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