Job Discussion Forums

[Mamasita516]

Is there any one there who started with the big 4 and went on to do more teaching beyond that (ie, post certification)?

I am really scarred because pretty much everyone in here (and, from what I hear, even the students) seems to have a lot of disdain for the big 4 teachers . Not everyone is doing it for a paid vacation. For those of you who weren't/aren't, and started in the big 4, how do you feel about big 4 teachers?

[PAULH]

[scrying]

i started at nova in 2003, stayed for a year and a half, left to get a TEFL cert in europe and came back after dealing with the frustrations of being non-EU in western europe.
i would actually disagree with Paul on whether or not you can pay for a tefl course with an eikawa salary (it's more a matter of making sure you budget yourself in the time you're there). going to grad school? that would be hard, particularly if you have any sort of debt load that you are trying to pay at home. again, it wouldn't be impossible, but you would have to skimp your rear off to save for it properly.

i am by no means a nova apologist, but i (generally) liked my time there, and seem to have made a positive enough impression on a number of students that they still mention me, and i still keep in touch with several. frankly, it's a crap shoot. you could have a great time, you could go through hell and back. i have friends who work for all of the "big 4" (except aeon...i still have never met one of their teachers in 2 and a half years, strange), and they'd pretty much tell you the same, it's a way into the country, and then what you do afterwards is up to you. I am currently doing an ALT gig, and due to the flexibility of the schools I work with, enjoying it a fair deal. We'll see if this transfers to when I move to Nagoya or not. after awhile i would like to at least get a DELTA, and then decide if i want to remain here or do tefl in the states (one advantage i do have over a situation like paul's is that i do not have a family to support, which does of course affect many a decision)

so in regards to your question, if my point hasn't been made, you can be respected as an eikawa teacher, but you're best off using it to step on to other things. good luck to you...

[Zzonkmiles]

I worked at NOVA for almost two years before getting a better job at a technical college.

Before I say anything else, let me first say that I think most people start off working at the Big 4 because there are not so many options that'll get you to Japan if you are currently living in a foreign country. So many people are working for the Big 4 out of necessity, not by choice.

The reason why Big 4 teachers are generally not so highly regarded is because they are generally not "teachers" per se, but rather hired "conversation partners." The only requirement you need for employment at the Big 4 is that you are a native English speaker with a college degree. You don't have to have any formal TEFL training or teaching credentials. Actually, such qualifications might be to your disadvantage at a NOVA or a GEOS, since you might be more "trained" in teaching than your bosses and face their wrath if you try to "be innovative" with your approach to their established teaching methods, which are often crap.

Requirements for employment at a high school, private school, technical college, international school, university, or corporation offering business English classes are far more stringent. These jobs often require prior experience working in Japan, Japanese speaking/reading ability, graduate degrees (or at least a bachelor's degree in a subject related to linguistics, English, or teaching), the ability to design your own lesson materials (instead of relying on NOVA's "teach by numbers" formula), and a more rigorous interview process. For some of these positions, work experience gained at the Big 4 is not even considered to be relevant teaching experience. You still get a few slackers ending up with these more demanding jobs, but they are fewer and farther between than at NOVA where you have your clowns on their third and fourth contracts who are still skirt chasing with their students and couldn't explain the difference between active and passive voice even if a case of beer was on the line.

Big 4 jobs are very different from the other teaching jobs here. Yes, Big 4 jobs might be stressful at times, but compared to the other teaching jobs in Japan, they are far easier to just "cruise through on autopilot" with because very little teaching actually takes place.

Warning! Stereotypes ahead!

The Big 4 basically caters to four types of people:

1. The short term resident (who does 1 or 2 years in Japan at the most and then goes back home; this group includes the less-serious backpackers, well-intentioned people who just want to "experience" Japan, and people saddled with credit card and student loan debt who were lured to Japan because they bought into the myth that they could make loads of cash here)
2. The stereotypical loser who can't get a job elsewhere, including back home (getting a regular paycheck for little work in an environment where you can talk to cute girls everyday is not so bad, right? And in time you can get a promotion too?! Long live NOVA! I'm never going home!)
3. The longer-term, more serious resident (maybe will stay in Japan for 3-5 years [or become a lifer] and is using the Big 4 as a way to get their training and teaching experience and pay their dues, so to speak, before trading up and getting a better job; some of these people are indeed already qualified teachers, but are just playing the game they have to play before they plot their big escape and find a more lucrative job elsewhere in Japan)
4. (See the post by PaulH's that follows this one)

So, you could argue that the Big 4 basically caters to transients, misfits, apprentices, and people who are just biding their time. So, fairly or unfairly, it's easy to see why respect does not follow Big 4 teachers around in Japan.

[PAULH]

Zzonk. What happened to number 4? You might want to add the foreign spouse of a Japanese national who just wants some part time fill-in work that fits around the kids and family. I knew one or two mothers working at NOVA.

Most of the people there when I was there (and I dont think it changes that much over time) is the colllege frat pack & party crowd; the Japanophile who soaks up the atmosphere while he/she studies Japanese. The too-long-in-the-tooth skill-less gaijin who is now a foreign assistant manager with an oversized ego, fancy job title and as you mention, would be an assistant trainee supermarket manager on nightshift at Safeways if he ever went back home.

[Mamasita516]

Thank you all for your answers, as they do make me feel a bit better. I am not sure if I want to make a career out of teaching English in Japan, but I definitely am serious about what I am (hopefully, if I get the job) doing when I get out there. If I love it, like I think I will, then I want to take it further, but the fear I had was being treated like garbage because I teach for one of the big 4.

[PAULH]