Job Discussion Forums

[BuddhaRhubarb]

seriously,
a lot of other teachers i know think i am crazy for having renewed again at Aeon (ive been here more than 18 monthes now) ...keeping me where i am until this time next year.
my reasons are simple...
a) i fear change, and coming here and getting used to doing (teaching) this was the hardest thing ive ever done, and i don't feel like uprooting myself and hustling the ever shrinking private lesson market.

b)i am paying down my debts (those who say the money is not a big part of being here are fibbing to themselves, if you were being really underpaid you wouldnt be here) back home, and doing fine with it...saving some money, savings which have dwindled with a trip back to canada and the purchase of this shiny new ibook i am typing on. and i don't feel secure in leaving the secure job i have now...i am the only one of 3 foreign teachers to be offered renewal at the moment.

c) loyalty, misplaced or not, i have to my company/school for taking a chance on me, and renewing me last year when i really wasnt doing a very good job to be honest...i had never taught before and it took me a full year to really get comfortable...students who last year avoided my classes now wait in line to take my lessons!

so should i have dipped into gaijinpot instead, or findateacher, gone the small school route?

i have friends who think i could be making 2x what i make now....but i guess i am not so confident in that.

[Gordon]

If you are happy, why are you second guessing your decision to stay? I say stay by all means. You'll know when it is time to leave. As far as $, people love to exaggerate how easy it is to make and what they earn. You seem to be doing well and you said yourself that you've only been teaching 18 months total.
Just because people badmouth the Big 4 schools doesn't mean they are all crap. Everyone has different experiences, I think job satisfaction has more to do with specific management than the name of the school.

[guest of Japan]

You're not a chump. I think.

I worked for AEON for more than two years and then left to go the high school route. It took me two months to find a job, and it was a total of four months before I got a paycheck. Many thousands of dollars left my wallet in the interim.

I'll say that I think your friends are naive. Here are some things that you should consider when you do finally decide to leave.

- Your AEON experience doesn't count for a whole lot when you do decide to leave. Sure it is better than nothing, but the market is full of people in the same situation.

- The salary at your next job will likely be the same salary you started with so you will actually be making less money than you are now.

- You will miss that subsidized apartment.

- Being unemployed in Japan sucks.

- Your social life is likely to decrease significantly after resigning.

- The big money that you hear about while working at AEON goes to people with advanced degrees, excellent Japanese, and/or connections.

If you like your job then stick with it for a while. Eventually you will come to find it tediously rendundant and at that time you will be more ready to take a risk. In the meantime, try to pick up a few privates to supplement you income if you wish. You might try to take a Japanese class or even better if you wish to stay in EFL get a certificate in TESOL. There is on through Tokyo Language Arts College by distance learning that I'm doing right now and it is excellent. It's cheaper than you might imagine and it will look very good on your resume next to the experience that you already have.

Not every AEON is a nice place to work. Even the ones that are, aren't likely to stay that way, so just enjoy it while it lasts and prepare yourself to make changes for when the time comes.

[BuddhaRhubarb]

thanks for the input, my concerns i think have been assuaged...i just get this why dont you leave from 1 or 2 friends, both of whom have also had a great deal of good luck in the money they are raking in etc...

i like that my next contract is only 6 months, as i may just need a break from japan and teaching i think, at that point...and go back to Canada to see what my options there are...

i don't feel like teaching is my calling or anything, at the moment its a good, sometimes challenging, sometimes boring job, that pays better than anything ive ever had.

thanks again