Job Discussion Forums

[sidjameson]

My niece is having a few problems. She has dropped out of her first year after choosing the wrong university. She is 19, smart, likeable, hard worker and very good at languages. I guess as it's Japan it doesnt hurt that she is blond and quite attractive.
She wants to come here on a WHV and has asked me what her chances are. Well of course I can help her to an extent. The thing is though I really dont know what a 19 yr olds chances are. Anybody in that age bracket care to comment? Would she get a job in a language school? I think she may have an overly positive view of this country cuz her uncle has done quite well for himself:) On the other hand..........A mature, pretty well mannered girl must be able to get somewhere right.

[PAULH]

[abufletcher]

Forget Japan! You need to be using all of your Uncle's influence to get her back in college! This "dropped out of the wrong university" stuff is nonsense. Get her back into a community college for a couple of years and then back to a 4-year school.

My own very strong opinion (as a teacher, expat, AND a parent of college aged kids) is that if you can't make it through college you shouldn't even think of going overseas. College just ain't that tough! You don't have to be smart. You don't have to be rich. And you don't even really have to work that hard. All that's really required in the right attitude and a certain amount of perserverence.

If she really really really feels she needs to "drop out for a year" to get her head together that's one thing. But every year she's out of college increases the likelihood that she'll never go back.

[Hoser]

Well my own idea obviously wasn't appealling to the "higher powers's" tastes despite the original poster's obvious insistence at how young and pretty she was. Oh well, you could always disown her if she doesnt go back to college.

[Apsara]

Sorry, double post.

[Apsara]

I worked for Nova part time on a WH visa, starting when I was 20, however I had finished university by that time, I just hadn't had the graduation ceremony (Finished young because NZ has 3-year BAs and I skipped a year somewhere back in primary school.) I had to lie about my age to students because understandably most are not impressed to be taking lessons from someone so young. I have also met 19-year old WHV people working for Gaba, who pay poorly but take almost anyone.

I agree however with some of the above posters, while I obviously don't know her exact situation, university was a lot more fun than working for Nova and if she is discouraged enough to quit after just a year at university how would she feel after a couple of months of repetitious Nova lessons, being made to wear a suit and commute on crowded trains?

[sidjameson]

Thanks for the replies. Actually I do know her situation well and she will definitly be goin back to university next year.
Aspara..........how easy is it for 19 year olds to get part time work at Nova, do you rekon? What is the hourly rate there and at Gaba? How many hours would she get?
I only mentioned her personal qualities as obviuosly if a school is the type that wants a bright young face rather than an actual teacher she woud stand a better chance the brighter she is.

[PAULH]

[Apsara]

PaulH, you said "Gaba pay is around 1200 yen an hour for a 45-minute lesson", which could be misleading as they pay by the lesson not the hour.

Before tax it is 1350 yen per lesson (I seem to remember the lessons being 40 mins but it's been a few years) which works out to about 2000 yen per hour. I often see 1350 yen an hour quoted by people on this board but that's obviously wrong.

My feeling is that Nova would be reluctant to hire a 19-year-old- how soon does she turn 20?

If she can communicate reasonably well Gaba will probably hire her- they are mostly in the Kanto area, I want to point out.

Gaba is an easy job as you teach one-to-one only, they have a bad reputation in general but if all someone wants to do is earn a bit of extra money for not a lot of effort then they're fine, as long as you stick to the dress code and students don't complain, you can go in, teach your lessons and leave and not take any of your job home with you. Flexible schedule was good too.

[PAULH]

[sidjameson]

Wow!!!!!!!! Have things really become that bad? 1200 yen a lesson
8 years ago in Osaka when I arrived there was nothing advertised at less than 3000.
Who on earth would work in Japan for anything less than 3000 an hour, ok 2500, other than as a tourist who just wants to see the country?
Everybody moans about the low wages in Thailand, but I tell you what, I'd rather be there earning 80k yen a month than here earning 150 or even 200k. Living I mean. Japan is still a great place to see for a year.
Umm seems like my niece is in for some bad news.

[Apsara]

As a *ahem* 2 year veteran of Gaba, (my excuse is that I was working towards becoming a yoga teacher at the time, money wasn't an issue, schedule flexibility was) here is the lowdown- lessons are scheduled with 5-minute breaks (yes that's only 5- I became a master of the lightning toilet dash, believe me) in between, so in 1 hour you complete 1 lesson and 15 mins of the next, making the hourly pay higher than the per lesson rate.

It's possible you might not have a lesson scheduled in a particular time slot, in which case you don't get paid, but you don't have to hang around either- you are free to leave the building.

The whole day is like that- I can't remember the exact times but I used to teach about 5 lessons a day (I was free to choose how many I wanted to teach) so I would start at let's say 15.00, 1st lesson 15.00- 15.40, 2nd 15.45- 16.25, 3rd 16.30-17.10, 4th 17.15- 17.55, 5th 18.00- 18.40, go home. I'm pretty convinced the lessons were 40 mins. Typing up brief student comments was supposed to be done with the student in the last 5 mins of the class. If you teach more than 5 lessons there's an unpaid one-lesson break in the middle somewhere.

It is truly the eikaiwa equivalent of working at McDonalds- low paid, sometimes horribly boring, sometimes fun, very easy, not really English teaching at all of course, although many students do actually improve, really! I actually preferred it to Nova because the students were more motivated- they pay through the nose, although the teacher sees little of that, and I really dislike teaching kids- love playing with them, don't want to be responsible for their language acquisition!

I just wanted to set the record straight re the hourly rate/ per lesson rate thing.

[Perpetual Traveller]

Maybe she could consider working as an au pair, yes the pay is less but you don't have to worry about expenses like rent and food. Quite a few famillies who would be looking would be expats so culture shock would be lessened.

Check this out for some examples

PT

[PAULH]

I have just seen this advertised on Gaijinpot where people on working holiday visas can work as lowly paid interns at international hotels in japan. This means doing such jobs as busboys, pool guards, cleaners, waiting staff for large hotels. No housekeeping or specialised work is involved.

Pay is 800-1000 yen an hour and dormitory style accomodation and meals are provided. Only those who can get a working holiday visa can apply and no degree is needed.

Might be more up her alley.

http://www.jhip.org/faq.html

[FuzzX]

All this `you need more education` is just bs. Tell her to take the TESOL and she can go anywhere and teach anyone. She doesn`t need a degree or anything past highschool. Tell her to go somewhere easy first like China or Mexico, get her first year of teaching in and then she can apply just about anywhere ESPECIALLY JAPAN. To teach anywhere in the world you just need to be smart about what you do and how you do it. A degree doesnt mean your smart, educated or know how to teach, it just means you sat in a chair listening to boring lectures for four years of your life.