Job Discussion Forums

[lcanupp1964]

Good general advice, nightsintodreams. Might I add no split shifts? I had a job at Pagoda in South Korea that made me come in for a 7am class, teach until 10am, go home and come back to teach from 6pm -9pm. They paid over 3,000 USD a month that included a free apartment within a five min, walk, but the splits kicked my butt.

[RM1983]

[Hauraunah]

I used to do split shifts in college when I worked for my school's football team. No bueno. I'm like a robot. When I go home I power down.

[isitts]

26 teaching hours and only one day off? (On top of you having no teaching experience?) That's a negative. Don't do it. That'll burn you out in no time.

I taught that many hours in a cram school in Taiwan and with two days off, but not consecutive (Sun and Tues off)...felt like I never had a real break and you can't really travel anywhere.

(Read your other thread, too, and the ¥10,000 deductions for being late would be a deal breaker for me. Moot point, now, I guess.)

Why are you against working at more established companies like AEON or the like? Or why not JET? I know the timing is off for JET, and their conditions have gone downhill in the last...however many years, but still. I don't think they'd have the weird conditions that you're prospectives have been offering.

As for...the other country not to be mentioned here, I think your credentials make you a little overqualified with your LAX job... but under qualified without teaching experience. Public school jobs are being cut, creating a surplus of EFL teachers (in country) all squabbling for what's left. Schools can afford to be choosey and are giving preference to teachers with experience (but not too much experience, because that costs too much).

But it seems your background would be more relevant to Japan anyway. You seem in a hurry to get to there, but I would not jump into just anything, as others here are saying. It can be the difference between having a great experience and a miserable one.

Best of luck!

[Hauraunah]

isitts

Even if the work load is generally 4.5 hours a day?

At my old job I had my off days separated once. The down side is you still have to wake up early everyday almost but your work days are broken up at least.

At this point I'm trying to avoid AEON like the plague purely because of their bs 3 day interview. That's such a waste of my time. Especially since they expect a demo lesson. Why have me prepare a lesson plan for you when you don't want teachers you want sellers?! That's another downer. I just LEFT travel retail and I do not want to go into a similar environment. I'm good at sales but I don't have the mind for it. Too much cut-throat treachery and lies. As for JET, I dragged my feet getting my application together because I was more concerned with getting my application for EPIK together. Plus I heard JET is STILL extremely competitive and with them I wanted to be a CIR but I KNOW my Jpn reading and writing skills aren't up to par. I had an interview with ECC yesterday. I made it through their test and their lesson demo. They told me I had the best demo of the day, even compared to those who have previous experience. They said they'd get back to me in 5 days. Also, if you can find a decent small Eikaiwa with a owner who isn't insane or uptight you're good to go. Sometimes larger corporations mean more sociopaths than you'd care to deal with.

Where did you hear that JET was lowering their conditions. It seems like they're just as competitive as ever.

Tell me about it. I figured that if I took a country-side job I'd get paid a bit more, then I can get fluent in the native language, practice my Spanish and transfer to Guatemala and get into politics. Perhaps become a secretary or a diplomat and then transfer back there.

Thanks for the advice and concern. I appreciate it. Don't worry I am in very much of a hurry but I'm not going to readily jump into my demise. There's no point in picking a job that might incline me to become bitter against a country I've been dreaming of since I was a young child.

Thanks again!

[rtm]

[Shimokitazawa]

[Hauraunah]

rtm

I always round up so even though it's technically 4.5, I would expect it to be 6 hours a day. At this point I'm really hoping that ECC will contact me with a job offer. They offer 6 hour work days with two off days. However their rent prices are ghastly. The cheapest amount starts at 50,000 yen and at least with this Apple English job I'd be paying less than that for a house. But if ECC says no and she says yes I'm just going to have to tough it out because compared to all of the positions I applied to, she was the only to respond so far, excluding the other Eikaiwa owner who showed me I dodged a bullet.




Shimokitazawa

I know! I formally canceled with them and said that I was unable to get the paperwork required of me. According to my grandma they were still contacting me even after they confirmed my cancellation. I can handle an all day interview, but not a 3 day interview. Especially for a school that's 100% a business. Even ECC tells you they are a business but they actually want you to teach. Aeon just wants to slap the term "teacher" over "sales associate". It's understandable that they have the power to jerk people around. I don't think as many people know about ECC as they do Aeon. When I was in college, Aeon was advertised to those who missed out on JET. I just barely found out about ECC a few months ago when I was looking all the reviews for eikaiwas.

Really? That's the first time I'm hearing about it. They're really good at covering their tracks. I've had friends who made it into JET and they seemed to love it. I did meet a girl at the ECC interview who said she didn't apply to JET because she didn't want to be placed in the middle of nowhere. ECC does have the advantage that more of their schools are in some form of large city with obviously small locations here and there. Wow, I've never heard of anyone quitting JET. I'm going to look all this up and see if I can find some dirt.

Yes that stability is a trade-off. I guess I'd rather hang myself than to deal with sociopaths. We don't mix at all.. If I see someone going for my jugular I strike back and sociopaths HATE getting a taste of their own medicine. I don't want to spend my first year in Japan not defending myself because I don't want it to be my old job all over again.


Oh we were talking about Korea. He didn't say it because it's considered to be off topic being mentioned here. In Korea they don't mind paying more (say 2.4~3.0 won compared to 2.0-2.2 won) if you don't mind going to the middle of nowhere. There was a gentleman at the ECC interview who said ideally he would work in Korea to save up to work in Japan. And usually Korea pays for the plane ticket and most schools hustle so well they offer to pay for the rent period and even furnish the room. I feel like in a few years this will change since Kpop is starting to draw in more people who think if they work as a teacher they might run into a kpop star on an off day.


Lol, I know it's not a wonderland but I can't deny this has been something I've been waiting for since I was like 5 years old at home, trying to see if I could decode the hiragana on tv. I'm excited to discover Japan for myself. I want to see how nitty the gritty is. I want to see the cracks in the mirror you can't see from where I'm standing. I'm excited because I know it's not a wonderland. I can finally get a REAL grasp on how the people truly are. This experience is going to help me find out a little bit more about myself. Quite honestly, I'm still shocked I passed the ECC interview. I thought I wouldn't make it through the grammar test. I did. I thought that I would totally bomb the teaching demo. They informed me that I had one of the best demo's of the day and this was compared to the interviewers with teaching experience. Even in the interview they didn't drill me. They made it seem as if I already had the job and was just waiting to see if my passport wouldn't be an issue. They assured me that even if it was they'd wait for me to renew it and offer me a later start date. I'm still taking this all in because I absolutely cannot believe I made it through all that. I want to see if I can handle living in Japan and truly making it as a content individual. Considering the economy and the stipulations I'm not so sure if I would try for permanent residency. ECC says you can retire from their company but it seems it would be wiser to work towards retiring in Korea as all you have to do is live there for 5 years, speak the language and poof you'r eligible. In Japan it seems like you'd be better off marrying a native.


But either way it's all an adventure that I've been preparing to experience for many years now.

[isitts]

[isitts]

[isitts]

[Shimokitazawa]