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KnockoutNed
Joined: 03 Dec 2009
Posts: 87
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 Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2011 6:18 pm Post subject: Thoughts on this job offer (part II) |
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*26 teaching hours a week.
Mon to Fri:3:55-8:30 (4 lessons each)
Sat:1:55-6:30 (4 lessons)
(2-hour lesson for infants on Wed or Sat morning)
*The salary is 254000 yen a month.
*Sponsorship for a visa.
*Accommodation just across from the school, rent is 30000 yen a month for one person plus utilities. The accommodation is a house and big enough for 2 people.
Vacations: summer and winter: 16-17days each ( we will guarantee to pay 70-75% of the basic salary)
spring and golden-week: about 1 week each (this will be paid 100%)
I'm thinking this is a good job for me to get started with in Japan. Once there I could look around at other options |
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inuzuki8605
Joined: 01 Dec 2010
Posts: 98
Location: America
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| Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2011 6:31 pm Post subject: |
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| What company is it with? You don't mind working 6 days a week? Or is it the possible days you could work? |
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KnockoutNed
Joined: 03 Dec 2009
Posts: 87
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| Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2011 6:55 pm Post subject: |
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| Pretty sure it would be 6 days a week. Not ideal but I'd be willing to do it... |
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inuzuki8605
Joined: 01 Dec 2010
Posts: 98
Location: America
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| Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2011 7:06 pm Post subject: |
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| Well it doesn't sound half bad if you don't mind working that much. I'm guessing it's an Eikawa with the work hours. Someone like them, some don't. |
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Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
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| Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2011 10:03 pm Post subject: |
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Not a horrible description (but a 2-hour session with tiny tots sounds like a nightmare; get more description on that one). Average pay for the past few decades and the same general hours (although they are probably stretching the roster of teachers to offer you a 6-day work week).
No mention of health insurance?
You don't mind getting paid partial salary for vacation days? |
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KnockoutNed
Joined: 03 Dec 2009
Posts: 87
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| Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2011 1:52 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks for your thoughts Glenski
I spoke to them again today and discovered that I would have shared accommodation. This is a drag for me because I'm the type of person who really needs their own private space.
Anyone else have any experience with shared accommodation? It would be in a house.
hmmm.... |
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inuzuki8605
Joined: 01 Dec 2010
Posts: 98
Location: America
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| Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2011 2:25 pm Post subject: |
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It could be that you just share the Kitchen and living area, but have your own room and maybe your own bathroom.
Have you done a forum search for the company itself? |
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KnockoutNed
Joined: 03 Dec 2009
Posts: 87
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| Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2011 2:47 pm Post subject: |
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| inuzuki8605 wrote: |
It could be that you just share the Kitchen and living area, but have your own room and maybe your own bathroom.
Have you done a forum search for the company itself? |
Yeah, I would have my own room. We would share the kitchen and living area. Not to sound like an a** but I just feel like I would immediately be obligated to hangout with this person all the time.
And I did do a search but with no luck 
How about you inuzuki? Are you currently in Japan or are you searching like me? If it is the latter I wish you luck  |
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taffer
Joined: 03 Nov 2006
Posts: 50
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2011 3:30 pm Post subject: Recipe for a HELL casserole? |
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You may get really lucky and find yourself sharing with a seasoned pro/ fired up newbie, a person who might enlighten and inspire you on some level. The sad fact is, sharing goes against your grain as well as my own. You are looking down the barrel of a broken contract based on your inablility to deal.
The problems for starters will be: respect for differing lifestyles, drinking habits, smoking, relationships, and definitions of cleanliness. You just can't be happy with someone you are thrown together with, though the fact is- that you will feel that same sense of chaos in what you are assigned daily teaching TEFL and that is par for the course. The difference is, a class is an hour. A roomie is by far more of a chunk of your day.
Don't do it. Try your best to find another job. Failing that, take this job, get your visa and look for better, leaving with proper notice of course.
Best of luck! |
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KnockoutNed
Joined: 03 Dec 2009
Posts: 87
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| Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2011 4:10 pm Post subject: Re: Recipe for a HELL casserole? |
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| taffer wrote: |
Don't do it. Try your best to find another job. Failing that, take this job, get your visa and look for better, leaving with proper notice of course.
Best of luck! |
Everything you said in your post was spot-on. The woman at the school told me that I would come over on a tourist visa, then apply for the sponsorship through the school. She said this process takes about 2 months. Does this sound right? She basically told me it's illegal but that many schools do it in Japan.
I have no idea what I will do. If I had an apartment I would definitely accept the position... on the other hand I could just deal with it while I look for something else. The only problem with that is burning the school. I have always been loyal to my employers and I don't want to bail on them and the kids I'll be teaching. I guess a proper notice would settle all of this.
In the meantime I'll continue applying for other positions |
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taffer
Joined: 03 Nov 2006
Posts: 50
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2011 4:31 pm Post subject: Straight, no chaser with a dab of poetic wax. |
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Here goes, Ned.
Take the job.
1. 6 days a week. I did it in Korea in my heyday, 1994. I got PAID. I had the energy for it, so it was fine. Honestly, it was a blast. Korea was no picnic then. But I found a bunch of misfits I could identify with and have those guys in my life to this day.
2. You are right about not doing runners on a job. You sign a paper, you commit. I should have been as stand up as you seem to be. I wasn't. Ran all over the globe with little regard to commitments made. It is not something I am proud of.
3. Throw your dice. It may be half bad. Which aint bad at all these days. A job in Japan is not easy to come by. The rewards are great, I assure you.
Whatever happens, smile even when you don't feel like smiling and be a gracious ambassador along the way. You came out here to touch lives. We are pebbles thrown into the river, making ripples. We play our part. Play yours to the hilt.
Last edited by taffer on Wed Jan 12, 2011 4:47 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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inuzuki8605
Joined: 01 Dec 2010
Posts: 98
Location: America
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| Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2011 4:42 pm Post subject: |
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| KnockoutNed wrote: |
| inuzuki8605 wrote: |
It could be that you just share the Kitchen and living area, but have your own room and maybe your own bathroom.
Have you done a forum search for the company itself? |
Yeah, I would have my own room. We would share the kitchen and living area. Not to sound like an a** but I just feel like I would immediately be obligated to hangout with this person all the time.
And I did do a search but with no luck
How about you inuzuki? Are you currently in Japan or are you searching like me? If it is the latter I wish you luck |
I'm searching for work, like you. ^_^ As I search, on gaijinpot and other sources, it looks like all the really good jobs want people who already live in japan. So I'm sure that the possibilities will open up once you get there. (not saying that you should take that job). I think you can do a bit better than that, honestly. It just seems like there is too much wrong and too many dislikes about the position. If you are going to go to a foreign land, you should, at the very least, have your own space and no that you are legal when you get there. Having a "built in buddy" can be a god send of a bad dream and most of the time, it ends up being the latter. So that's something to think about...
Good Luck to you too! ^_^ |
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seklarwia
Joined: 20 Jan 2009
Posts: 1546
Location: Monkey onsen, Nagano
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| Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2011 10:18 pm Post subject: |
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| inuzuki8605 wrote: |
| If you are going to go to a foreign land, you should, at the very least, have your own space and no that you are legal when you get there. Having a "built in buddy" can be a god send of a bad dream and most of the time, it ends up being the latter. So that's something to think about... |
I guess it depends on how old you are. I'm a person who likes her own space but I wouldn't be against trying out a house share with a complete stranger as long as their was no obligation in the job contract to stay in that house i.e. I can move out and find my own place if I can't stand the person.
I've done it a number of times in my life: During my uni time I did it with 6 sets of people since being being a foreign languages major I had to move many times in my 4 years. I then did it twice in China although by my final semester I told my employer that I didn't want a flat-mate which they easily allowed because I had proven myself quite invaluable. I even played mother to foreign 6th form students who had come to go to school in England for 6 months and had other live-in EFL students besides until 2008.
Some of the people I have lived with have been great, others a complete nightmare (forget cleaning issues; I lived with a girl who was constantly bringing in crazy foreign guys that she met in chatrooms and lying to us about how she knew these guys. We only realised when one of the more normal ones told us...). It wasn't all bad and I made a lot of fantastic long-term friends, but when it was bad, it was definately character building 
But I digress. Point is, if you like the job offer itself and are not obligated to stay in the house they provide, you might as well try it out and then move out if it doesn't work out.
However, the thing with the visa in this case would give my cause for concern... |
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inuzuki8605
Joined: 01 Dec 2010
Posts: 98
Location: America
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| Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2011 10:24 pm Post subject: |
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| seklarwia wrote: |
| inuzuki8605 wrote: |
| If you are going to go to a foreign land, you should, at the very least, have your own space and no that you are legal when you get there. Having a "built in buddy" can be a god send of a bad dream and most of the time, it ends up being the latter. So that's something to think about... |
I guess it depends on how old you are. I'm a person who likes her own space but I wouldn't be against trying out a house share with a complete stranger as long as their was no obligation in the job contract to stay in that house i.e. I can move out and find my own place if I can't stand the person.
I've done it a number of times in my life: During my uni time I did it with 6 sets of people since being being a foreign languages major I had to move many times in my 4 years. I then did it twice in China although by my final semester I told my employer that I didn't want a flat-mate which they easily allowed because I had proven myself quite invaluable. I even played mother to foreign 6th form students who had come to go to school in England for 6 months and had other live-in EFL students besides until 2008.
Some of the people I have lived with have been great, others a complete nightmare (forget cleaning issues; I lived with a girl who was constantly bringing in crazy foreign guys that she met in chatrooms and lying to us about how she knew these guys. We only realised when one of the more normal ones told us...). It wasn't all bad and I made a lot of fantastic long-term friends, but when it was bad, it was definately character building
But I digress. Point is, if you like the job offer itself and are not obligated to stay in the house they provide, you might as well try it out and then move out if it doesn't work out.
However, the thing with the visa in this case would give my cause for concern... |
You have a good point. But the problem with doing that in Japan is the amount of money it costs to move. With key money and the deposit and everything else, it could be a bit costly.... |
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Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
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| Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2011 10:30 pm Post subject: Re: Recipe for a HELL casserole? |
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| KnockoutNed wrote: |
| Everything you said in your post was spot-on. The woman at the school told me that I would come over on a tourist visa, then apply for the sponsorship through the school. She said this process takes about 2 months. Does this sound right? |
The time frame is right, but there is no reason she should have to ask you to come here without starting the process today. None! I don't care if she lost a teacher due to some horrible circumstances in his family back home which meant he had to leave yesterday. Be up and up and start the process when you agree to hire someone.
| Quote: |
| She basically told me it's illegal but that many schools do it in Japan. |
Yeah, so she wants you to actually work illegally? Uh, think about it. That should take you about a nanosecond. If she is really that disreputable this early in the game, what do you think she will do to you later on?
Look, some employers rush teachers over like you described. Then, the teacher works illegally, thinking the visa process has started, but not knowing that it hasn't. The employer keeps fending off questions about the visa with claims of "delays in processing" or "mistakes", until the poor schmuck has overstayed his tourist status. Result?
1. Company has just gotten free or low-salary teacher with no visa sponsorship obligations.
2. Teacher is forced to leave the country, but having overstayed is also risking problems big and small with immigration, including deportation, fines, incarceration, and being blacklisted from returning to Japan for 5 years.
Do you really think the employer will care?
DON'T take this job! |
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