Job Discussion Forums

[Subkulture]

Yes, I know that this has been brought up before. I was just hoping to find someone new who can shed some light on this company and their experiences working for Fifth Wings.

Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks!

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

I don't get it. Why do you think that people are more likely to reply to your thread than the other TWO threads that are still currently visible on the board?

The fact that nobody has replied does not necessarily mean that it is a bad company to work for. Nor does it mean that it's a good company to work for. It may mean that nobody here has ever worked for them or knows anything about them. It may mean that some people here currently work for them and because it's a small company, they don't want to say anything bad about them for fear of losing their job, and don't really have anything good to say about them.

I will say this: three posts about a single relatively unknown company (that seems to pay below average, if their job ads are anything to go by) posting at the beginning of June does not bode too well, unless they are looking for someone for an August/ September start, because it may mean that a bunch of people have recently jumped ship. And since they seem to operate mostly in a rural area (Gunma and Tochigi, if I remember correctly) that suggests that people jumping ship aren't jumping to another company (because there are usually very few options in rural areas) but are jumping ship back to their home countries, or another country (or possibly just out to someplace in Tokyo- but that's actually not very likely because of the difficulty in interviewing- except on Saturdays- in Tokyo when you live out there).

But remember: most jobs start April 1st. Aside from former JET jobs (that have been taken over by dispatch companies) there aren't all that many starts apart from April 1st. But even if staff levels are dropping really astonishingly quickly, it doesn't necessarily mean that the dispatch is a bad employer. People work FOR a dispatch. They work AT a school. The people you work with on a daily basis have the greatest effect on how you feel about your job (unless it's something that IS the dispatch company's fault- late pay, not getting paid the full amount and then getting the run-around, ridiculous amount of paper work that needs to be faxed to them every day to try to justify their existence etc) and so many people jumping ship from one school suggests that communications or relations between the Japanese staff and the foreigners may be strained, difficult or non-existent. One of the selling points of a dispatch company is that it allows Japanese schools to avoid the problem of communicating with a foreigner. It isn't exactly uncommon for Japanese staff to take that to ridiculous extremes (but then, it's also not like it's unusual in some schools for there to be very little in the way of communication between Japanese people themselves in schools, either. In that kind of situation, it isn't necessarily that they don't want to communicate with a foreigner, it may be that they don't want to/ really know how to communicate with other people, for fear of somehow becoming human instead of merely an embodiment of the Confucian ideal of 'sensei'. Japanese teachers did go through the Japanese education system, after all).

[jester007]

Thanks, GambateBingBangBOOM. While not company specific, you raise some interesting points about the timing that I hadn't thought of.

cheers.

[Subkulture]

thanks for the reply

[Tara2117]

I know a guy who works for Fifth. While I haven't ever asked him directly about his job, he's been there for at least two years, so I guess maybe it isn't so bad after all. He also speaks ZERO Japanese, so the communication problems either must not be that bad, or either he just doesn't care.

I realize this doesn't help much, ha ha. I live in Gunma, and lots of people in my city work for Fifth. My boyfriend interviewed with them, but was offered another job before Fifth got back to him. That's about all the information I can offer.

[jester007]

Appreciate the info Tara! Sounds like your friend and I have something in common. Do you know what BOE he works for?

[Tara2117]

I'm assuming it's the Ota BOE, since we live in Ota. I don't really know him that well, he's a friend-of-a-friend sort of thing. I haven't heard any horror stories about Fifth Wings. The worst I can say is that they kind of gave my boyfriend the run-around when he interviewed for them. Interviewed him, said they wanted him, but didn't actually have a position for him... they wanted to have HIM appeal to the BOE on their behalf to help them get more positions. I thought that was kinda shady. He ended up taking another job, because Fifth wasn't going to be able to say whether they actually had a position for him or not until several weeks later.

My own company is an eikaiwa, but also has a few ALT positions with the Ota BOE. When all this was going on, I asked my manager about Fifth, and he said something like, "Well, Fifth isn't very popular with the BOE."

My boyfriend has also seen the lady who interviewd him from Fifth working at a local NPO. I'm not exactly sure in what capacity she was there, but if she's working two jobs, maybe that means Fifth isn't doing too well?

I dunno. I'd definitely look into it, and interview with them if possible. If you aren't currently in Japan, then I wouldn't buy a plane ticket unless they offer you a SPECIFIC position, and tell you which schools you'll work at and all that. It was no big deal for my boyfriend, because he was already in Japan, but just be wary of coming without a concrete job offer from them.

[Subkulture]

Thanks for the info!

I wish I could talk with someone who is currently working for them. I have found 2 people online that have worked for them in the past. One was very favorable and the other wasn't.

I haven't been able to find anyone working for them right now who can say what their experience is currently like.