Job Discussion Forums

ohahakehte · Joined: 25 Aug 2003 Posts: 128 Location: japan

recently a company offered me a position and then they said i had 2-3 days to decide on it and that they wanted me to be there for training in a little more than a week. that caught me off guard and so i turned the position down after much thought and with some guilt because it looked like a great school. but it wasnt a comfortable headspace for me to be in given such short timespans to make my decisions.

is it common in japan for companies to want you to be there in such short time?

what would you have done in this situation?

canuck · Joined: 11 May 2003 Posts: 1921 Location: Japan

You've posted before, and it seems like you're not even in Japan. Schools want to find a teacher.

Consider yourself lucky you're even being considered for a position without having even stepped foot in this country yet. I don't think it's unreasonable. If you're not ready to go in a week, you shouldn't have bothered applying.

spidey · Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2005 4:40 am Post subject:

ohahakehte · Joined: 25 Aug 2003 Posts: 128 Location: japan

schools need teachers canuck? thanks for the update

however both canuck and spidey are right in a sense. i should've been more prepared for an earlier start date however the company should also have started putting out job ads earlier. the fact is that i was really bummed out from a series of bad interviews with crap schools and then all of a sudden it was the opposite: i had a great interview with a decent school and it caught me by surprise. maybe i should stop being so pessimistic about job prospects and not judge the whole country by many bad apples....

Gordon · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 5309 Location: Japan

I had a weekend to decide on my job, but then I had 8 weeks to prepare to leave. I needed all of that 8 weeks, but then I had a family and many other commitments as well. I also think they were too desperate and I'd have been leery too.

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

In my opinion, canuck is being too hard-boiled about this.

Yes, schools need teachers.

Yes, it is not unreasonable to tell potential employees to make up their minds in a day or so after being offered a job.

However, it is totally unreasonable to ask someone thousands of miles away to uproot and move in a week. Even if someone is prepared to relocate, there is the issue of giving notice on one's apartment, and even in Japan, people know better than to give a week.

Moreover, ohahakehte has said nothing about the visa situation, so I can only assume that the employer offered to sponsor him, yet, to process the necessary paperwork for a visa takes 4-7 weeks. Sure, you can do the processing in Japan, and, yes, some employers ask their new hires to work on tourist status while the visa is being processed, BUT it is still a red flag. I have heard 2 or 3 stories like this one, almost to the letter, and each time the school screwed the teacher. He claimed "delays" in paperwork for the visa until the teacher had overstayed his tourist status, then he fired the teacher without a final paycheck. What could the teacher do at that point? He was here illegally (overstayed), and had been WORKING illegally. No way would any union or court of law support someone in that position.

Beware of such situations. Not all employers who want you to work on a tourist status while a visa is processed are bad employers. But, this issue is compounded by a totally unreasonable request to come here.

Ohahakehte, feel no regrets.

Eric · Joined: 08 Apr 2004 Posts: 44 Location: Hawaii

I agree that 3 days is a very short time to make a decision that is very big. I turned my first offer down when they gave me only 3 days, but I did this because I heard from this site that the company wasn:t good. Maybe next time if you feel you have a good offer you can except.

Good luck.

Celeste · Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2005 7:39 am Post subject:

I have to agree with Glenksi. My first question to such a company would be "How do you plan to arrange a work visa in such a short time?" I would need some sort of proof that they had actually applied for the visa BEFORE I set foot on the plane. Also, before you accept a position with a company you know nothing about, youy should be able to talk to some current and former employees of that company. If an employer is pressuring you to accept without talking to your potential co-workers and predecessors, be wary.

bearcat · Joined: 08 May 2004 Posts: 367

Ive seen first hand a company advertise, hire, and start the teacher training in the span of 3 days. Longest actually I've had here in japan for job choosing was less than a week.

I certainly don't judge companies by such actions anymore here. There are far more important ways to see how legit or how decent a company is. If the schools are small, in a pinch for a teacher, or its peak hiring season, they certainly don't let the dust settle.

I would hope by now with as much as you have read and posted on the websites you visit to ohaha, that you would be able to formulate whether the company is right for you or not.

ohahakehte · Joined: 25 Aug 2003 Posts: 128 Location: japan

Akula the shark · Joined: 06 Oct 2004 Posts: 103 Location: NZ

One school I worked for had had teachers accept the position and then decide not to come at the last moment, leaving the boss desperate for someone to come in at short notice. It was only a very small school, and so there wasn't the option of rejigging a few schedules and so on.

spidey · Posted: Mon Feb 28, 2005 12:40 pm Post subject:

Akula the shark · Joined: 06 Oct 2004 Posts: 103 Location: NZ

[Granted. This happens from time to time. However, a school should have a contingency plan to take care of such emergency cases. They should never be in a situation where they have to possibly compromise teacher quality in order to fill a position. And with good management these situations should be few and far between.]

Indeed. This school's manager wasn't particularly adept at dealing with non-Japanese. She wasn't dishonest or disingenuous, but just lacking in the intercultural skills necessary to deal with Westerners unfamiliar with Japan. [/quote]