Claris (sentimentalromantic) ([info]wintersweet) wrote in [info]eikaiwa,
@ 2005-05-09 00:29:00
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Current mood: sigh

English schools that hire overseas
I'm trying to compile a list of my impressions of the various eikaiwa that hire from outside Japan, but instead of clarifying my choices, it's really just an exercise in confusion.

Nova: Sick days and shift-swapping allowed. Bad: This one has the most mixed reviews. It has a bad reputation, but I can't tell if it's 100% deserved. = I don't know, but probably not.
Peppy Kids Club: They expect YOU to pay for being trained by them. = Not considering.
Interac: Bad: Reputed to pay late. = Last resort.
Geos: Reputation of being more "honest" than most. Bad: Reputation for high pressure to sell materials. Lots of paperwork (probably not a big deal). Hours 12-9 pm. = I don't know.
American Language School: Can't find out much about them. = Don't know.
ECC: Slightly higher than average pay, lots of locations, comparatively good reputation for one of the big chains. More vacation and shorter hours than most. Larger apartments. Bad: Higher than average rent. May not offer health insurance (?!). Shared apartments? = I don't know.
Aeon: Lots of locations, standard pay and rent, Bad: Forces you to sell materials to your students (don't know if I could handle that!). One recruitee reports being told that the position is best for people interested in business and teaching, and if you want to just teach, you should go elsewhere. Possible forced Tues-Sat schedule (misses all Monday holidays). = A possibility.
James English School: Pretty good reputation, but locations are all in the mountains where it's cold in the winter and hot and sticky int he summer, plus isolated. = A possibility.
Westgate: Lots of locations, slightly above average pay, apartments come fully equipped. Can work less than a year. Might be able to teach in universities. Bad: Much higher than average rent. Forces you to use their travel agency to fly there. Cannot renew contracts immediately--need a 2 month gap between contracts (wtf?). = A possiblity.

It's pretty confusing. If you go to eslcafe.com and look at the Job Journals and the forum, there are posts for and against every school, often with contradictory details. Blah. Although, a lot of the complaints tend to fall into two categories:
- Japan isn't just like $homecountry!!!
- They expect me to DO WORK OMG!!!
At least those are kind of easy to discern, particularly since they're often written with grammar and spelling so poor you wonder why they thought they were qualify to teach English at all. But some sound pretty convincing, so you have to do some serious reading between the lines. And then there are the ones that seem both sincere and reasonable, and there are enough of those to rule out pretty much all of the big chains if you just based your decision on those. (Furthermore, maybe one in 10, or even fewer, of the posters are interested in teaching English as a lifelong career, so their priorities are really different from mine. )

Most of the few serious teachers recommend getting hired by a secondary school or college/university, but nearly all of those jobs require interviews in Japan, and I don't have the cash or Japan-resident friends to do that.

Blah.


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[info]qassandra
2005-05-09 07:50 am UTC (link)
Have you considered going with one of the big companies just to get over to Japan so that you can interview at secondary schools and/or universities?

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[info]wintersweet
2005-05-09 07:56 am UTC (link)
Yeah, some people recommend going over for a year on a big one and then looking for another job, but I don't know whether I have two years to commit. As for just skipping out in the middle of a contract, I'm not sure I'm comfortable with that idea...it seems unfair to the students.

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[info]starkodama
2005-05-09 08:11 am UTC (link)
Let me throw in my two cents very quickly and say that while at Aeon they do pressure you to sell stuff, it's very easy to ignore and there's no penalty for not selling a lot. I don't consider myself a salesman at all.

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[info]wintersweet
2005-05-09 08:21 am UTC (link)
Well, that's a point in their favor. :) Wonder how much it varies by branch.

(Thanks for mentioning that.)

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[info]starkodama
2005-05-09 03:51 pm UTC (link)
Well, the thing is, the reason I mentioned it is because it seems to be a universal thing. Just from talking to friends at many other branches, that's how it seems to be at every school.

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[info]wintersweet
2005-05-09 04:23 pm UTC (link)
Ah, good. Have you heard much about forced shared accomodations?

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[info]wintersweet
2005-05-09 04:29 pm UTC (link)
Never mind; that was ECC. See, that was the whole point of writing this stuff down. :p

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[info]starkodama
2005-05-09 04:43 pm UTC (link)
Ha ha, yeah, one of the main reasons I chose Aeon was so I could live by myself. =D I have no complaints at all with my Aeon apartment, it's in a nice area and it's big enough. It's not big, but it's big enough. :D

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[info]wintersweet
2005-05-09 05:05 pm UTC (link)
Just ask Bianca--we're used to small apartments out here. ;p (Not that her place in Berkeley is small, but a lot of people's are.)

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[info]deepspacestyle
2005-05-09 08:21 am UTC (link)
ECC: Slightly higher than average pay, lots of locations, comparatively good reputation for one of the big chains. More vacation and shorter hours than most. Larger apartments. Bad: Higher than average rent. May not offer health insurance (?!). Shared apartments? = I don't know.

Well couldn't you just get Japanese national health insurance then?

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[info]wintersweet
2005-05-09 08:26 am UTC (link)
I think I read that they wouldn't enroll you in it as they're supposed to. But if I can sign up for it on my own, I suppose that's OK. The insurance thing is a bit confusing to me (and a lot of other people, judging from ESLCafe ;))

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[info]bebemochi
2005-05-09 08:32 am UTC (link)
You are automatically enrolled in national health insurance if you don't tell them otherwise. It's an arrangement you have to opt out of, not in to.
I would be really wary of any insurance you have to sign up for in Japan, because sometimes the local government won't accept it. I got really burned by this.

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[info]starmonkee
2005-05-10 03:22 pm UTC (link)
You still have to sign up for the national health plan. You don't just show up in the country and you are automatically enrolled. When you go to your local city hall to get your gaijin card, you also have to fill in the forms for the health insurance.

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[info]davidandxander
2005-05-09 10:14 am UTC (link)
Just to let you know with ECC, they give you a 100 question grammar test... and it is very very difficult... I thought I knew grammar, but alas, I failed the test and wasn't hired.

I got a job through another company though - on the spot hire too, and I make more money then either Nova or ECC would be paying :) But like many said, just come over, get some experience and bam - you'll be able to find better paying, easier jobs.

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[info]wintersweet
2005-05-09 04:35 pm UTC (link)
I'm taking a grammar course now, so that's something. Thanks for the tip!

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Peppy Kids Club
[info]lady_slipper
2005-05-09 12:52 pm UTC (link)
Peppy Kids Club doesn't actually expect you to pay to train with them. They do pay you to train. I think it's like $10/hour. But they do want you to pay like $15 a night for the accomadations they put you up in. I've heard some really great things about Peppy's and I wouldn't rule them out. They were actually my first choice of companies to work for, but I couldn't afford the plane ticket to California to interview :-(

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Re: Peppy Kids Club
[info]inchkinbobbin
2005-05-09 02:50 pm UTC (link)
I'm going to work for Peppy Kids in September and I'm so excited!!!!! The most you work each day is MAX 5 hours (sometimes as little as one hour a day) and you still get paid 250,000 yen for it! It's the best fit for me, as I can't see myself working eight or nine hour days.

YAY!

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Re: Peppy Kids Club
[info]wintersweet
2005-05-09 04:30 pm UTC (link)
Hmm, OK. I'll do a little more reading on them then. :)

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[info]kittybaby96
2005-05-09 03:05 pm UTC (link)
Here are more pro's fore Aeon: they pay for your plane ticket home, you get a nice little bonus when you leave, there's room for advancement in their large corporation, they pay what would work out to $40,000/yr U.S., and you get your own apartment. I applied to Nova, Geos and Aeon, and Aeon was the only one who worked with me to make the application process as inexpensive and simple as possible. Nova wanted a bunch of money up front for a background check, and there was no guarantee they would even hire me.

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[info]starkodama
2005-05-09 03:53 pm UTC (link)
To be fair, there's really not so much room for advancement. The only room for advancement is into jobs that suck. ;D

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[info]kittybaby96
2005-05-09 03:56 pm UTC (link)
I suppose it depends on your perspective. Having 6 years of professional experience under my belt, I think advancing into a trainer position or recruiter position from teaching is quite valuable for one's resume, especially with an international company.

But, then, that's just one perspective.

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[info]starkodama
2005-05-09 04:45 pm UTC (link)
Before you do ANYTHING, you gotta be an emergency teacher. You can't advance any other way. And you're not even here yet, so... when you come you can make your own decision. :D But trainer............. trainer so totally does NOT seem like a good job. at all! Recruiting looks ok though.

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[info]wintersweet
2005-05-09 04:29 pm UTC (link)
Sounds decent at this point. :)

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[info]tvsnick
2005-05-09 03:50 pm UTC (link)
Sick days are allowed at Nova in the sense that you can choose not to be paid for a day of work... I don't call that a true "sick day."

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[info]wintersweet
2005-05-09 04:25 pm UTC (link)
Not by American standards, but compared to many other Japanese jobs where your options are "show up sick or be fired..."

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Public schools
[info]iamnight
2005-05-09 10:32 pm UTC (link)
Many of the large ALT companies (I'd recommend doing a search for ALT + Japan) do recruit from outside of Japan. The starting times are generally either August or April, so you might have to wait for a bit... but I would so recommend this. I did the eikaiwa stint for a few months and have spent the last nine working happily within the public schools. I can't believe I get paid to do what I do.

Anyhow, give Interac a look. Good company, I think. I'm happy with 'em, anyway. ^^

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Re: Public schools
[info]iamnight
2005-05-09 10:33 pm UTC (link)
I wanted to add - another benefit of public school work is paid vacations of more than two months of the entire year, in addition to the legally mandatory 10 "personal" days off you're allowed.

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Re: Public schools
[info]wintersweet
2005-05-09 10:46 pm UTC (link)
Thanks for the suggestions! I'm not sure I could survive the lack of air conditioning, though (in all seriousness).

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[info]kevinsensei
2005-05-10 07:08 am UTC (link)
Admittedly, on this current expedition into Japan I've only been here for 1 month. I do have 2 years of JET ALT experience and an MA-TESOL under my belt too. That being said, here's what my situation is....

I currently work for Nova. My branch is in Tokyo, and I do not see what the bad rep is all about. I go in there, speak English for 8 hours and go home. The Japanese staff and other Nova teachers here are all pretty cool. The students are fun to work with too. I've seen everything from complete beginners ("Hi. My name is Ayumi. I am a girl. This is a pen.") to researchers needing help with conference presentations ("The Role of Helicobacter Pylori Infection in Experimental Gastric Carcinogenesis"), to applicants for Lufthansa airlines needing some job interview prep work.

A couple of things that do bother me a little:
1.) health insurance/pension plan - I have yet to get a straight answer on this. I'm currently on the JMA plan, but the coverage is not all that great. I'm going to sign up for the national health insurance plan. (I felt that I was basically coerced into taking the JMA plan. That is, if I didn't sign up for it, they wouldn't hire me....)

2.) the NOVA apartment - I have 2 roommates, and they're great actually. No worries there. However, for what I'm paying now I could have my own (albeit smaller) place in town. Then again, it is a furnished apt and the utilities + internet are included in the rent. Moreover, to get my own place I would have to shell out for a deposit and possibly key money, and that's not money that I have available right now. Once I have enough saved up to cover those, then I'll look at getting my own place.

So yeah, it's only been a month. But so far so good here at Nova in Tokyo. The training was not bad, and the work here is a walk in the park compared to other jobs I've had. It would be nicer to have a better salary, but for the actual work I have to do, I feel that this is a pretty good deal.

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[info]starmonkee
2005-05-10 03:32 pm UTC (link)
Basically what it comes down to when yer working for one of the large eikaiwa's is that the good/bad of your experience is going to depend a lot on the branch you end up at. Some have good people working at the, others don't (and that goes for both the foreign and Japanese staff). Thats kind of the problem - you can research the hell out of a company, and still not be able to get a good picture of what it will actually be like to work at the branch you are placed at.

I worked for a small eikaiwa, so I was able to know exactly what I was getting into before I left Canada, and that was very important to me. I had a fantastic experience, worked with great people, and in general, my lot seemed quite a bit better than the other foreigners I hung out with who worked for the big eikaiwa. They seemed to have a lot more to complain about than i did, although the people who worked for Peppy and Aeon seemed the happiest. The most miserable people (no surprise here) were the Nova folks.

If I were you I would seriously consider working for one of these smaller schools. I posted some info about this earlier here : http://www.livejournal.com/community/eikaiwa/88708.html
You seem like the type to have things well defined before you jump into something (like me). Working at a small school allows you to do that.

ganbatte ne! :)

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[info]wintersweet
2005-05-10 07:24 pm UTC (link)
Yes, the more information I have beforehand, the better. :) But I had the feeling that I couldn't get much info about the small places since they tend to post to Dave's or Ohayo Sensei with just a paragraph description...so were you able to ask them a lot of questions via e-mail, or what?

Thanks for the links and advice!

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[info]starmonkee
2005-05-11 12:07 pm UTC (link)
Yup. The cool thing is, for most of those smaller places, its one of the actual foreign teachers that does the recruiting. Basically, you hire yer own replacement. So once they made the decision to offer me a job, I was able to ask all kinds of questions. Usually the outgoing teacher will be pretty frank, cuz hey, what does he/she have to lose, right? It was also great in that once I'd made my decision to accept their offer, they gave me the email addy's of all the other people I'd be working with, and we all emailed back and forth for like a month before I went over there. The great thing about that was that by the time I got there, I felt like I already had some good friends at the place. You have no idea how much easier that made the transition for me... I was sooo excited to get there and finally meet all these cool people I'd been emailing with all that time.

This was what scared me about working for the big eikaiwa's... no control over the location, nor the people I worked with. Personally, those would be two of the most important factors for me when looking for any other job, so why not this one? You have to live/work in this place for at least 6-12 months, and thats a long time to be miserable!

BTW You can usually find some information on even the smallest schools by looking online, even just googling the school's name tends to get you SOME hits. Even if the school's webpage is in Japanese, there's always babelfish!

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[info]wintersweet
2005-05-11 07:03 pm UTC (link)
Yeah, I don't trust what they say on their own webpages too much--everyone wants to sound all progressive and wonderful, and you know a lot of them aren't. *G* But I didn't realize that the outgoing teacher often does the recruiting. That's really good to know. Thanks!

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