Job Discussion Forums

[Sadken]

Hello everyone,

I have an interview with GEOS next week and the fear is beginning to set in. Whilst a lot of the horror stories seem to suggest that the company just hire robot zombies from Hell, I do want to make sure that I can be that robot zombie and, therefore, any help you good, good people can offer me to take me there would be greatly appreciated.

I'll level - my main concerns are these:

1. The grammar test - shit. I feel like a lot of my grammar skills are o.k but are strictly self-taught. I would not know a past participle from my arse participle. Should I be swatting about now?

2. The lesson plans - I have never taught a lesson or been on a CELTA course. Can I just wing it with some plans picked up from here or elsewhere or my own ingenious "why not just play 'I spy' with them?" idea I had the other day?

3. Are they going to look at me? I don't like when people look at me and will violently assault anyone who does. Will this be held against me d'you reckon? What I am trying to say is "how smart is smart dress?" I am basically prepared to buy a new suit and shoes to get me by.

I really am extremely grateful for all your help thus far and if you can help me get to Japan I will endeavour to use any free time I have over there travelling to meet each and every one of you and delivering one kiss on the cheek (or two firm handshakes).

[Glenski]

1. This could be a problem in the weeding out process for the first stage applicants, yes. I believe you meant sweating, didn't you?

2. No, you cannot just wing it. GEOS has specific lesson plans that you must follow.

3. Stay away from Japan if you actually feel this way. The more foreign you look, the more stares you will get. Buy a suit if you have any hopes of passing the interview, THEN worry about what to wear in the classroom.

[Sadken]

Cheers.

I did mean swatting. Not sure if the word carries but it means revising like some sort of crazy person.

Re: the lesson plan. Is there any way that somebody could help me get an understanding of the GEOS way of doing things so that when I give a fairly decent approximation of that in the interview they consider me and the company directors to be kindred spirits of some sort?

I was joking about the looking at me thing as well. What does slightly concern me on that tip is that I have a surname that originated in the Balkans and I look, at best, swarthy. I am in no way aryan and do you think this will count against me?

[Glenski]

As to your appearance, who can say whether your dark skin will play against you? Some employers might balk at it (especially if you look the least bit Middle Eastern, I suppose), but I really wouldn't worry about it.

As to your question about GEOS teaching methods, about all I can offer is this from several other people's experiences in GEOS interviews. Basically, GEOS teaches you their method.

GEOS
First experience
I originally came over to Japan with GEOS and went through their 3-day process, however, that was more than seven years ago so I'll give you the basic gist as I remember it- it may have changed since my days.

DAY 1- Usually the shortest of the three. A couple hours long with a series of different interviews with different people- both individually and in groups. In my opinion this is basically a personality test- they just want to see if you've got the right attitude for them. However, I do remember taking a short test of grammar and international trivia, but basically if they like ya, they'll invite you back for the next day's "interview".

DAY 2- If you got invited back, this will be a FULL DAY of GEOS indoctrination- the company, the business side, the methodology materials, etc... etc... If I remember correctly it will include a lot of activities, more "interviews", etc. Again this day they're still trying to weed people out.

DAY 3- Again by invite only, at the end of day 2 you'll probably be asked to plan a lesson and then "teach" it to a "student" on this day. If you make it through, they'll extend a provisional offer of employment.

That's basically it as I remember it. Others may have gone through this process more recently and are welcome to correct or add to anything I may have forgotten or glossed over.

Although it sounds like a lot but it's really not that daunting. As with any job process, if you go in looking professional (wear a suit and tie), acting professional, use some common sense and display the right type of personality you shouldn't have any problems.

I had ABSOLUTELY no teaching experience or qualifications prior to coming to Japan so don't sweat that too much. I think most on this board would agree with me, that attitude and personality can more than make up for the lack of practical, hands-on teaching experience.

On another note- I worked for GEOS for a little over a year before moving on to better things in Japan. Naturally there were things I didn't like, but overall I really had no issues with GEOS. I was fortunate to have a great Japanese manager and fantastic Japanese and western co-workers- makes a HUGE difference. I had friends who worked for GEOS that had horror stories to tell. I guess my point is, whether you go with GEOS, AEON, NOVA, whatever- it'll always be a bit of a crap shoot so good luck.

Another opinion (July, 2003)
Sounds like the process hasn't changed much then: I did the interview a few months ago.
Day 1
Very short intro to Geos and Japan
English grammar and general knowledge test
5 minute teaching demonstration
More Geos info

Day 2
Even more Geos info, including video
Assigned lesson subject + given planning help

Day 3
Teaching 20 minute lesson
1-on-1 interview


Day 1 starts with a very short introduction to Geos. You then sit a "test" on English grammar and general knowledge for about 15 minutes. The first half of the test is questions like name the word type (noun, verb, etc.); tenses (change this sentence into perfect perfect simple, etc.); and spellings. The second half of the test is pure general knowledge, like capital cities, identifying the former or new name of countries (e.g. you are given Ceylon and have to identify it as now being Sri Lanka) - I really loved this part of it because I love general knowledge. I say "test" with the quotation marks because when I did the interview anyone who failed got to do it again on the second day. People who failed were encouraged to team up with people who passed to get the answers before the re-take (teamwork practice).

Next on day 1 you are given a very open subject to teach a five minute lesson on. You have 15 minutes to prepare the lesson, then you teach it to one of the recruiters (1-on-1).

The first day ends with lots more detailed info about Geos. During this time they'll also get you to do team-building stuff - the usual name learning games, etc. Be enthusiastic at these points; if you're asked to do a forfeit because you've lost a game or something, do it without question. Day 1 is over.

The whole of Day 2 is basically the same as the end of Day 1 - learning stuff about Geos and doing team-building, role playing, information gap exercises. The day ends with everyone getting a sheet from a Geos textbook with the basic outline of a lesson, on which you base a lesson that you plan overnight. You get a bit of guidance on this at the end of Day 2.

Day 3 starts with you delivering your lesson. You are told to plan for a 30 minute lesson, but then, in a "surprise" twist, they only want you to teach 20 minutes of it - i.e., can you adapt at short notice to changes. After you've done your lesson (to the other interviewees) you have a 1-on-1 interview with one of the recruiting staff, and fill in a questionaire.

That's it really. Be prepared to do the team-building stuff as I mentioned above, and lots of the tasks you have to do end up with you parroting the Geos way of working/teaching. Although, to be fair, they do point out some of their weaknesses and the strengths of other companies. I'd say the most important things over the course of the three days are: look professional (suit, tie, jacket, etc.) at all times and be enthusiastic. Some nice flash cards or pictures in your Day 3 lesson go over well also, so stock up on some coloured card, glue, etc. before the three days start. You are closely watched for the entire three days.

Another experience (June, 2003)
I interviewed with GEOS just last weekend and have been given an offer with them. The 3-day long process was perhaps the most organized, efficient, grueling, and intense (yet somehow, fun) interview I have ever been through. In a way, it was like being on a reality TV show, where you are thrown together with a group of strangers from all over and are given various tasks. You don't know how many positions are available and you're doing your best to not get eliminated. Do not expect to relax during the weekend (except Sunday night or unless you get cut), and definitely do not plan on any activities for Saturday night if you make it past the 2nd cut.

Friday's session starts at 9 am or 11 am depending on which time slot you signed up for. If you are part of the 9 am group and you make the first cut, you will need to wait until 2 pm for the afternoon session which combines the candidates from both the 9 am and 11 am groups.

You should definitely review your grammar before taking the 20-min quiz. The quiz is the first thing they administer to determine your English skills. They use the results to make the first cut. After grading the quizzes, they will discuss your results during one-on-one interviews.

During the afternoon session which runs from 2 pm until 4:30 - 5 pm, they will formally introduce you to GEOS by giving you some basic information. They will explain their company, philosophy, history, salary, vacation, teaching methods, etc. You are allowed to ask any questions you have regarding Japan, teaching, or GEOS. You then do some pairwork and group activities such as a 5-min group demonstration.
At the end of the session, they make the second cut. If successful, you are invited back to continue with the rest of the weekend.

Saturday's session starts at 8:30 am or 9 am, depending on whether you need to retake your quiz. It ends around 3:30 - 4 pm. During Saturday's session, training officially begins. You are given a handbook which exposes you to even more information about GEOS. Here, they cover the basic information they gave you yesterday in more detail. Expectations, dress code, schedules, apartment furnishings, training, company organization, career opportunities, their teaching format, the business side, etc. are all discussed. They demonstrate the GEOS teaching method and even give you their evaluation form so you know exactly what they are looking for. You are required to make your own teaching materials for your 30-min demonstration on Sunday. It definitely helps to have scissors, glue, tape, construction paper, etc. to construct your teaching materials. Many out-of-towners had to purchase their own supplies. Since the Japan head office evaluates you by your materials, everyone I knew, including myself, stayed up until 3:30 am working on them.

Sunday's session begins at 8:45 am sharp and lasts until 12 - 1:30 pm. You form pairs and take turns delivering your teaching demo to one another. Afterwards, you are called in one by one to discuss the results of your demonstration and interviewed for any final remarks. By the time you are through, you should have a good idea of whether or not they will give you an offer. The entire process was similar to a GEOS bootcamp. There was a high degree of comraderie among the interviewees because we were all going through the same thing. The results of the interview will be given to you in 2 days. Their response time is amazing compared to most American companies.

I am not sure about whether all GEOS interviews are held over the weekend, but I'm thinking they probably are since most people have to fly in for the interview.

I also would appreciate hearing about any recent GEOS experiences firsthand. After the interview, my impression of GEOS is quite favorable in that they were extremely professional, organized, and efficient for such a large company. They were very clear, open, and upfront with their expectations. The interviewees were all really cool people that I'd like to work with. However, since GEOS was the first company I've interviewed with, I'm not sure if I should hold out for JET, Aeon, or ECC

Another experience
I worked for GEOS for two years, and left in the late 90s. I would agree, yes, they do work you very hard. There is a business aspect too, and you are expected to sell texts, and also get new students to sign up or existing students to renew. This was the least pleasant part of the job for me.

On the teaching end, they had good resources available, some decent training, and good support from the trainers if you need it. Expect to teach all ages - I was told in my pre-departure training that I wouldn�t teach kids, only to arrive and find out that 30 percent of my classes were with children. The manager had requested someone experienced with children, and she got me, so I�m not too sure about their recruitment and placement process.

The Japanese teachers - most of whom are `part time` and make terrible pay for a lot of work - were great, and helped me out a lot with everything from recommending restaurants to helping me make reservations for a holiday. Teachers at other GEOS schools said the same thing about their Japanese colleagues. GEOS always paid on time, and the apartment was in good shape when I arrived.

My class load varied from 8 /day during a very busy summer, to 5 or 6 a day most of the rest of the time. I enjoyed it, but know some who didn�t, primarily because of the heavy teaching schedules and the sales expectations. GEOS is also cheap about some things, and was getting cheaper by the day when I was there. One Japanese friend who left GEOS and went to another job told me how surprised she was to be given stationery supplies on her first day at the new job - at GEOS you generally had to bring your own.

The only thing I can say about the interview is look professional and be enthusiastic. Look very professional. I interviewed with a different format, but noticed that those of who were called back for the second interview were the ones who had worn suits to the first interview.

Another experience
As far as I can remember day one eases you in. There is a lot of talk about GEOS as a company. You have to present a very short lesson, at this stage they will just want to see that you can stand up in front of people and speak clearly. You may have little or no choice on what you teach. There's also a written test on grammar, general knowledge and stuff. Also a small one on one interview on the first day I think. Day two is a lot more about GEOS policies and you will find out about GEOS methodology. On day three there is a longer interview and you will teach a GEOS lesson. They will want to see that you've planned your lesson well, made some nice props (flash cards or something) and applied GEOS methodology. Don't plan anything for the evenings because you will be preparing for the following day and make sure you are prepared with card scissors and coloured pens before day one.

Follow-up message by same person
The fact is that GEOS is not an easy company to work for and I think it's useful that they let you know that before you sign anything. GEOS is hard work and they try to sort the workers from the holiday makers in the interview. About two thirds of my interview group did not turn up for day three, I guess because they were required to put some work in the night before and plan a lesson. I don't think it's too much to ask for that you can demonstrate what you'll be employed to do

[madeira]

Hey there. Everything Glenski posted for you is good.

I think you SHOULD be swotting for the grammar quiz... but it`s not so tough.

You should know modals... would/should/could/etc.
You should be able to ID tenses..I am ..ing/I was ..ing/ I had pp/I have pp...

Just look up some terms like present simple/perfect/progressive.. past simple/perfect/progressive.. and you`ll be fine. You know the stuff already, you just need to learn how to ID it on a quiz.

GET THERE EARLY!! Be a happy, energetic person! Bring lots of colored paper, scissors, glue and magazine cutouts if you`re not interviewing in your home town!
(This sounds stupid... but do it anyhow.)

If your dress code isn`t up to snuff, they`ll tell you. Correct it if possible, but tell them that you`ll fix it for sure for Japan. Most of the girls I interviewed with didn`t have high enough heels or skirts... and were wearing unacceptable hair ornaments or not enough lipstick... or their nylons weren`t transparent enough...

(You`re not female, I think... so you get off easy. Just head off to Value village and get a suit, a light-colored shirt and a tie. Black shoes and socks, and you`re done!)

Don`t get me wrong, I like working for GEOS. I`ve been there 4 years. It`s quite a good job if you get it.

Anyhow, Good Luck!

[Hondo 2.0]

GEOS teachers use a 3P process: presentation, practice, and production. Every lesson must have a target structure, and an application. For example, the "simple past" is not a lesson in itself. It must be combined with an application, like "telling the story of your vacation".

Presentation is about the target for the lesson. Your job is to elicit it from the students. If you cannot elicit it, then try to create a need for the target language. Present the target language, and leave it on the board for the students to refer to it throughout your lesson.

Practice is divided into a three sub-categories: mechanical, meanginful, and communicative. The idea is to progressively increase the sophistication of the excercises. Start off by simply drilling the target structure and application. Then increase the complexity of the drill. For example, they might move from substituting a single word to inserting a word and changing the verb tense. Your final drill will give the students the opportunity to use their previous knowledge in conjuction with the target structure.

Production is a role play. It needs to be open-ended so that student have the opportunity to apply their previous knowledge.

General Advice:
-Before you go to the interview, use some construction paper and cardboard to make flash cards. You can use flashcards for almost any lesson. They lend themselves well to games.
-Bring some dice.
-The person who interviewed me really liked to use pictures of people for elicitation of the target. You could cut out a variety of pictures of people from magazines and then mount them. Use bright colours.
-When you are teaching your demo lessons, try to maximise the amount of student speaking. I was told several times that students pay money to practice speaking, not to listen to you.
-When you plan your lesson, think about ways that you can stretch it out or shorten it.
-You might want to bring a travel clock with you. I was told to never look at my watch. The interviewer said that it gave a bad impression to students.
-I taught my demo lesson to an interviewer. He played an enthusiastic but dull student. He took a long time to say anything. If you are in such a situation, give him time. Don't hurry along. Allow silences. People feel a need to full silences. Let the student do it.

If there is anything I can do to help you prepare, just let me know. Good luck, bro.

[Sadken]

Thanks a lot, guys.

It all seems like a bit of a nightmare and I am really, really nervous about the whole thing but determined to make it through and so I will be stocking up on card, paper and glue asap.

How on Earth can you give a 5 minute lesson without knowing the first thing about teaching though? And how am I going to make 20 minutes last out with no ideas at this stage what teaching a class invoves? Presumably they point you in the right direction as to what they want/expect to be demonstrated in the lessons?

[Sadken]

Also, guys, do any of you reckon the various online grammar tests will be of any help to me? I am doing loads and passing them all 100% but am a bit worried that they are far too easy.

[madeira]

I don`t think online tests will do you any good... unless you find something about identifying tenses, countable nouns, transitive/intransitive verbs, etc.

Do you have something like Betty Azar`s blue book? It`s called `Understanding and Using English Grammar`. It`s not the only book out there, but it`s got good charts and explanations of terms.

Your interview is ... tomorrow? Getting a decent sleep is more important than worrying about the test... If you don`t pass it, remember that you DO get a second chance!

[madeira]

Sorry, I forgot about the lesson plans...

You`ll get tips in the interview. They`ll give you a target the night before you teach the 20 minute lesson, so you`ll have time to prepare. You`ll be nervous, and you`re not expected to be perfect... Just speak slowly and clearly, and give the student time to respond. If you`ve got lots of pictures of people with you, you`ll have something to use. Look for `action` pictures that use different verbs (ie, not all`play`). Useful for many tenses and story-telling.

I guess IF you`re freaked out about it that night, you can post your target here... (is that cheating? Ehh, no...)

[Hondo 2.0]

You'll have a few different topics to choose from for your demo. When I interviewed, one of the topics was "'in', 'on', and 'at'"
If you had fifteen minutes to prepare a five minute demo with this topic, you could quickly write down a few sentences:
"I went to Hawaii __ ________."
"I had lunch __ ________."
"I will leave __ ________."
Pull out your deck of blank flash cards. Write things like, "five minutes", "New Year's Eve", "14 December", and so on. On other cards, write "in", "on", and "at".

Walk into the room, and write three sentences on the board. Encourage your student to finish the sentences. Respond enthusiastically to each answer, and write down the answers you're looking for. Write "in", "on", and "at" on the board, and elicit uses beneath each word. For example, you'll have "dates" and "holidays" under "on".
Pull out your deck of cards. Turn one over, and read it. Look thoughtful, and make a sentence. For example, you draw "five minutes", say "I will call my father IN five minutes." Encourage your student to take a card and do the same thing.
For another drill, you could write "1-2", "3-4", and "5-6" beside each of your three structures on the board. Leave the preposition, but erase the final part of each sentence. Pull your trusty die from your pocket, roll it, and then finish off the sentence. Give the die to your student, and repeat. Call a penalty if something is repeated.
For a role-play, you could do a business meeting. Each of you has a card for each of "in", "on", and "at". As you use each one in the conversation, put down the cards. Try to structure the conversation so that it is easy for your student to use their target language.

That's just an idea. You've got to use techniques that you're comfortable with.

When it comes to the 20min lesson, they'll explain to you exactly what they want, including suggested timing. If you can, get together with your fellow interviewees, and practice on each other.

By the way, in the group of people I interviewed with, the only people who weren't hired were non-white. That said, my first foreign co-worker was a Chinese-Canadian girl, a non-native speaker whose English was often criticised by the Japanese teachers. It takes all sorts.
Nova will hire you without a demo lesson. They just take your pulse.

[Glenski]

[Sadken]

Thanks, Glenski, I had sort of thought that myself.

[chixdiggit]

The grammar test isn't very difficult. However, I was surprised to find a section on country capitals. No joke mate! So brush up on your geography as well. Good luck.

[Willy_In_Japan]

GEOS is very picky about dress code. For men, come in a darker suit (conservative) with a white shirt and conservative tie (not busy)....wear a white T shirt under the shirt. No facial hair. Clean shaven. No earings, etc.
Press your pants with a crease and shine your shoes.

When I was interviewing, they made us do a little 'role playing' to tell the 'new' teacher about the dress code and what individuals were doing wrong. It is a good idea in my opinion, to come to the Interview with what they want, rather than trying to convince them that you will conform to their dress code. IE, lose your earing and beard.

One guy I was interviewing with, decided that by the third day 'he had made it' through the interview, and didnt bother dressing up for it. He came to day 3 in casual kaki type pants and a sweatshirt. I don't know if he got a job offer. Pretty reckless if you want the job in my opinion.

As far as the grammar test goes.....learn what a 'gerund' is, and 'parts of speech' such as "prefix".........reviewing grammar terms is a good idea.

Willy