Job Discussion Forums

[nateliu99]

Anyone who has used Westgate before, is there anything wrong with it?

I am applying to it right now, and a friend of mine said she heard that it was notorious for placing people at multiple schools during the same day or something. Kind of sounds just like hearsay, but i wanted to see if anyone heard anything else.

Or is there a better program that I should be using? I have experience, degrees, and a teaching credential, but just recently started entertaining the idea of teaching in Japan. Thanks!

[Glenski]

Read this and decide whether Westgate is operating illegally.
http://www.generalunion.org/law/dispatch.htm
http://fukuoka.generalunion.org/alt/index.html

Have not heard whether they send you to more than one school in a day. Their web site says this:
"Pursuant to Westgate's contract with our university and junior college clients, our instructors are to be physically present at their assigned campus for nine consecutive hours each teaching day."

If your "teaching credential" is a license, and you have actual experience using it for 2 years or more in your home country, a better deal would be an international school.

[nateliu99]

Glenski

Thanks for the read, i haven't got to it yet but I will. So if Westgate could possibly be a little fishy, why does this website keep allowing them to post ads? I thought there would be a lot more people who have used this system before, but if everyone is staying away from it I would like to know that too

I know international schools would be ideal, but I don't really know how to get them. I also am not really sure which city I absolutely want to live in. I've been to tokyo before, loved it. Kyoto was awesome.

I've always heard Hokkaido was great, and I see that is where you are. To get off subject for a minute, where in Hokkaido are you? And is it incredible? I'm jealous

So yeah, the barriers to international schools are i don't know which ones to apply for, and i figure those are really hard to get, they get filled quickly, don't advertise much, and this is probably too late in the year to get those jobs (at least that is how it is in Shanghai right now)

[Bread]

[Kiels]

Just a quick note. You say you don't know where to look for international posts and they're mostly filled up. Google the TES and click on their job postings, then international. There are vacancies right now in international schools all over Asia such as Singapore, Indonesia, China, South Korea, Malaysia although none in Japan. If you fancy trying somewhere else have a look.

[Glenski]

[eihpos]

They overcharge on rent and depending on your school, stick you with a nightmare commute. It's the luck of the draw though, I've done it twice and the first time it was ok. I think Westgate is ok if you want a few weeks in Japan. Students are great and it's a fantastic country. Don't over think it because it's so short you can't go too wrong even if your commute is long!

[flyer]