Job Discussion Forums

[mtheta]

I am currently looking for a teaching position in Japan and was wondering if anyone is currently working for or heard of the company ECC? Positive and negative feedback is greatly appreciated. I have heard some good feedback so far, but wanted more opinions before jumping into anything to seriously.

Thanks so much!

[Hoser]

Cant help you as I've never worked for ECC but maybe you can do a search and something will pop up.

[callmesim]

I work for ECC and while it's certainly not the greatest employer man has ever seen, when it comes to the Big 4, it's probably one of the better ones.

Things you might read and wonder "is that right?!"

7 weeks holiday
Are they all paid - yes!
When are they?
- 2 weeks in August
- 2 weeks over December/January
- Golden Week (April)
- Japanese Public Holidays
- 5 days of your choosing

29.5 hours a week
Is this work hours or teaching hours? - Work hours.
You get 10-15 minute breaks inbetween classes. These are PAID. So while you might clock out early or late on some occassions, adding up your timecards will come to around 30 hours a week.

Health Insurance
No Health Insurance with ECC. You have to find your own and they won't help you. This suck but so be it.

Teaching Adults vs. Kids
Everyone teaches kids. Now while some may think this is bad, I disagree. Kids classes rely on the teachers creativity to some extent and they are the most rewarding. You can expect anywhere from 5-15 kids classes a week.

So in addition to the kind of lessons Nova offer, there's also Kids, Upper Level classes (80 minute lessons with the same students each week) and Web Lessons. A nice mix to save you from going insane. Though not everyone is going to get Upper Level or Web.

Placement
ECC are in Osaka, Tokyo and Nagoya with a few schools scattered elsewhere around Japan. They are pretty good when it comes to placing people where they want to go. I don't know of other schools that are as accommodating.

That's all I can think of for now. Any questions?

[Firestarter]

Callmesium's post is quite accurate I'd say. Although I'd add that the Kansai area is not limited to Osaka (where I work). There's a lot of schools in Kobe and Kyoto as well.

All in all, I've been quite impressed by ECC. The company met my expectations and were up front about virtually everything during the interview. They even give you a list of things that some people might think kind of suck about ECC (fixed holidays, no health insurance, etc.). I liked that honesty.

The training is really good and the staff that I've dealt with in their HR department have always been really professional and helpful. A friend of mine works for one of the other big schools and it seems that promotion is based on who can be a bossy pric&k. It doesn't seem to work this way at ECC thankfully.

The job can be a grind sometimes - but I think teaching EFL can be a grind regardless of where you teach. Most school staff are friendly and helpful, but there are some that aren't as receptive to teacher needs as I'd like.

I guess that brings me to my biggest complaint about ECC and that is that I feel there is a serious lack of substantive and cooperative interaction between teachers and school staff. It's basically because everyone's quite busy, but it inevitably results in avoidable problems.

Other things I'd point out:

Teaching days are generally a solid six hour block. While that's not all teaching, it is all working. It can be a slog to get through sometimes.

Schools are often hot as f%$k! Bring LIGHTWEIGHT suits and dress shirts.

Be prepared for at least one long commute per week (more than an hour).

And like the previous poster eluded to, if you don't want to teach kids don't come to ECC. Personally I enjoy kid's classes (at least mine), but they can be tough.

[mtheta]

Wow, this was great information. You didn't say anything that would scare me away. I would actually prefer to teach kids...I was looking into Kidergarten. The work hours are very reasonable and I like the idea of we lessons.
I did hear that ECC does not subsidize rent costs? Is this true, and if so did they at least help you locate housing?
Are there any hidden costs that you were un-aware of? Other then taxes.

Thanks so much.

[callmesim]

ECC do not help with rent payments. That's one thing AEON certainly has going for it. But they will certainly have an apartment ready for you to move into if you so require. They have housing agents in all three locations so that won't be a problem.

Be prepared to spend around �55 000 - �70 000 a month in rent when you arrive. As I see it though, which would you rather, subsidised rent or less working hours? If you require the extra money, just work extra hours as overtime.

[Firestarter]

Yeah they'll have a place for you to move into. You can generally choose private or shared depending on the time of year. Expect to pay anywhere from 50-70k a month depending on quality and location. It is a bit pricey, but effortless and convenient. That's what you're paying for. My place is good - not amazing, but good.

You do have to shell out a lot of cash to get started (rent, refundable deposit, airfares, etc.). The amount of cash they suggest to bring is just enough in my opinion - I might suggest a bit more as I was a little tight for my first few months.

You can get a loan from ECC that is essentially a salary advance. It's nearly free money, so you may as well take it so long as you put it toward necessary expenses.

One other caution that I failed to mention earlier, is that ECC has very little scheduling flexibility compared to other companies I think. Once your schedule is in place, that's it for the year. You can't transfer around between different branches just by requesting and there's no flex time that allows you to acrue extra vacation. I'm not saying these things are necessarily bad, but I think it's a little different when compared with other companies. They want you to take a lot of responsibility for your classes and schools, so once you're in, you're in.

[mtheta]

Well I sent my CV and photo to ECC. Hopefully they come through with a response.
Thanks for all the information. I will have a million other questions in the months to come. Now I just need to secure a position.