Job Discussion Forums

[njs]

Hi Everyone,

I've been offered interviews with NOVA, GEOS, AEON, and ECC so now I'm trying to decide which ones I want to work for. I'm looking at working with these companies as a kind of "foot in the door" to teaching in Japan since the living situation is taken care of. Does anyone have any advice or warnings? From my reading, it seems that a lot of people are extremely bitter about NOVA, but I haven't heard as much about the other 3.
Also, how does it work if the company sponsors my visa? If I quit the company, do I still have the visa and can move on to another job? Or does my sponsored visa totally rely on my employment with the company? How difficult is it to find another company to sponsor my visa?

I would be really happy to hear other people's ideas. Thanks!

[Glenski]

Have you read the job discussion forum on this web site? It has some good tidbits by people who have worked for all of those places. You'll find that generally speaking...

AEON and ECC are the best of the big 4. AEON offers the best rental package.

GEOS's main problems are inconsistent management (by foreigners who are constantly changing) and lots of paperwork on individual students.

NOVA's main problems are overpriced & shared housing (see www.teachinginjapan.com for a recent thread on this), and their non-fraternization policy with students.

I suggest you compare each place's web site info. I made an Excel sheet to do this with info taken directly from their FAQs.

In Japan, if you quit a job, your visa follows you. How difficult it may be to find a second employer depends on the same factors as when you got your initial job (location, time of year, type of place you are looking for), but in a general sense, it may be easier because you will be in Japan and available for interviews, and you will already have a visa in hand (although it will have to be renewed in order to finish a second one-year contract).

[Guest]

Glenski's point about the GEOS managers was not entirely accurate (sorry). The in-school managers are Japanese, sometimes with minimal English, and are rotated to different schools typically every six months or so. It's a bit of a lottery as to whether you get a good one and if you do you won't be able to keep her for long.

I don't think there's really a question of consistency in foreign trainers or area leaders. The issues usually arise re the Japanese managers.

[Glenski]

katy,

Sorry to disagree with you, but perhaps we're not talking about the same terminology. My friends who used to work at GEOS have told me numerous stories about the foreign managers (or whatever they are called), not Japanese ones. These foreigners, from their experiences, are power-crazed poorly-trained people who are only interested in getting ahead (their opinion, not mine). From what my friends have said, these foreign managers have a short lifespan, too, and constantly changing such people wreaks havoc on the stability of any office situation. I'm sure these people have Japanese bosses, but it's the foreign positions that I was referring to in my earlier post.

[Guest]

Glenski - I may have some idea of what you're talking about, but I didn't see that as a huge problem. It can depend on how well your school does in meeting it's targets. Sometimes it feels like their job is just to hassle the teachers to get more renewals. If your school is doing well they don't give you so much grief. However, it's the Japanese mangers that the teachers deal with on a a daily basis. I guess it just depends on the experiences of individuals.

[Vince]

I worked for ECC for a few years and enjoyed it. It's a good company as far as conversation schools go, and they take decent care of their teachers. Other than helping you to find a place, they don't offer housing assistance.