Job Discussion Forums

[carmenz]

Info on your first English teaching job at an Eikaiwa (English conversation school):

I am sure this has already been done somewhere else on this site, but I would just like to mention again the importance of doing research on schools before you rush off from your home country to work. I am shocked at the amount of teachers I meet, some complaining about their new jobs, who never even bothered to talk to a current teacher or really grill their bosses about their new jobs. I have been out in a Japan for a while and have had different jobs here. I would like to tell new recruits a few pointers.

1. When you start thinking seriously about one English teaching job, do the most simple thing---google it or do an internet search. If some complaint has been logged online about the school....you'll see it right away. Utilize the power of technology!!

2. Ask many questions of your potential new employer. Get a thorough description of the apartment, wages, hours, vacation. Record the phone conversation....telling the new boss what you are doing. Ok... you don't need to be your own private I......but just because a school gives you some bogus numbers over the phone, doesn't mean it is going to come true.

3. Ask to talk to a few teachers at the school. Tell the school you need to do this. If they do not understand this or try to change the subject or tell you a lie about them always being busy....don't buy it!!! This is common practice. Schools know this could happen at anytime. Good schools, actual good schools, will probably even have a list of people you could e-mail or contact. Bad schools (or very paranoid ones) will give you the run around. Don't go work for that school!! But when you do talk to the teacher....try to make it on their personal time. Not work time. Tell them you will call them at home, so you can find them in a comfortable setting, not work. Then when you get the teacher on the phone....ask questions!!!! Ask blunt questions too about the boss, apartment and everything!

4. When you do finally get the job and come out do your best and try to enjoy the job. But if what you asked for is not there and people lied or cheated you to come out.....then COMPLAIN!!! Contact immigrations and submit a letter or the general union in Japan and air your problems.

Seeing bad English schools stay in business year after year is more than frustrating for teachers who were cheated out of them. Basically if everyone would make sure they research and keep these schools in check they will do fine. But don't stand for it if another cheating English school tries to ruin your life!!! There are many out there. Let's try to make sure the good ones stay in business and the cheating lying ones dry up along with their cash flow.

Please follow this advice. You will be the one to suffer if not. You could get lucky....but it is hard to really gamble on luck these days. There are a lot of crappy little schools out there trying to turn a fast buck and get a quick dollar out'a you! You will be the one to pay the price. You'll have to deal with crazy employers if they are firing you for God knows what or if they are skimming your wages or over working you to the point of oblivion. Some of these schools are masters at turning things around and making you the scapegoat, sometimes deservedly, but sometimes these schools are just winding you up for their own sense of personal power and entitlement. Beware!!! If a school has a clean bill of health BEFORE you come out, then you've won half the battle.

Do your homework!!!

Good luck.

***Public service announcement has concluded***

[carmenz]

I forgot to mention the next most important part. Go through your contract with a fine tooth comb. Read it over and over and over. Get your mom to read it, get your friend to read it, get a lawyer to read it....everybody. Negotiate, too, and make sure you can read your contact and the terms are fair. Ask around and find out the going rates and the word on the street.


Hopefully you'll pick a winner.

[PAULH]

Just to add a couple of other points, many people when they submit resumes they point out about how they want to get a job teaching in Japan so they can learn about foreign cultures, learn the language, travel etc but what they forget is employers are not paying you to do all that. English teaching is a JOB, like any other. they are paying you to teach 26-27 odd hours in the classroom per week with students. It will get physically tiring, incredibly routine and you may get sick of teach the same low level lesson 3 times a day. that is what they are paying you to do.

Teachers can not complain when they discover that teaching a lesson is actually hard work and that is what they are being paid to do. The teaching hours are usually written in your contract but im sure not many people take that much notice when they are dreaming about what its like to live here.

They can not blame their texts, their bosses etc. Many 'teachers' here treat working in a language school like they would a part time job back home. To teach well yuo have to be prepared, actually acquire some training and learn a little bit about teaching and what it involves. A few do, but for the vast majority its like Spring Break for a year and then they get upset when they realise that teaching means WORK.

I might also that when teachers complain about NOVA even before they start working there, work there for six months and then quit and convince themselves that what they heard all along was true, it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. NOVA knows that if you quit your job there will always be another warm body to take your place and the company will not actually do anything to improve conditions. NOVA is actually now finding that not enough people are applying from overseas and they seem to be having trouble finding people, so it may be having some effect on them- not being able to find enough teachers for students etc. There will always be some people who are willing to take a chance with them though.

NOVA teachers dont stick around long enough to effect change in the company except outside union pressure. How many of NOVA teachers actually belong to or are active in a union?

I would also agree with the other poster- if you are having problems you should join or contact a teachers union. the employer will take advantage of your relative naivete,lack of japanese ability, your lack of understanding of Japanese labor laws and your weak bargaining position. Many people do not consider joining a union until they are getting right royally screwed over by their bosses or on the way out. An ounce of prevention is better than the cure.

[migo]

[saloc]

I agree that you should do as much research as possible, and that talking to current teachers is often a good idea. BUT, you have to remember there are also lots of good English schools out there which may have only one or two teachers, and that sometimes those schools can make a bad hire. Their own fault, you might say, for not being thorough enough in the interview process, but mistakes can be made. If a small school hires a whiner such as those described by PaulH, then I can understand the school not wanting potential teachers to speak to him or her. A professional school will not badmouth the current teacher and so it is difficult to give a reason for not allowing a potential teacher to get in touch. It doesn't always mean that it is a bad school.

[PAULH]