Job Discussion Forums

[Hauraunah]

Hello, so I've been stalking these forums for a while to find all the info I could to help me make the best choices possible when selecting my first job abroad.

Does anyone know anything about Blue Jays Eikaiwa (BJ Club English School)? I have searched the internet up and down for them and I've found absolutely nothing.

I've spoken with the teacher who is leaving and they've been there for about 5 years. They are leaving simply because their fiance is re-locating from their job.

One thing that was a red flag to me was that they take 100 yen out of your paycheck for everyday you are absent even if you are truly sick. I can understand where they are coming from as there only 4 teachers and a school of 300+ students so it would be difficult for them to replace my classes.

The job is from 1pm-9pm. I asked them about over-time. I liked what I heard. I know first and foremost that I can only trust what's in a contract but I'm still racking my brain for questions I haven't asked. The teacher showed me the room I'd be taking. They didn't duck or dodge any of the questions on here that other posters said would send up red flags.

They will be providing me with a bike to get to a from work. The last teacher had a pet and so they had to take that apartment that is about a 15min bike from from the school.

They discourage speaking Japanese at the school. This goes for in classes and outside of classes with coworkers. They prefer if I try to practice my Japanese outside of work. I can respect this. They do however make exceptions to speaking Japanese when it comes to explaining things the students simply cannot understand in English. So they don't appear to be too stern on that.

I'd like to be properly prepared for what I should be looking for and desiring when I receive the contract.

Here's a little bit about me:

26 year old American female.

Japanese Language and Literature Major with a Minor in East Asian Studies.

Worked at LAX as a Japanese/Korean/Spanish translator. Nothing official just in the duty-free stores to help customers that didn't speak English.

TESOL certified.

No teaching experience at all.

The pay starts at 250,000 which I understand to be the basic start for most FT, unless things have changed? I've seen many threads that have said it's 200,000 or 230,000.

I recently applied for EPIK and my application wasn't accept for for an interview.

I am open to working in China for 2-3 years but I wouldn't feel comfortable outside of work because I do not speak Chinese. It would be a great opportunity to learn. However my first choices are Korea and Japan. I plan on living in Asia for a long time so this move is crucial in a sense. From what I'm reading about Korean public schools would have been the BEST way to go for me. I don't think I've actually read any good things about Korean hagwon's/private schools.

I still have yet to ask about insurance. I plan on doing that after I get some more important questions to add in that email.

tl:dr

What should I ask my future employer about the job? What shouldn't I ask? What sly and new red flags should I be looking for?

Thank you all so much for your help.

[rtm]

[Rooster.]

Everything sounds good. I am a little curious about the 100 yen, though and I personally wouldn't want to work 1:00 to 9:00.

If someone is leaving after five years then it's probably a good place. It's not always the truth, but it's a good sign.

I would jump at it.

Is this the place?:

http://www.bluejays-eikaiwa.com/

If so it is kind of out there. Nearly 1.5 hours to Hiroshima.

[Hauraunah]

rtm

Thank you so much for your response.

I miss-typed. It's 10,000 that's deducted per absence.

From what I understood the employer says that because she offers some of the longest vacation periods we are not given holidays. They have paid holidays in spring, summer, and winter which are "longer than many other schools".
Next year is April 25 - May 6, August 5 -August 16, December 23 to January 5. As they have long holidays, there are no other paid holidays.

The employer didn't necessarily say that it was required for me to take the apartment. It was merely offered in the ad I guess to ease the worries of people in my position overseas. It looked suitable to my tastes. Is 49,000 yen a reasonable price in that location of Japan? She basically described it as a very small town which I don't have too much of a problem with. I'm more concerned with the accessibility of other things should I get a random desire to explore. The teacher assured me there were stations close-by.

I guess I'm just a really settled person. I want to make sure the first place I go to is a place I'll be in for at last 2-5 years, other wise I wouldn't be so picky considering I am selecting two very popular locations for ESL work.

They didn't mention insurance. As I read through the forums here I noticed that.



Rooster

Thank you very much for your input.

I accidentally said 100 yen when I meant 10,000 yen.

It seems like a really nice close-knit place. I'm not much for 'we are a family' type companies, but it seems like the less there are staff members the least likely there are power hungry sociopaths and drama. The employer is the owner and works there full-time as well and checked with me if working side-by-side with the boss is an issue.

That is definitely the place, Rooster. I wanted to include the link but I'm still iffy on the privacy rules here. Some people can post links and some can't, it's all weird.

I'm not looking to live in the city or anything as I value low cost of living far higher than I do the possible thrills of Tokyo and Kyoto. I don't mind the 1pm-9pm as I personally am a night owl and I'm extremely fearful of showing up late in Japan. Mornings are painful for me for some reason. Especially in the winters. Afternoon shifts give me a chance to sleep in and shake off the sleep and quite honestly those hours are dream hours considering my last job (3:15pm-11:15pm/4pm-12am). I'm not much of a clubber, but the club scene in a foreign country might prove quite enticing at some point. Luckily I'm not too keen on drinking so I don't have to worry about hangovers and such. So if I did venture out on a school night I could still salvage some sleep and show up to work bright eyed. They also told me about a local university where I could take some classes or consider pursuing my Masters. With those hours I could go to class in the mornings and head straight to work which is basically college for me all over again. I am slightly nervous that there will be no people in my age range. I get along with people of all ages but it would be nice to have some peers to bond with.

[kzjohn]

Given everything that you've said about yourself, and the info you've given about the job, I'd say it looks like a good fit, a good start.

Go for it!

---

You haven't mentioned health coverage/pension, or the number of teaching hours/week you will have.

Tho someone else will chime in the the exact number, I think an eikaiwa can have you teaching 29 hrs/week and these things will be on you--you pay everything (but your pension payments for the first few years will be refunded in full if you leave Japan within a few years).

Your first year here, those will be cheap, since the costs are based on your previous year's income. But after the first year, those costs go up, and it is sometimes the case that people get a slight raise in the second year to cover those added costs.

According to my (very fragmentary) knowledge, eikawa schools do not pay half of your insurance--you're on your own for that.

[rxk22]

The deducting your salary thing. Yeah you get vacation, and lots of it. But that is illegal IIRC.

As for housing, if you are in a rural area, 49,000 is a lot. You could almost get a house for that in a lot of small towns. I'd get my own place if I were you.

other than that, it doesn't sound unreasonable. Go for it, as it is better than most other places.

[Hauraunah]

kzjohn

Thank you for reminding me! I didn't ask about the teaching hours! Okay so far I have to ask about the teaching hours as well as the insurance.

She only mentioned a raise should the number of students increase.

So I mostly likely would be on my own for insurance okay.



rxk22

Thank you for the recommendation. Would I be able to look around for housing right now on the internet in that neighborhood or should I go to Japan about a week or two before I'm expected so that I can shop around? Do you have a ball-park, top-of-your-head number that rent in areas like that should be for? Do you think anything about internet connections/quality/prices in those neighborhoods?

I think I will go for it. If no one else sees any red flags other than the illegal pay deductions then I'll take a risk with it.

If anyone has anymore questions that I didn't think or or questions I shouldn't ask too soon please keep posting. This is helping me greatly.

[kzjohn]

Technically, everyone is supposed to pay into the national pension system. (There are a couple others, but those are limited to certain classes of employees--you'll have the nat'l public one.)

Same for the health coverage. You'll be using the national/public system.

Since in Japan's eyes you had no income the previous year, the amount you are assessed will be very low (not zero, but some minimum level). Then, after you've established your income level here, the next year's assessments will be based on that.

If you are a full time worker (I think it's 30+ hrs/week), your employer has to split this with you--you each pay half. If you work less than 30/week, you pay the full amount yourself.

Also, I think it is the case that you can get up to three years worth of pension contributions refunded after you leave. I think three is the max, so if you work here for 4-5, you still only can get 3 back.

Another thing that will change in your second year is residence tax. This is a local area tax also based on your previous year's income. So as above, they would have you down as not having earned anything, so your tax will be zero. The second year, you will have had an income for the year before, and the tax rate is based on that. (Residence tax is like a local income tax.)

Some outfits squeeze their employees by playing with the 30-hour rule--they assign 29 hrs of actual teaching (and claim they're paying for that), but then there are some admin/prep duties that don't "count".

***

One issue with finding a place on your own to rent is that you almost always need a local guarantor--and you probably don't know anyone except your school contact. Some landlords are rather picky about who the guarantor is, since they will be paying your rent if you don't.

Your school contact may be willing to be your guarantor, but maybe not, since they don't really know you yet.

Also, you'll need some upfront cash to rent--something like first & last month's rent, maybe a damage deposit, and payment to the realtor that you'd use (another month). Contracts tend to be for two years, too.

So you may want to take the housing being offered for the first 6 months-year, and if you like the school and want to stay, then move. (And find a guarantor in the meantime.)

[rxk22]

What KZ said. You can find something, but best to first get there. As the deposit will be a good amount. Also, as you worry about, internet ready. In the rural areas, you may not have access to the internet. I would get the availability in writing.

When you get there, you can see what area suits you, and get a gauge of prices and type of housing. Also, you may or may not want to live near where your students are.

[Rooster.]

After six months you are entitled to 10 vacation days. five of those days can be set by your employer. Taking money off for those ten days is illegal. Your sick days are your vacation days. Yes, your potential employer is right that the breaks are longer than others. However, after six months you are still entitled to ten days, so if five of those days are set then you still have five at your discretion.

How much and how big is the apartment you'd be staying in? I'd request pictures before moving in. It's pretty far out there so I wouldn't expect housing to be a lot. How big is it? I think I would take this as it may be difficult to get an apartment the first time. Make sure it's furnished!

Your employer, as stated already, should pay half of your health insurance and should pay all of your travel expenses the the travel part is just a custom.

A lot about this job sounds nice, but at the same time there is already some concern about legality. I would ask more specific question to the former employee again. If you want to be here for 2-5 years then I think you should maybe take your time.

[Shimokitazawa]

[Hauraunah]

kzjohn

Thanks for that idea. I'm all about cheaper rent but it does seem wise to wait until after I've been there a while a get settled in.

So after speaking with the owner and the two teachers I've discovered the teaching hours will actually be 23-25. Sounds like they are playing around with that full-time number.

This means I will be paying for my health insurance by myself.

What should I look for in a guarantor? Any red flags should I encounter a shifty one? Any green flags if I encounter a good one?




rxk22

I plan I posting my contract here so someone can help me review and see if everything is all right. I'll ask the teacher if her apartment is internet capable because that is the one thing that would be a deal breaker for me. I NEED my internet. I'm sure the school has internet. The teacher who would be training me showed me a bit of the town outside of his window and it didn't seem so rural that internet was a rarity. It looked like a regular city, just not packed. But I will take your advice and get the internet in writing.

Is there anything else I should get in writing?




Rooster

They didn't give me measurement of the apartment but I am pleased from the pictures. I would post them here but the teaching leaving had a alot of her stuff in the photos and I don't want to violate her privacy. I wouldn't mind PM'ing them to you if possible. The room isn't cramped and not too spacious that my paranoia will take over late at night. I had a huge apartment in college and lost a lot of sleep hearing things go bump in the night.

The rent for the apartment is 49,000 yen a month. I'm guessing it's more expensive like other posters here stated, because the previous owner had a pet and thus chose that particular location. It is fully furnished and the owner is even providing me with a bike. The location is about a 15min bike ride from the school so not too I don't guess. The owner's ad mentioned nothing about travel expenses but once they approach me with the contract I guess I should pony up and mention it. I've read so many of these threads that I just dismissed the possibility of having my travel expenses reimbursed. Seems like that was back when they were desperate for teachers. In this case I think I might have to demand some of it be reimbursed as it's going to be a pain in the ass getting to Saijo upon arrival in Japan and I doubt anyone is coming to meet me and pick me up from anywhere...

Do you have any questions you recommend? Personally the legality thing has be a bit alarmed however it shouldn't back fire on me but on the owner. I think this school is a good opportunity to get my foot in the door since right now I can't be too choosy with Japan as most of the really nice jobs I've seen require the teacher to already reside there.


Shimokitazawa

What should I do? This seems like the only down-side of the job. Quite frankly I'm willing to risk it for a year at least rather than to try out for Aeon/Gaba/ECC.

Her company was the only one that responded to my email and showed interest in me.

[Hauraunah]

Here's my contract, I'd love if you guys could review it and give me some advice on what should be mentioned.

Agreement of Working Conditions
Blue Jays English School
Name of the teacher:
Period of contract: 1 years (March 2015 – March 2016)
Job title: English instructor Full - time

Wage:
250,000 yen per month
Wage will be paid on the 10th of every month for the previous month work.
Income tax will be deducted from your pay check.

* Transportation fee from b.j.club to other places for teaching will be paid by b.j.club.
*When a full-time teacher has to take a day-off during working days because of emergency situations,
10,000yen will be deducted from your wage.
* In case of the teacher breaking the period of contract (leaving earlier than one year period), the last month pay will be reduced by 20 %
After one year work is completed, there is no deduction from the wage even when the contract period is left.
*The teacher should give 2 months notice before leaving.
* In case of the teacher being late for work, wage will be deducted accordingly.
Accommodation:
B. J.club will pay for key money and real estate service fee to rent your apartment in Saijyo. Rent and utilities paid by teachers.
B.J.club will provide items in the apartment
 fridge, oven, futon, dishes, washing machine
 Teaching Hours:
 maximum teaching hours would be 25 hours/week
Working Hours: ● Full time 40hours / week

 Work contains teaching, activity planning, lesson preparation, making lesson materials, and textbooks.
 National holidays - off duty except for some holidays
 Vacation - Golden Week, BON holiday and New Years Holiday



Signature (teacher)
Date


Signature (employer)
Date


I want to ask her about the internet airfare and everything all at once. But I also don't want to seem like I'm dragging my feet.

[Maitoshi]

Wait, do you mean you are going to ask this potential employer to pay for your airfare to Japan? I should have thought to do that too

[Rooster.]