Job Discussion Forums

[dynastar]

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]

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

[dgrey1986]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

[Calico]

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]