Job Discussion Forums

dynastar · Joined: 24 Sep 2010 Posts: 26

Anyone heading over to Japan with ittti / pkc (peppy kids club) in April or May? I'm excited about it, regardless of placement location, and was curious if anyone currently working for them had any blogs on their experience in Japan, or if anyone was heading over around this time!

Peter

Calico · Joined: 20 Jun 2010 Posts: 54

I'm heading over for the May 9th training. Just getting my COE application right now.

dgrey1986 · Joined: 08 Aug 2010 Posts: 45 Location: London, England

I have an interview coming up with PKC here in London. Could you give me any tips or pointers that could help me in the interview i.e. about the grammar test or the demo lesson? Thanks

dynastar · Joined: 24 Sep 2010 Posts: 26

Is your interview in person or via phone? As long as you sound enthusiastic and confident in your venture, then you should be fine. The grammar test was incredibly easy. It was one page (roughly 15-20 sentences or questions) and as long as you know basic English grammar, you can always refresh for an hour, you'll be fine.

I interviewed in Toronto, and they seem to look for you to be "peppy", even if it's not natural, they don't mind as long as you can act it when needed, like during the demo, and maybe at the interview.

Lastly, anther key point they looked for was experience with children. Even if it's no big or long term experience, any kind of hint that you'll be okay or able to handle the environment is preferred. Good Luck!

Calico · Joined: 20 Jun 2010 Posts: 54

Repeating what dynastar said, the grammar test is very easy (the easiest I've taken for any eikaiwa/ALT position). For the live interview I just made sure I was pretty confident, smiled a lot, stayed chipper (even though I was just getting over laryngitis) and answered their questions with what they wanted to hear in mind. If you work for them they care a lot about your energy level, adaptability, and most of all safety since you're usually the only one in charge of a bunch of children and entirely responsible for them. Keep those things in mind and you should do fine. I wasn't expected to do a demo but I did one anyway (I brought my own props: dice and cards) and they seemed impressed with that. I interviewed in LA though and I don't know if that makes a difference.

If you're worried about lack of experience and that it will work against you, I'm a testament that it's not necessarily mandatory if they otherwise think you'll work out. I have very little experience with kids/teaching outside of some volunteer work, and I even answered that it would probably be the reason why they wouldn't hire me when they inevitably asked that question. But I made sure to let them know that I was not intimidated and stayed positive about my inexperience, and it seemed to work out for me. I'm sure you'll do just fine. Good luck!

dgrey1986 · Joined: 08 Aug 2010 Posts: 45 Location: London, England

Thanks for your replies. My interview will be face-to-face in the next couple of weeks. Thanks for reassuring me because grammar is not one of my strong points i.e. describing the error with a piece of grammar.

The lesson they would like me to demonstrate would be to a 5 year old. I had the idea of using flash cards of animals and focusing on comparative and superlative adjectives. What do you think?

This will be my first interview for a teaching job overseas so I am just a little nervous. I will have another interview with Shane English School the day before my peppy kids interview.

But thanks for your help.

ciccone_youth · Joined: 07 Sep 2009 Posts: 59 Location: Tokyo

the interview is very easy, just demonstrate that you're not crazy, and that you're energetic and friendly.

i don't work for peppy anymore, but i had a great experience overall! email me directly for more information, and here is my blog if you want more info:

http://www.vivianlostinseoul.blogspot.com/

dgrey1986 · Joined: 08 Aug 2010 Posts: 45 Location: London, England

Calico · Joined: 20 Jun 2010 Posts: 54

Just found out that I'll actually be going in April now. Guess they needed more people earlier, and that suits me just fine, haha.

dgrey1986 · Joined: 08 Aug 2010 Posts: 45 Location: London, England

Calico · Joined: 20 Jun 2010 Posts: 54

Same day. I don't know if I'll be a regular teacher or an online one either. I turned down the ALT thing though because I'm not really into that and they gave me a choice so...haha.

dgrey1986 · Joined: 08 Aug 2010 Posts: 45 Location: London, England

Calico · Joined: 20 Jun 2010 Posts: 54

That's odd. They had me already down as a regular teacher, but then my recruiter contacted me asking me if I was interested in Online or ALT. I told them I was interested in online but not ALT if that was okay and they said that was fine. I guess they have all the people they want and they're just trying to match people up now. They told me I already had a job and they were just trying to pick a position for me.

I'm hoping for an online position because living in Nagoya seems like it would be right up my alley. I interviewed in LA back in November.

dgrey1986 · Joined: 08 Aug 2010 Posts: 45 Location: London, England

Yea its sort of the same for me. They told me that I was successful and now I will just have to wait for them to tell me what position they will give me and where it will be. I don't mind doing the ALT job or working as an Online Teacher because I at least know they will both be in Nagoya. If they make me a PKC teacher I won't know where I will be placed until 4 weeks or so before I depart. My preference request was somewhere near Tokyo or Osaka so hopefully they can grant it if they give me the PKC position.

Calico · Joined: 20 Jun 2010 Posts: 54

I didn't want to be an ALT teacher which was one of the reasons why I signed up with PKC and turned down Interac (who had also offered me a job) and would rather be a regular PKC teacher than that. The only pro to that for me would be knowing I was in Nagoya. For placement I pretty much just told them that north of Kansai was better for me but otherwise I was open. I originally asked about Hokkaido but it sounds like they're full there so I'll find out soon enough I guess. The only reason why I would want to know sooner than later is so I can better prepare what I pack.