests with the ski school, but they trust our training and our candidates – and when they are happy with a match, we make the introduction by email and let you take it from there. Some Japanese ski schools like to arrange a formal online interview at this stage – if so, we help coordinate that between you and the school.

One additional step for Japan compared to other destinations: you will need to apply for your Japanese Working Holiday Visa before the season starts. This can be done at any point through the summer months, which means that by October, and certainly by the start of your course, you should have your WHV confirmed and your job application in place. If everything goes to plan on the course, you travel directly to your resort of work shortly after finishing training with us. We stay in touch with the ski schools through the season and drop in when we can.

Contact us before booking if you want to talk through the placement process or your visa eligibility.