Job Discussion Forums

[stumptowny]

So who all is working now until 16:30 without a salary raise? Bueller?

[rxk22]

What happened? Did then extend ALT hours in your area? I'd join the union if I worked for any of those monkey companies

[nicenicegaijin]

I personally would not bother joining the union and just get a better job. These jobs are just entry level jobs meant for people who just want to come to Japan to experience it and those are the candidates they want to attract.

If due to laziness, lack of forward planning, lack of ambition or lack of intelligence and found myself stuck in either eikaiwa, or ALTing or direct hire English teacher, I would join a union.

I have never needed to join a union, even at the university jobs I have done, I haven't needed to join. If a problem arose at work I would join though. I know of a few people who have been in NAMBU and they have won cases. One was a manager at a dispatch company who was fired, he stayed at home for about 6 months in the end the dispatch company had to re-hire him and pay him for the 6 months he sat at home.

[stumptowny]

Interesting. Zues, what happened here?

[weigookin74]

If you go to a school and are well liked, especially by the kids, can't you just ask to be hired directly after the first year? Just tell your school straight up about the BS the dispatches put you through and you don'twant to go through that and if they want you to stay to get the prinipcal to call the education office on your behalf. Otherwise, it's time to move on.

[nightsintodreams]

Nope. There's a clause in the contracts which specifically states that you cannot do that. Something about conflicts of interest, working for a competitor...bla bla bla.

Whether such a clause is legal or not is irrelevant, the Japanese schools and BOEs abide by such rules and so wont employ you.

Anyway, most of the places that use dispatch companies simply don't want the hassle of dealing with foreigners, not matter how good they are at Japanese or teaching.

[fluffyhamster]

[marley'sghost]

[fluffyhamster]

Well, if the schools keep getting a new AET every year or indeed every term, chances are there's going to be trouble sooner or later, and fat lot of good it'll do blaming the dispatcher. A fair few schools must see a number of reasonably good AETs come and go, and think to themselves "Better the foreign devil we knew last year than the one we've now got! If only...".

[marley'sghost]

Remember that, at least in the public schools, teacher/staff transfers are as natural as the changing of the seasons. I've been working at my current schools for 7 years now. Out of the 60+ teachers at my schools, there are maybe....10 max, who were here when I started. About 5-6 years is the average tenure I'd say. Having a new ALT every year is often just sort of the norm. It's always a new "devil". The idea that an ALT (or really any foreign worker) is going to stick around for longer than 2-3 years at most, is one that Japan in general has yet to get it's collective head around.

[fluffyhamster]

Oh, I wouldn't want or expect to stay in the same position for years and years (unless it was a case of developing and improving a unique English programme or something). I'm just saying that for what the BOEs pay these intermediate exploiters, they are getting very bad value in terms of retaining any quality at all. Nobody is going to stick around for a further race to the bottom.

Why is it so difficult to identify an AET or two with nous, make them direct hires with responsibility for further hiring, and hey presto waste and various other problems solved. A lot more cities should do this than just flush the same or more money straight into some fatcat's pockets.

So, no iron ricebowl necessary, but decent pay and a few benefits (uncontested nenkyu, possibly NHI contributions) wouldn't go amiss.

[mitsui]

They want young, ignorant teachers who don't know Japanese.
Some people think that teachers get tired of Japan after three years,
so they must be kept young and fresh.
Young females are what they want, so if a male teacher doesn't get a contract, hopefully a female teacher will.


If you know Japanese at my level, it becomes threatening, since I can teach by myself. Plus I am in a union.

[mitsui]

Plus they want you to play a role and they don't want you to think and ask questions.
You cannot be treated as an equal since you are second class to them.

Also, some teachers won't be liked, so you could even be gossiped about.
This happens if you get a reputation for being strict or kowai.
It is more important if the NETs class is liked than if the students actually learn.
So the idea is that new teachers are easier to handle.

[timothypfox]

nicenicegaijin, I'm surprised you haven't needed a union given your continual condescending and self-aggrandizing character on these forums (ad hominem attack intended). But your judgemental character aside, people do get stuck sometimes at lower paying jobs despite forward planning and thinking ahead. Also, not everyone has "failed" if they don't teach at a university. The adjacent campus connected to my high school had a recent job opening, but I did not consider moving over there because the work looked quite frankly much less interesting for me.

[steki47]