Job Discussion Forums

nightsintodreams · Joined: 18 May 2010 Posts: 558

Is there anybody out there who's had experience working for Nichii Gakkan? The job listings I've seen for this company didn't properly specify what kind of job it is. ALT or Eikaiwa? How is the company to work for? Any info would be great, thanks.

Kionon · Posted: Mon May 14, 2012 5:06 am Post subject:

Nichii Gakken purchased GABA in 2011. Although GABA still operates much the same as it did, Nichii Gakken already had some English related holdings. They primarily work in the medical field, and I believe that they branched out into English originally to provide English instructors to medical personnel. My conjecture is that the positions popping up are going to be Eikaiwa like positions for teaching medical professionals.

BigInJapan · Joined: 14 May 2012 Posts: 5

Hello. I apologise for the late reply but it took me a while to sign up just for this post haha. Therefore, I hope I can be useful.

I am currently working for CoCo juku which is Nichii Gakkan's own schools which are separate to Gaba which they did buy.
The whole department for this is new in every sense of the word so there are some hang ups but I do believe the situation is improving from when we first started in terms of HQ - School relations.
It is a Japanese company and therefore many aspects of it are quite traditional in terms of doing paper work but for the instructors this is not an every day thing.
The people currently being hired right now are all main instructors and should be full time but I do believe there have been some exceptions. In terms of payment etc, I would not be willing to go into that on here since every instructor has the same contract and I would be giving out information that is private to them and may affect the company in a negative way.

Hopefully I have shed a little light for you and have been of some use. I am not sure what I can answer well but please feel free to ask me any other questions and I can try to help with that.

Ravlen · Joined: 24 Jan 2005 Posts: 14

I know this thread is old, but I would appreciate any information about this chain. How do the schools work? What is it like working there? What does a teacher do on a normal day? What kind of students/classes/responsibilities could a new teacher expect?

Ravlen

BigInJapan · Joined: 14 May 2012 Posts: 5

On a normal day you are expected to take classes, do the reports and attendance after the class as well as homework and occasionally trial lessons for potential students. The pace is fairly relaxed but certain days can get busy. To be fair, the experience of working here depends on who you will be working with. Some teachers let everyone down, such as not coming in but not calling either and some counselors have been difficult to work with but overall I think it's a now place to work. The types of classes covered are business, general an medical English. The latter is a challenge if you don't have a medic background, which I dont but it isn't impossible to do if you make the effort. Hopefully that's useful. Sorry for late reply

Ravlen · Joined: 24 Jan 2005 Posts: 14

BigInJapan · Joined: 14 May 2012 Posts: 5

Good questions. Because of the parent company, Nichii there is a higher amount of job security compared to other English schools. I would say be prepared to teach kids. Some schools have zero children because of the area but others may have more. The majority of students are adults though. The opening time of most schools is 7am to 10pm but the main shifts are 9am to or 1230pm to 930pm. Some may vary but it's never a split shift. Holidays are 10 days after 6 months working. You can take them whenever within reason. Like booking them in advance. You can ask for certain shifts but in the end demand sets the shifts. Some teachers have refused to do anything than say 9-6pm but I don't know how well that goes down with the company.
Working for a second company is forbidden, especially one thought of as a rival but I think the majority of teachers break that rule with either a second job or private classes. I'd say, don't ask don't tell. I had a similal situation with my last job so when they were really stuck I'd go back to help them with a shift on my day off.
Th only incentitbe I can think of is a 1000yen bonus for signing a student. They aren't keen for people to do over time much either so if you need more than the offered salary I'd recommend having something on the side.

Ravlen · Joined: 24 Jan 2005 Posts: 14

How long are classes, what are the max class sizes, and how much time do they give for prep before the next class?

What's the yearly vacation schedule like? How long are the Christmas/Golden Week/Summer vacations?

What's dealing with staff like? Are there any native staff in the personnel department that you can contact if you are having problems at your school?

Ravlen

budgie · Joined: 22 Feb 2005 Posts: 40

No need to be all secret squirrel about the salary. It's posted on their Gaijinpot ads:

250k a month with pension and shakai hokken. Internal Union membership is also compulsory IIRC which could be a good thing (organized by Nichi Gakken's Japanese staff over the years) or just a way to control you (run by the management). They teach their own 'method' - probably similar to the junk-English taught at Berlitz, EC, NOVA etc.

Now ten or 15 years ago 250k was 'entry level' pay and conditions for eikaiwa. These days with 60% of teachers working part time, a lot getting as little as 180k a month with no benefits and even experienced teachers in Tokyo plugging some gigs for under 2000 a lesson, I'd grab CoCo by both horns if they're willing to take inexperienced teachers and pay them that much.

I know guys here - a lot of guys working 9-9, 2-3 jobs and privates, six days a week to make ends meet. A full time starting position is gold in this industry.

Who cares if they go under in 5 years? At least you can milk the cow while it's standing.

Tom567 · Joined: 30 Apr 2009 Posts: 34

Is Coco Juku hiring? How long does the hiring process take and what are they looking for?