Job Discussion Forums

[lyssy-pants]

I've been visiting this site for months but I just officially joined. Here's my situation:
I'm an American and my boyfriend is British (he's currently in New Zealand). Neither of us has a teaching qualification, but we have both applied to ECC- him through Adelaide and me through Toronto. I was accepted for an interview on the 20th of April, but he still hasn't heard back. ECC says they are currently recruiting for positions beginning mid-August through November.

I've tried to read through all of the posts that mentioned ECC, but I still have some questions and would be grateful for any help:

1. Assuming that we are both accepted, what are our chances of getting jobs that start in August or early September? He's coming to the US before we head over, but can only stay for so long due to limited funding (assuming that we'll need at least Y250,000 upon arrival to Japan).

2. Where are the ECC schools located? Where should I ask to be placed? My boyfriend was hoping for Kyoto or Nara. What I like in a city: medium-sized population, ability to walk places, VIEWS, parks, local entertainment... think Wellington, NZ if you've been there.

3. Will I move into my apartment when I arrive or after I finish training?

4. Is anyone else on here going to the same interview?

5. Is there anything else I need to know?

Thanks in advance!

[philthychops]

congrats about getting an interview with ECC.

I recently accepted a postion with them. To give you a little idea about the time frame, I went to a hiring session in late February in Toronto and will be on my way to Nagoya in early May. I found out that I got the job 2 weeks after the interview. ECC said that they wait 2 weeks to give you the results of your interview whether the news is good or bad. For my interview, the time frame that they gave me for starting work was late april-july. It really depends on their business needs and the turnover rate with teachers. In the interview you also have a chance to state your ideal starting window. They also take that into consideration when finding a position and a starting date for you.

ECC schools are located in the Kinki (Osaka), Chubu (Nagoya), and Kansai (Tokyo) districts. They also have a couple schools in some smaller urban centers, I believe Hiroshima is one of them. In the interview they ask you if you have a preference for placements. From my experience and from what Ive heard, they do a fairly good job at matching up those preferences. But again, it does come down to their business needs. Im probably not the best person to compare the three cities since Im not in Japan yet. There are however some good posts comapring them.

As for the apartment, from what Ive been told, you move in as soon as you get there. I leave early May so I cant tell you first hand but thats what Im hoping or else Ill be homeless for the first couple of weeks.

There are a lot of good posts on here that describe the ECC interview accurately. Basically its a little Q and A, a 7 min teaching demo, a grammar test, and a one on one friendly chat. Here's some good advice

-know your parts of speech for the grammar test
-know sentence structure
-smile and be energetic during the teaching demo
-keep it simple
-using the board and props went over well in my hiring session
-look interested and ask questions

The grammar test is 100 questions and it is quite tricky. Use common sense and think about what the question is asking. In Toronto you dont find out if you passed or failed but with all honesty, my grammar stinks and I still got hired so I guess that means I passed.

Cheers and good luck

[Dominique]

1.August is a good time as it's summer vacation for teachers and some of them either don't return or they leave soon after because they are homesick, but it really depends on if they need teachers or not. Another good time is December/January.

2. ECC schools are located at pretty much every major train station. I worked for ECC in Kinki (Osaka) and my schools were: Toyonaka, Namba, Awaji, Yao and Nishinomiya. This is just to give you an idea of the various places you will probably have to teach. Kyoto is great if you love sightseeing. There are tons of temples, but if you are into night life, Osaka is much better, especially if you are close to Namba. Nara is a nice area as well, but it's more secluded I think.

3. You will move into an apartment, don't you worry. But you may have to move again depending if you are placed in Okayama or Hiroshima or even Miyazaki. Training takes place in the major cities, then you will be placed elsewhere if that's what they have planned for you.

5. You chose a good company to apply to, Good Luck!

[/b]

[Apsara]

Just wanted to say re philthychops' post that Tokyo isn't in Kansai, (means "west of the barrier") it's in Kanto, ("east of the barrier") in case this was confusing anyone.

Kyoto, Osaka and Nara are in Kansai, and also in Kinki district- I have never figured out the distinction here- does anyone know the difference?

[Jazz1975]

[sallycat]

[lyssy-pants]

Thanks to everyone for your input- it's been a great help to me!

[Birdog3344]

One more quick note: As you're asking to be placed as a couple your location is a bit more limited, I believe ECC doesn't place couples in Kyoto.