Job Discussion Forums

[MJAntigone]

hey everyone out there. i just have a few inquiries about Aeon. What kind of teaching experience have you had with Aeon? did you feel you accomplished anything? were you actually teaching or were you someone's assistant? were you challenged? was there a good feeling of camaraderie among the other teachers? is the company reputable? opportunities to really advance/travel like they advertise after 2 yrs? and they mention about the single occupancy apartment. do they really check to see if someone else is living with you or not? are they strict about the 1 person only policy in their apartments? can i have a partner live with me without them knowing? you know, the usual stuff.

i am currently teaching an informal adult esl course at a community college, and i am an esl instructor assistant at a charter school. i love the first job because i plan and implement the lessons, however i am not too crazy about working with adults all of the time. The second pays the bills. sadly, i do love working with children the most, but not challenged enough. so i am on the hunt for a challening teaching job overseas, preferably in japan with children. i have a bachelor's degree, but no tefl/tesl certificate. i make up for credentials in my experience. aeon sounds good, geos sounds alright, and nova ok. and i also saw some information about a company called American Language School in Chiba City, Japan. does anyone know anything about either one of these schools? i am looking for a company to make a career with, not just for a 1 yr stint...for now at least. let me know!! thanks

[guest of Japan]

My goodness there a lot of questions here.

- My teaching experience was positive overall.

- I felt accomplishment through my student accomplishments. There were many of these.

- I was actually teaching.

- The job is physically and emotionally challenging.

- The school environment will be hit or miss. You'll probably have to work to keep things smooth.

- The company is reputable. You'll get what you're promised.

- The opportunities you describe are for Emergency Teaching. After two years you must apply for these positions. Whether or not you get one is dependent on your performance. Most people do not stay more than two years. I'd recommend against thinking of a career with AEON.

- Single occupancy apartments are very small. Regardless of what AEON may or may not do, you'd be foolish to try to put two people into one for an extended term. It would probably kill your relationship.

- Apartments are contracted by individual schools. These contracts are taken into to a schools expenses. The schools are under incredible pressure to make a very high profit margin. They want to limit their overhead as much as possible. Because of this pressure they are very unlikely to make a new investment of several thousand dollars to accommodate a new teacher. There are other people waiting in line who will happily take the single occupancy apartment.

I live in Chiba and am slightly familiar with American Language School. They don't have a stellar reputation. I know they don't like introverted teachers. I'd keep looking if I were you.

Check MIL in Chiba. They accommodate teaching couples.

[blue jay]

Hi MJAntigone:

If you want to check out ALS take a look at this link:
http://www.americanlanguageschool.co.jp/html/e/job_opportunities.html

This is an example of an old job listing from Nov. 2001 (is it ok to post them on Dave's ESL Cafe discussion forum?)

http://www.eslfocus.com/jobopenings/job1116c.html

I've heard that ALS is a good place to work depending on which branch school you end up at. The managers can range from great to not so great.

If you like to work with lots of Japanese English Teachers then it's a great place to teach at. If you want some company from other western English teachers then it's not such a great place to work.

If you like a combination of teaching little kids ranging from pre-school, elementary & secondary school level than it's fantastic. You'll also get a chance to teach young adults, young professionals, housewives and salarymen (business men).

It can be fun or not depending on what it is you're looking for.

I think Quest of Japan has a point about introverted teachers, it's best that you are happy to be the centre of attention and enjoy greeting the students as the sole "Native-English" speaker. (most of the time you're the only western English Teacher at the school.) You need to be a people person who enjoys interacting with all different ages and aren't shy to do so. I knew a guy who was fantastic at the job and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Anyways. Good luck with your job search.

blue jay

[MJAntigone]

hey everybody, thanks for all the heads up and advice. one thing i can definitely say about myself is that i am EXtroverted...nothing to sweat about there...center of attention...well, i know for certain that teaching is one career where that "egotistic" attitude comes in handy (in a very, very good way). i will keep aeon in mind, and look at MIL as well...but am certainly not going to limit my search to just those 2. if i hear about anything else i will put my 2 cents in for others

[stillnosheep]

Single occupancy apartment just means that you get your own apartment - ie you don't have to share an apartment with others (as per Geos) - nobody is gonna check how many toothbrushes you have in your bathroom (being nice to your concierge (if you have one) would be a good idea though if ypu plan to move a g/f b/f in).

Aeon probably best deal of the language school chains (and they subsidise your apartment). It's still working for a big corp. though and teaching THE COMPANY WAY. Jet is more pay, and much better holidays but you may well end up right out in the sticks and you're only an assistant teacher to a native Japanese - can be good, can be boring...

[ohahakehte]