Job Discussion Forums

[el_chocito]

Hi everyone. I just finished a 3-day interview with GEOS and i have a few concerns that i did not want to ask the recruiter.

With GEOS, you find out where you will be placed only after you sign the contract. Is this the normal procedure with language schools in Japan? My major concern is the probability of ending up in a major city with an hour or more commute. The recruiter told me that there is a 60% chance of ending up in a "major urban center," which is where property values are the highest, and therefore teachers are placed far fom the school, resulting in a long commute. Does anybody have any comments on this? Is the commute as bad as i imagine it to be? What are the chances of ending up in a major city? I know that "rural Japan" is an oxymoron, but i don't want to spend 2 or 3 hours a day commuting either.

The other thing i could do is to sign the contract, wait one month until they tell me where i will go, and then reneg if i don't like the location, but there are penalty fees under the Pre-Employment Contract we signed at the interview. Does anybody know how much those fees are?

Any experience you can share regarding employment with GEOS is greatly appreciated, and thanks for the responses.

[ne01]

i also did the 3 day interview, but didn't get the job. one warning with geos, if you like being a sales person then the job is for you, otherwise it's not. with the location after the contract, i'd say no to that. you have to make plans, etc for the specific city before going to japan, so i'd want to know where i was going before signing anything.

[Amy]

I worked for GEOS for many years in the early 90s...They asked what kind of city I was interested in. I said medium and that is what I got. Some of my GEOS colleagues did not get their request, but after a year in good standing, they were allowed to request a new location and it was often granted. After one year, I wanted into a big city and they granted my request. Pros and cons to both. Back then apartments were always located within 3 or 4 train stops/20-30 minutes, but now that they use an an apt. company called Leo Palace (small studios), commutes can be a little longer. I recently went back to sub teach for a few months in a small town, and I had, as I did in 90-93, a great experience. The students and colleagues were great, the manager was as usual over-worked, and I was expected to behave professionally. I lived in a Leo Palace which was a 20-minute walk. It was well-furnished except for hangers which annoyed me since i was temporary. The paperwork has gotten very dense...I didn't like that, but did what I could do. They make all their texts in-house and some of the books were absolute crap, no focus, but great teacher manuals with lots of ideas. There are also more children who want to learn English which is absolutely exhausting to me! Generally though, I had a good experience. GEOS and I got along just fine for the most part. if you are open-minded and respectful, professional and punctual, they'll love you and it is a great way to get to know Japan and the japanese. hoh.