any great schools/companies in japan?

[pina]

hi
i have been reading these forums on the crap companies to work for (which is very helpful), but i cant seem to find any info on good employers. if anyone out there is working for a good company and can recommend them to me, cos i seem to be having bad luck at choosing (i went through whole application with nova - and then almost with shane school of english which i found out also sucks). but i am desparate to go to japan.
anyone? tips?
thanks!!

[BBrian]

You will find that many of the large chain schools will have bad writeups on them distributed throughout the net. Don't let this discourage you, as for every 1 complaint you see, there are equally 10 good reviews. It's just that people just aren't motivated as much to publicise their good experiences as opposed to their bad experiences.

You may have read bad things about Nova and Shane and whoever else. My advice would be to ignore all these, and make up your own mind.

There will always be complainers no matter how good a school is.

I could give you a list, but other teachers at the time where I taught would only complain, whilst I was satisified with the same conditions.

Don't focus on these black lists. Focus on getting a job that suits your needs. Make your own judgements from speed of reply and whatnot.

[Boke]

NOVA? They went bankrupt , I guess you interviewed with EC the company that took them over. I can't believe their still using the NOVA name

[gfell]

Yeh, and the Nova president disappeared too with all the money.

[AdvantageEnglish]

I worked at Nova for 18 months back in 1998. They interviewed me at home in Sydney, paid my airfare, picked me up at the airport in Tokyo, took me to my apartment door - they provided the apartment - and looked after we very well.

After 6 months, I realised that the teaching was very monotonous and I got bored but I saw no other options until another year of working there.

I can't fault them as an employer...only to say that Nova was to English Education what MacDonalds is to Fine Cuisine... except now that's a moot point what with the bankruptcy and all.

I then moved to ECC (not EC)... I found ECC to be a lot more easy going on staff. For one thing - Nova prohibited ANY CONTACT with students outside of class. If you bumped into a student outside, you felt nervous in case someone else saw you together and complained. At ECC they encouraged socialization with students - which is good for those teachers who want to make friends and learn some Japanese. Overall, I loved ECC and when I came back to Japan 3 years ago - my second stint in Japan - I first went back to ECC for a job.

There are numerous small schools - often with just the one premises and where you'll be working side by side with management and company owners. In this kind of small school you'll encounter alot less buraucracy and red tape which is probably the source of most teachers' resentment for schools. You'll get to know the boss and hopefully will be able to communicate openly about your opinions on educational material, resources, programs etc...

In Japan, the standard monthly salary is 250,000 yen.
This is the same wage I earned 10 years ago before I got my Masters in TESOL Teaching and built up 9 years teaching experience. In most cases the small schools will offer the same or more than this. Don't ever accept less.

For jobs in Japan, look at O-HAYO SENSEI, and search for your desired location. Gaijin Pot is also a good job listing. (Gaijin means foreigner in Japanese).

Ganbatte Ne !
Good luck.

[pina]

thanks for all the advice!

about the nova thing, i was given an interview in london in august and got the job. went through the whole process (loads of money spent doing it!!) then left for SA to say bye to my family, and only 2 weeks before we were meant to fly out they phoned and said that if i went, i might not get paid! and do i still wanna go??? idiots! but that was my experience with them, i dont think they really let their london offices know what was really going down.

i will look into ECC. problem with a lot of the smaller places, you have to be there already with a work visa. but i dont want to go over b4 i have a job cos i dont speak very good japanese yet!
the other problem is i am in SA and none of the bigger companies have interviews here (except Shane, which they do over the phone)
Has anyone worked for them??? Any info that i could use?

Thanks!

[gfell]

You don't need to know Japanese in order to search for jobs here in Japan. Personally I would come here without a job and then look. You can usually find something better that way rather than committing yourself before you arrive.

Of course, the safest option is to have everything done and set for you before you arrive. But really, it's not that hard to do it yourself. Furthermore, you will find you'll get a better deal if you arrive then look.

[AdvantageEnglish]

Pina... There is so much opportunity for Native English speakers in Japan, whether you speak Japanese or not and whether you have any experience with Japanese people and teaching...or not

If you're eligible for a working holiday (I believe it's up to 30 years old and you can only get it once in your life ... usually); then you've got no problem.... get a W.H-visa, stay in a gaijin house for a month and don't drink a single beer, watch a single movie or go to one single night-club until you've got a job...which will probably take 2-4 weeks. (You won't get your first paycheck until completing your first month of work, so you'll need to be able to survive 2 months without income).

If you're not eligible for a Working Holiday Visa, you can get a so-called "self sponsored visa"... generally it means that you have to go around to schools, telling them that you are able to sponsor your own visa so long as they'll give you a letter offering you work... They need to specify the monthly salary they'll pay you... and you need to show immigration that you'll be earning around 200,000yen (about $2000) per month, made up from one or more companies.... Take the letter to immigration and they'll tell you what else you need (a few papers from each school - nothing complicated, and you've got your visa)... if you leave one or all of those jobs...or if you change companies, it makes no difference to your visa...it's yours to keep.

If you'd like to talk about it more...please email me... I'm currently living in Japan (Sapporo, Hokkaido)...have taught a total of 6 years here.... have come over once on a working holiday and again on a tourist visa and found work, sponsoring my own working visa as I had already used the Working Holiday option...

Do it ! It'll change your life !!!