Job Discussion Forums

[Rob1209]

Hi,
I've received a call today inviting me for an in-person interview for PKC (Brisbane office), in 3 days. I've yet to receive the confirmation e-mail with all the preparation details, but would appreciate any tips and thoughts from anyone who has recently interviewed/been accepted or is currently working for them. I have read the long and very helpful thread from Feb-Jun last year on these forums, but would like any updates on the situation.
I'm also interested in hearing about anyone's experience working for PKC, it mostly seems positive on the forums.
So, any thoughts, tips on what to expect/prepare for in terms of interview questions and any other advice gratefully received.
Thanks!

[dynastar]

I just extended my contract for another year. It's pretty good, as far as Eikaiwas go, I suppose.

But to be honest and fair, there's no guarantee anyone can give you as to how YOUR experience will be. PKC is broken into areas all over Japan. Your area may be remote, urban, suburban, who knows... it may be understaffed, fully staffed, somewhere in-between. You might have long commutes, walking distance, short commutes, taxi schools, business trips, hotel rooms... They may find you a cheap apartment they may get you a pricier ones. My co-workers in my area have a huge deviation in rent with the company housing (the range being from 38000yen a month - 62000) You might have huge schools with overflowing classrooms and too many students you may have tiny ones with a tiny group, or something in-between. You may have a good performance supervisor or a bad one (pretty much the closest thing you'll have to a tangible boss during your employment...you have meetings with them twice a month and after training you won't see any one above them in the chain of command really.

It really all depends on your location and what that location entails of all the above. Overall, the company is SLIGHTLY disorganized but the hours seem to be pretty good for MOST employees, the pay is good + you get an annual bonus and you get plenty of free time/ time off.

Just my 2 cents

[BlackPapermoon]

To chime in with dynastar, I too agree that PKC in the end, will be your own experience.

So far, I like it in terms of my students. They are bearable most of the time, most of my students are chatty but they are smart and we are starting to develop a respect level with each other which is a good thing in my book! I also just got a bunch of new kids which are really fun to be around and I'am happy they warmed up to me so quickly, especially my lil toddlers!!

The only con I have with the company atm is my commuting time! It seems all of my co-workers have schools in their home cities which are in walking distance from their apts, or a 180yen bus ride, but all my schools are 37 or 1h30mins away (not adding walking in time)
Heck, I just got back home 5 mins before 12:00am from work, and I have been pulling a 6 week schedule for almost 3 weeks now..(so no free time here....last time I had free time was back in Decemeber for holidays,but I do believe this is due to a co-worker in my area being injured, JT's calling in sick, and another that just quit...). Also my apt is a 20min walk from the nearest train station....(yeah...)


But yes, your experience will depend on where your placed, your commuting + schools, and your Performance Supervisor!!! Apparently my area has the *mean one, and I got on his bad side once, but according to my PS, we're cool now..

also, make sure you save up a lot of money before you head over if you get hired with PKC. You have to pay for training loans. Its not much but if you have to commute a lot, it sucks...

[Rob1209]

[ultraman111]

Teaching kids.......ergh dont do it.


I mean babysitting kids.......ergh I suppose it pays more than in the western world were you actually need to be qualified in child care and have police check.

[BlackPapermoon]

This site had some good advice[/url]

[It's Scary!]

Be "Peppy"!

It's sage advice!

[Rob1209]

[miso_ramen]

PKC! You'll be babysitting a tiny classroom full of screaming 3 year olds whilst their parents play pachinko.

[SusieSomewhere]

I hope your interview went well, Rob!

I've been working for Peppy for 3 months now and it's not bad.

You hear a lot of people bad mouthing it on forums because it's "babysitting babies". Well, genius, it's a children's school. So yes, there's a lot of work with kids. If you happen to enjoy working with kids, then it's pretty fun. If not, well, you probably shouldn't apply to a company called Peppy Kids Club! My youngest class are 3 year olds and my oldest are 17, but the majority of kids are aged about 8 to 11. The kids are like kids anywhere, some of them are lovely and some are a pain in the arse. But I really enjoy the kids. They're fun.

The curriculum is pretty poor in places which is the main complaint I have, but because most of the time it's just you and the kids in the classroom, it's pretty easy to tailor what you teach to be more useful!

Another big complaint you hear about is the amount of time spent commuting, and it is ridiculous, but the teaching hours are so few that it really balances out. The MOST hours I teach in a week is 15. One week I only teach 10, and another week I don't teach at all, and have stupid amounts of prep (ie do whatever you want) time instead. Even if you include commuting time as work hours, I don't work anything like full time.

As some people said earlier up this board, because Peppy is all over the country, and because you're in individual little classrooms mostly by yourself, the experiences different people have are really varied.

I've been keeping a blog since I got here (susiesomewhere.blogspot.com) which has a bit of info. Please feel free to ask anything you want

[rxk22]

I haven't work at PPK, but have met some who have. I think a massive amount of your xp will depend on the area. Lower class areas(I worked for a kids eikaiwa too) tend to have more bratty kids, whom you are really just babysitting. While the nicer areas tend to have kids who are willing to study.
I had some schools where you just try to make sure that the brats don't break anything/hurt each other. While at others, you actually teach.

[miso_ramen]

edit

[ultraman111]

I was deducted Y10,000 from my salary and told if it happened again I would be fired. In a year of working there it was the only time I had been late. And even that was by five minutes



WTF????? and you let them take 100$ of your money....for being 5 mins late...Cmon....

[OneJoelFifty]

What did I miss...