Job Discussion Forums

[ontheroad]

Has anyone worked for Westgate, teaching at a university, and then gone on to get a full-time university teaching job?

I'm wondering if experience at Westgate would help, or maybe hinder, my future prospects for finding a full-time university job.

I've got an MA in English linguistics, and 5 years TEFL experience in Japan with adults (before the MA).

Any general info on Westgate would be appreciated as well, as the website makes it look like marginally glorified eikaiwa for less money than JET.

[teacher4life]

With Westgate, you work AT a university, not FOR a university. The difference will be lost on a few, but not many.

They are just as cheap sht as Interac.

Avoid Westgate.

[steki47]

On the other hand, friends of mine who teach at unis here said that working at Westgate can help put uni work on your resume. Everybody hates that company as they see it encroaching on one of the best fields in EFL here, though.

[teacheratlarge]

There are tiers of people at universities, but yes it is a way to get your foot in the door and meet some people who do work directly for unis.

Those tiers are:

tenured full timers

tenured part-timers

contract full timers

part-timers

dispatch teachers * (Westgate/Interac, etc.

Some people float between types of positions, especially contract full time and part-time lecturer posts.

The OP doesn't mention if he or she has any publications, these are useful for getting into a lot of part-time posts now.

[Inflames]

I've filtered resumes at my job (a senmon gakko) and I would pretty much put people with just Westgate or ECC (as they send people to unis as well) towards the bottom - I'd be more inclined to go with someone who was a direct hire at a high school than them. For the record, I've taught at a uni through a dispatch company before.

I would put them towards the bottom for two reasons. The first is that they have no experience with the actual administrative side of working at a school - they don't know about the meetings or paperwork (which are quite important). The second is that they likely have no experience with choosing a textbook, planning a curriculum, and making tests. When told to teach something on a particular day they might be able to come up with a good 90 minute lesson, but that doesn't mean they can choose a textbook and come up with 15 90 minute lessons.

One more thing is that Westgate and the others are basically only teaching conversation lessons. At a university, teachers teach lots of other different lessons (from the people I know, most of their work is something other than conversation classes). In addition, there are lots of people with Master's degrees out there.

It depends on one's age and goals, but IMO working as a contract professor (not tenured) isn't worth it at a university. The pay is a joke compared to what you could make part-time working at a few different places.

[ontheroad]

Thanks everyone for the input!

[mitsui]

Never heard of a tenured part time teacher.

I think things will get worse as I read about a teacher who now will get five years at a university, even though he is part time.
So after five years, he will be let go.

Whether it is better to teach part time or on a contract, but full time is debatable.
It isn`t always easy to put together enough jobs to make a good salary, unless you live around Tokyo.
If all you want is money, go for it.

[currentaffairs]

Yes, tenured part-time probably means someone who has worked at a university for more than 5 years. After this point, he/she is kind of 'tenured' in that he/she can't be sacked unless something 'bad' happens. But, what can happen is that a university will cut your hours from 12 to 6, and then the next year from 6 to 2, and this happens a lot...

Westgate are okay. Nothing that will improve your CV, though. With a MA in a related field you should be aiming higher!

[willill]

I worked at westgate for 2 years, in their accredited program. And overall i thought it was pretty good.�A lot depends on which university you get placed at. In my humble opinion this board tends to me overly negative on westgate.

The accredited program involves teaching real university courses required for those students to graduate. Westgate's cirriculum is hit and miss, but because there is little direct supervision there is enormous room for creativity. And even the choice to change a lesson completely if the instructor deems it necessary. �

To answer the op's main question, two of my co-workers who were at the same uni as me with westgate now teach full time at universities in japan directly. This wouldnt have happened without the university experience they gained through westgate. Such experience can boost a resume immensely. Many if not all �japanese universities require university teaching experience and many will consider your westgate experience to be actual university teaching experience. Just depends on the hiring university i guess.

[mitsui]

I guess it is true.

I know one teacher who got a university job in Tokyo.
He had worked at Westgate for a semester, and I think it did help him get his job. In fact he may not even have a MA.

[Solar Strength]

Yes, it will help.

Many of these teachers get to know the Japanese professors that do the hiring and, if they are doing a great job, will sometimes be given a contract position with the university.

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

[Inflames]

[Mr_Monkey]

[Solar Strength]