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yamahuh
Joined: 23 Apr 2004
Posts: 1033
Location: Karaoke Hell
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 Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2011 1:17 am Post subject: |
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Good for you Rooster - glad things are finally working out for you after all your hassles on La Isla Formosa. I'm very curious to be updated on your progress over there.
Sent you a PM. |
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Ikki
Joined: 31 Jan 2011
Posts: 58
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| Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 7:27 am Post subject: |
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Not to get too off topic but since it's already been mentioned...
The "Gloomy Gus"(so to speak)at the Japan forums raises the ire of some because he tells them truths they don't want to hear. Sure, I've disagreed with him on occasion, but GENERALLY "Gloomy Gus" is correct when he asserts:
a)Being in Japan while job hunting greatly increases your chances of getting a gig(the OP admits he was in Japan when he landed a job).
b) Having experience in places other than Japan generally counts for jack. It might even hurt your chances.
c) Employers generally prefer you already have a visa.
d) The EFL market is saturated and salaries have not merely stagnated but regressed.
So before the OP rages triumphalist because he landed a Japanese gig, let's remember that he hasn't exactly landed in Shangri-la. Quarter milllion a month? You can live on it but you won't exactly be socking cash away, travelling much, and getting the most out of the Japanese experience. Airfare? National health insurance enrollment? Bonus? Probably not.
"Gloomy Gus" is GENERALLY gloomy for a reason. But the OP is invited to come back to this thread in, say, 6 months & tell me(and Gus) how wrong I am. |
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Shimokitazawa
Joined: 16 Aug 2009
Posts: 458
Location: Saigon, Vietnam
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| Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 11:28 am Post subject: |
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| Ikki wrote: |
Not to get too off topic but since it's already been mentioned...
The "Gloomy Gus"(so to speak) at the Japan forums raises the ire of some because he tells them truths they don't want to hear. Sure, I've disagreed with him on occasion, but GENERALLY "Gloomy Gus" is correct when he asserts:
a)Being in Japan while job hunting greatly increases your chances of getting a gig(the OP admits he was in Japan when he landed a job).
b) Having experience in places other than Japan generally counts for jack. It might even hurt your chances.
c) Employers generally prefer you already have a visa.
d) The EFL market is saturated and salaries have not merely stagnated but regressed.
So before the OP rages triumphalist because he landed a Japanese gig, let's remember that he hasn't exactly landed in Shangri-la. Quarter milllion a month? You can live on it but you won't exactly be socking cash away, travelling much, and getting the most out of the Japanese experience. Airfare? National health insurance enrollment? Bonus? Probably not.
"Gloomy Gus" is GENERALLY gloomy for a reason. But the OP is invited to come back to this thread in, say, 6 months & tell me(and Gus) how wrong I am. |
He is no more able to predict whether someone will be successful finding a job than anyone else. In fact, he is a detriment to new people looking for information on TEFL work in Japan. His manner is condescending and he his information misleading. |
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Rooster_2006
Joined: 24 Sep 2007
Posts: 984
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| Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 12:33 pm Post subject: |
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| Ikki wrote: |
Not to get too off topic but since it's already been mentioned...
The "Gloomy Gus"(so to speak)at the Japan forums raises the ire of some because he tells them truths they don't want to hear. Sure, I've disagreed with him on occasion, but GENERALLY "Gloomy Gus" is correct when he asserts:
a)Being in Japan while job hunting greatly increases your chances of getting a gig(the OP admits he was in Japan when he landed a job).
b) Having experience in places other than Japan generally counts for jack. It might even hurt your chances.
c) Employers generally prefer you already have a visa.
d) The EFL market is saturated and salaries have not merely stagnated but regressed.
So before the OP rages triumphalist because he landed a Japanese gig, let's remember that he hasn't exactly landed in Shangri-la. Quarter milllion a month? You can live on it but you won't exactly be socking cash away, travelling much, and getting the most out of the Japanese experience. Airfare? National health insurance enrollment? Bonus? Probably not.
"Gloomy Gus" is GENERALLY gloomy for a reason. But the OP is invited to come back to this thread in, say, 6 months & tell me(and Gus) how wrong I am. |
Oh, I'm not saying I disagree with Gus on everything. In fact, I agree with him on many things. I'm sure the market in Japan is stagnating. Heck, I actually agree with that statement.
However, I disagree with him on the extent to which things have gotten bad, and I disagree with him on some specific points. The gloomy, glum guy makes Japanese EFL sound like a lottery where newbies can only land jobs through luck and random chance, not through credentials or outside-of-Japan experience, and I beg to differ.
For example, I disagree with Gus when he says that J-employers don't look favorably on experience in other countries -- evidence please? I find it very hard to believe that J-employers consider experience in Taiwan, Korea, China, etc. "worse than no experience at all." Sounds like a rumor concocted to protect jobs against the throngs of EFL teachers in Korea, that's what it sounds like to me...
I actually agree with Gus on many things, but I think he exaggerates how bad things have gotten and actively discourages people from coming to Japan, perhaps to protect himself, the union/association he works for, or both.
Finally, the thing that irks me the most about Gus is that he simply sits at his computer everyday cranking out tens of thousands of posts, making it impossible to go anywhere on the Internet and get a Gus-free point of view. He has taken over Dave's, Gaijinpot, and countless other Japan sites -- there is no escape!
Last edited by Rooster_2006 on Thu Apr 07, 2011 2:34 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Rooster_2006
Joined: 24 Sep 2007
Posts: 984
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| Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 12:55 pm Post subject: |
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| Shimokitazawa wrote: |
| Ikki wrote: |
Not to get too off topic but since it's already been mentioned...
The "Gloomy Gus"(so to speak) at the Japan forums raises the ire of some because he tells them truths they don't want to hear. Sure, I've disagreed with him on occasion, but GENERALLY "Gloomy Gus" is correct when he asserts:
a)Being in Japan while job hunting greatly increases your chances of getting a gig(the OP admits he was in Japan when he landed a job).
b) Having experience in places other than Japan generally counts for jack. It might even hurt your chances.
c) Employers generally prefer you already have a visa.
d) The EFL market is saturated and salaries have not merely stagnated but regressed.
So before the OP rages triumphalist because he landed a Japanese gig, let's remember that he hasn't exactly landed in Shangri-la. Quarter milllion a month? You can live on it but you won't exactly be socking cash away, travelling much, and getting the most out of the Japanese experience. Airfare? National health insurance enrollment? Bonus? Probably not.
"Gloomy Gus" is GENERALLY gloomy for a reason. But the OP is invited to come back to this thread in, say, 6 months & tell me(and Gus) how wrong I am. |
He is no more able to predict whether someone will be successful finding a job than anyone else. In fact, he is a detriment to new people looking for information on TEFL work in Japan. His manner is condescending and he his information misleading. |
Well said. |
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JZer
Joined: 16 Jan 2005
Posts: 3898
Location: Pittsburgh
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| Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 2:51 pm Post subject: |
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| Rooster to be honest I think there are the nay sayers on most of the forums. |
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creztor
Joined: 30 Dec 2009
Posts: 476
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| Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 4:25 pm Post subject: |
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| Nay, it isn't true. |
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Ikki
Joined: 31 Jan 2011
Posts: 58
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| Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2011 2:04 am Post subject: |
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Well, I don't know about other sites but at Dave's, so long as Gloomy Gus doesn't violate the TOS, he's free to post a thousand times a day if he so chooses.
I'd LOVE to say he's wrong. I'd LOVE to say the EFL market in Japan(not to mention the rest of E. Asia)is roses & gum drops like it was 20-odd years ago. But when I see job ads like this recent one...
"We are a small eikaiwa in Kobe. To apply to us, send us a full body shot photo. Tell us your religious/political views. We have an apartment for you at 50,000/mo. We offer 200,000/mo. We don't pay more because we find foreigners to be very poor teachers."(I wish I were making this up)
...I believe Gloomy Gus espouses more truths than falsehoods. |
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yamahuh
Joined: 23 Apr 2004
Posts: 1033
Location: Karaoke Hell
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| Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2011 2:33 am Post subject: |
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Wow they're really selling the spot aren't they?
Come work for us - we already don't respect you...
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Rooster_2006
Joined: 24 Sep 2007
Posts: 984
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| Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2011 3:30 am Post subject: |
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| Ikki wrote: |
| Well, I don't know about other sites but at Dave's, so long as Gloomy Gus doesn't violate the TOS, he's free to post a thousand times a day if he so chooses. |
He may be free to do so, but I'm also free not to like him. The guy's posts are everywhere. They're unavoidable. Maybe it's not against the rules for him to do that, but it's also not against the rules for me to be annoyed by his obsessive posts.
| Quote: |
| I'd LOVE to say he's wrong. I'd LOVE to say the EFL market in Japan(not to mention the rest of E. Asia)is roses & gum drops like it was 20-odd years ago. But when I see job ads like this recent one... |
Nobody's saying that it's roses & gum drops. But Gus takes it to a whole new level. Some of the negativity he posts is beyond reality and not verifiable at all.
Yes, the situation in Japan is competitive. But Gus exaggerates how bad things are, and it appears that he is actually altering life plans for teachers who would otherwise want to work in Japan through his misinformation campaign -- teachers who could otherwise find a job and live there reasonably happily.
| Quote: |
| "We are a small eikaiwa in Kobe. To apply to us, send us a full body shot photo. Tell us your religious/political views. We have an apartment for you at 50,000/mo. We offer 200,000/mo. We don't pay more because we find foreigners to be very poor teachers."(I wish I were making this up) |
I think you are making that up, or at least paraphrasing. Source, please? What school would actually type "we find foreigners to be very poor teachers" right in the ad? And what job board moderator would post that ad?
I have no doubt there are Japanese employers who think that or even say it on a casual day-to-day basis, but typing something like that in the ad is ludicrous and I seriously doubt the veracity of your claim that this ad was really posted on a job board.
Besides, a few crappy jobs on job boards prove nothing. I'm sure that even back in 1988 or 1989, there were a few sleazy employers offering 200K yen a month. You have to look at averages, not outliers, to get the whole picture.
| Quote: |
| ...I believe Gloomy Gus espouses more truths than falsehoods. |
Maybe so, but with literally tens out thousands of posts spread among every significant Japan forum, even if only 20% of his posts contain falsehoods, that's still a heck of a lot of falsehoods. And I'm tired of it. Gus has turned himself into a media outlet.
At least with CNN, I can change the channel.
If I don't like the Korea Times, I can go to another site.
If I get tired of Asahi Shimbun, I can read another newspaper.
The problem with the Gus news outlet is that I can't avoid it or turn it off -- it is shoved into my face involuntarily on every Internet forum I visit. My only option to avoid Gus is to simply stop using the Internet, which is not realistic. |
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wangdaning
Joined: 22 Jan 2008
Posts: 3154
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| Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2011 5:35 am Post subject: |
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| Ikki wrote: |
I'd LOVE to say he's wrong. I'd LOVE to say the EFL market in Japan(not to mention the rest of E. Asia)is roses & gum drops like it was 20-odd years ago. But when I see job ads like this recent one.... |
Are you sure it wasn't those who found it to be so 20 years ago who have changed it? In today's EFL market you need to be more skeptical, as an employee or employer. Think, after 20 years of crap coming in, regardless of qualifications, how an employer will look at teachers.
EFL is all about finding the right job. If they ask your political/religious views it is probably not the right job, especially at that pay. This is a statement that is true regardless of country. Don't accept it if it is crap or even if you think it could turn out bad. |
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yamahuh
Joined: 23 Apr 2004
Posts: 1033
Location: Karaoke Hell
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| Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2011 11:50 am Post subject: |
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Errrm - not to be argumentative or anything - but why are you guys on the Taiwanese Forum arguing about Japanese Forum members and Japan's work situation?
Just wonderin'
Hey Rooster - I sent you a PM a few days ago.
Could you reply please? |
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Rooster_2006
Joined: 24 Sep 2007
Posts: 984
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| Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2011 12:49 pm Post subject: |
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| yamahuh wrote: |
Errrm - not to be argumentative or anything - but why are you guys on the Taiwanese Forum arguing about Japanese Forum members and Japan's work situation?
Just wonderin'
Hey Rooster - I sent you a PM a few days ago.
Could you reply please? |
Sorry about that, yamahuh. I will reply.
And it's true, people (yep, including me) are arguing about Japan on the Taiwan forum. I, for one, have said everything I need to say, so I'm going to enjoy the weekend and try to catch up on my Japanese study. |
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Ikki
Joined: 31 Jan 2011
Posts: 58
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| Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2011 1:09 pm Post subject: |
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Good point, yamahuh, but the OP brought it up.
Rooster, your claims to being fluent in Korean are horsehockey.
Oh, what's that? You don't like being called a liar? How's that for a retort?
Listen mate: That job ad I gave was pretty well verbatim. It appeared on the Serious Teachers(oh sweet irony!) recruiting site in January. An extreme example of the crap that's out there? Perhaps. But it goes to show how the market's gone to rat****.
Again, I extend the invitation: come back here in 6 months to let us know how great your Japanese gig is. |
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Rooster_2006
Joined: 24 Sep 2007
Posts: 984
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| Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2011 1:43 pm Post subject: |
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| Ikki wrote: |
Good point, yamahuh, but the OP brought it up.
Rooster, your claims to being fluent in Korean are horsehockey.
Oh, what's that? You don't like being called a liar? How's that for a retort?
Listen mate: That job ad I gave was pretty well verbatim. It appeared on the Serious Teachers(oh sweet irony!) recruiting site in January. An extreme example of the crap that's out there? Perhaps. But it goes to show how the market's gone to rat****.
Again, I extend the invitation: come back here in 6 months to let us know how great your Japanese gig is. |
Sure dude, whatever. I'm going to enjoy my weekend. Toodles! |
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