Job Discussion Forums

[lou lou]

Hi Everyone,

I am planning to work in Japan teaching English when I graduate in 18 months, so I've started the research now. I am thinking about going with GEOS for my first job, basically because although they work you really hard (which i'm not afraid of,) I just want a reliable employer who's going to put my wages in the bank on time until I get the hang of living in the country. Has anyone worked for them before or got any tips? Also I'm interested in finding out cheap places to live in Japan as I'll have student debts to pay off.

Cheers, Louise.

[Gordon]

There are no cheap places to live in Japan. Generally, rural aeas are cheaper, but mostly because there are less temptations to spend your money and housing is a little more affordable.

If you watch your spending, you should have no problem saving money for student loans.

Geos is a big company, have no personal experience with them, but they will put the money in your account.

[Glenski]

GEOS is one of the Big Four eikaiwas in Japan. You will find tons of people writing about it. Look in the Job Information Journal for some posts, and do a search here as well.

[Willy_In_Japan]

I worked for GEOS. They are reliable pay wise.

They put you up in a LEO PALACE. For some areas, like Kanto, they give you a stipend of 15,000 yen a month to defray the extra cost of apartments in that area. Cost of apartments are variable. However, in my area, I was paying 62,500 a month for an apartment that should have probably been 40,000, ...........so the 15,000 a month made it about only 7500 yen more expensive than it should have been.

With my taxes, and rent deducted at GEOS, I typically made about 197,000 a month in my account. From that, I had to buy food, electricity, gas, water, phone, pay for my rail pass.

With GEOS's terrible hours, I found myself eating out at restaurants 5 times a week.

[lou lou]

Thankyou everyone,

I have looked on the forums and like everywhere else, got mixed responses. I think I have decided to just go for it and make my own mind up. If I can get some money, a place to live and consequently a good reference from the experience...which I'm sure it will be, then I will be happy with it as a first job. Could you possible tell me Glenski, is a LEO PALACE some kind of apartment block?

Best regards,

Louise.

[lou lou]

I do apologise, it was Willi in Japan who was telling me about LEO PALACES.

Sorry.

[Willy_In_Japan]

Leo Palace apartments are a chain that rents to people who want semi furnished apartments with no long term commitment or key money (a gift to the landlord).

The LEO Palace i was in had junky fridge and small appliances. I don't know who's fault it was, but I should have complained but lived with it.

The apartment you will be moving into if you choose to go with GEOS, will probably be the same apartment that GEOS has used for its native teachers for years. There is supposed to be a protocol for handing them over, but it isnt always followed. As a result, some teachers have moved into apartments where the old teacher has left a lot of junk around, or not cleaned it properly. My apartment left a bit to be desired, but I am a guy, so I dealt with it. The thing that I really didn't like about the apartment was the fact that I felt it was overpriced for what I got. I was a 15 min walk from the station, and didn't fell that it was worth the 62,500 yen I was being charged every month. I currently live in an apartment that is twice the size, and newer/cleaner and pay 50,000 yen a month, and Im closer to the station. Sure, I got a 15,000 yen stipend to defray the cost but it felt like someone made a cosy deal with LEO Palace at GEOS.

[Li-ka]

Well, as long as you don't mind hard work, GEOS sounds ok. They do set you up wtih health insurance (which I believe is not the government stuff) and an apartment, granted it will probably be small and overpriced, but it seems that many eikaiwa apts are small and overpriced. You get a good holiday package... but I've heard that if the school you teach in isn't doing well, then they change the managers. Which is kinda bad if you're working ten hours a day already and your manager gets changed to a workhorse... and your work load increases. (I'm not saying it has happened, but that the possibility may exist.) Personally, I'd try to go with ECC, if you can get to Toronto or the US for an interview. Instead of a ten hour day (you have to add some time to your 8 hour shift to plan all your lessons), you can work a 6 hour day. You don't have to worry much about lesson planning and you get better holidays. And your pay definitely comes on time, in fact, it's directly deposited into the bank account they set up for you. No need to hassle with cash or waiting for your gaijin card to get your bank account set up. Just some thoughts.

Good luck in the interview process!

[randerso]

Hey - don't know if it's too late or not, but I thought I'd throw my two cents in. I worked with GEOS in 2001-2 in Toyota. My apt (a version of a LEO Palace) was 70,000Yen/month, but is was fine. Clean enough and typically sized. It will be much smaller than you are used to in any Western country - but is enough room to live. I cleared about 2,000 Can/month, and lived pretty well. I still managed to save $700/month and I did lots of travelling too! I actually really enjoyed my time in Japan with GEOS. They do work you very hard, but then again as a first time teacher, I found GEOS very well oreganized and prepared. They have TONS of resources, excellent Teaching guides and opportunities for training (Ok, some of it is dorky - but most of it will actually teach you something).

The manditory interviews, sample lessons and book drive did get on my nerves, but again - it is great training. Learn the system, suffer through the first month or so, then the ride is pretty easy. It's a great starting point for an ESL career, trust me. If you ever head out to other countries or schools, you'll be glad of the rigourous enviroment of GEOS. Great prep for working in ESL.

I wish you luck!! (Just remember to keep up with the yucky paperwork and to be very Genki!!)

[Nagoyaguy]

There ARE worse places than GEOS in Japan.

I reiterate what the previous poster said about the apt and money.

It is easy to follow their system, and you will find that after a few months you are repeating lessons, so that your prep time is reduced. My coworkers were mostly great, as were the Japanese staff. The managers and office people (all Japanese) have terribly stressful jobs and work for peanuts. They work so much harder than the teachers that it isnt even funny. There are Japanese English teachers at GEOS too, for lower level classes. They also work like demons, even though most are part time.

Bad News about GEOS.

1/ It is a BUSINESS, not a school. THere is constant pressure to bring in money. Teachers meetings are about money. City meetings are about money. You will have a specific goal in terms of how many books or language videos to sell to your students. If you dont, you will be singled out and castigated. The managers will be literally crying in the office if your schooldoesnt get enough student contracts to meet each month's 'goal'. The head office will call the managers and publicly humiliate them/yell at them if your school doesnt make enough money.

2/ The paperwork is redundant, repetitive, overwhelming, and too much. If you want a promotion, it gets worse becuase you have to submit so much paperwork to the head office.

3/ The hours preclude a normal life. Usually 12-9, so you wont do a lot of cooking on work days, or a lot of shopping.

4/ The corporate philosophy tends to be anal.

There are better schools out there, like AEON, that also set you up when you arrive. If you have experience, you may want to consider a company that provides teachers to public JHS or elementary schools (ALTs). The pay is comparable, but the conditions are far different.