I'm stateside for a few months after spending the last of my money in New Zealand. Therefore, what else should I try to do but return to a country with a high cost of living (but probably more jobs, too)?
Back to Japan and Gaijinpot job searches. Ideally, I'd like to be placed in Hokkaido or Tohoku, but something in me wants to try life in Tokyo. Maybe it wouldn't help my Japanese skills, being in a big city clearly so used to dealing with foreigners, but in terms of employment, I'd have more flexibility with freelance jobs, and a better chance at staying connected with my other interests: international travel, acting, and writing.
There still remained the problem of a working visa.
I had given up my Japanese residency in June 2008, when I disembarked at Osaka International Ferry Terminal (how many working visa holders have left by ferry, I wonder?) for Shanghai. No chance of simply picking up where I left off. I'd have to find a new company, interview over Skype, and begin the ritual paperwork process. And where, one might ask, is my attention focused?
Gaba One-to-One English looked appealing at first; they seem to be one of the only language schools that let teachers set their own schedules and still offer visas (as sponsorship requires 250,000 Yen/month salary and a minimum number of working hours). I did a preliminary interview via Skype this evening after sending in my resume and came up with the following:
1. The school is more of a tutoring company. You post your profile with your interests and specialties, and students sign up for one-on-one "classes" of their choosing. This is an advantage to students: they get exactly what they pay for.
2. Gaba is not for those who enjoy playing by the rules. They place teachers as independent contractors (itaru gyomu) and thus "circumvent" certain areas expected by those wanting to work in Japan.
- Transportation is NOT paid
- They do not provide Employee Health Insurance and Pension; of course, you need to sign up for the National Health Insurance and Pension as a matter of law
- No paid training
- No paid holidays
- Housing is your responsibility (in other words, key money)
- If a student cancels within 24 hours, you are still paid for the class, but you must wait in the designated area rather than leaving or working in the office. In other words, they want you to waste your time for money.
Check out this table on the Gaba Union page for comparisons with eikaiwa.
3. Despite what you see on other forums, Gaba does offer visa sponsorship. They usually have working holiday visa holders come in on 6-month contracts, but when an American comes in, they can offer consecutive contracts to fulfill the government requirement. Still a little sketchy.
4. I'll probably still opt to work there. Gaba is the only place I know that will offer both flexibility and visa sponsorship. Since I'll be listed as an independent contractor on my work visa, I can legally work anywhere else (though I heard the company asks you sign a contract stating they are your primary source of income... would probably be true in any case). I can completely understand job seekers not wanting to apply here, though (one man's interview). Are there any Gaba teachers reading this who took the company up on their offer, ditched, and applied to a more stable eikaiwa? Just curious. I'd love to hear from some Gaba teachers currently in the Kanto region.
Gaba General Union
Sidenote
Read this blog and thought the school had a good point on taboo topics in an ESL class: War, Religion, Age, Politics, Sex, Culture.
"Andy Warhol politics"
31 minutes ago
8 comments:
GABA is a scam. They pay you 1,500 a lesson before you "belt up" and charge the student 8,000. To "belt up" you have to take their training courses and pass the tests without pay. They DO NOT offer salary to independent contractor. If students don't like you, you don't teach and don't make money. Gaba won't tell you any of this until you are in Tokyo for the formal interview process which takes three to ten meetings.
Try Berlitz. Visa sponsorship; guaranteed working hours with the option to pick up additional/extra lessons; and you don't have to stay at the school if the student cancels the lesson (especially good if that canceled lesson was the last lesson of your day). Plus, they have a decent teaching system and there is an opportunity to make extra money if the students request your lessons. Finally, paid holidays, health insurance coverage all make for a very decent experience.
Dude, GABA is one of the worst places to work in the world.
When I joined Aeon, my predocessor had been at Aeon for year and a half. They decided to join Gaba to get the flexibity of schedule in order to study Japanese more. Gaba screwed her over horribly, as its very difficult to make yourself stand out amongst the other teachers, and until you start getting students, your not making the money you need. She had to give up and move back to America within 3 months.
Meanwhile, Ive been with Aeon now for 3 years and love the insurance coverage, the working conditions, the pay increases, and gifts from appreciative students.
I don't know about English schools, though my wife goes to Gaba. She quite likes a few of the teachers there. But if you're interested in learning Japanese and not spending a fortune on housing and food, consider the suburbs of the east side of Tokyo. Very convenient for transportation (can be anywhere in Tokyo with one transfer) and prices here are very reasonable. Not to mention, there aren't many English-speaking foreigners here so the chances to speak Japanese will have greatly increased.
I've worked for GABA after I worked at AEON. It was a nice place to work but like another anonymous said, you get screwed in the end. They don't really pay you much for the time you put in and after working at a place like AEON where everything is rather easy on the foreigner, GABA you really gotta work hard to get students to like you. Otherwise you don't get paid. I don't think that'd be hard for a person like you, but you'll get tired of bending over backwards for your customers reeeal fast. I lasted 6 months there (after being with AEON for 2 years) before I burned out and returned back to Texas with virtually no money in my pocket even despite having fully booked teaching schedules. Getting them to sponsor your visa is a big PiTA too. Keep GABA as an absolute last backup only. MHO.
Have you thought about Korea at all? I'm in the hiring process for YBM ECC (they want to place me in Seoul) and it seems like a great deal. Especially since airfare (roundtrip) and rent is paid by them. Also, it's just a short ferry ride to Japan! Interview consists of a short phone call only.
I've worked for Gaba part time for several years. It's not a scam- they tell you upfront what they will pay you, and that you are not guaranteed lessons, so anyone who thinks that they are getting a guaranteed salary really didn't do any basic research. It is actually a pleasant place to work- something I really like is that provided you get no complaints management leaves you alone- no observations, no sales unless you want to be in sales, motivated students, tidy schools, all of which is a lot more than I can say for other eikaiwas I worked at.
I never had to bend over backwards to get students to "like me", I just did my job and they booked my lessons. Not a lot of effort on my part at all really- it's an easy, low stress job.
You have a few points wrong in your post- it's not mainly people on working holiday visas who work there, there are a lot of people on spouse visas (including me- these are probably the majority), dependent visas, student visas and also a surprising number of Japanese nationals who are also native English speakers.
If a lesson is cancelled within 24 hours you are expected to do other work if you want to be paid- checking spelling in the students' online vocab lists, writing birthday cards etc. If you do want to leave rather than do that kind of thing you can ask the staff to cancel the lesson and then you can, but most people are happy to be paid for doing very little.
I don't recommend it as a full time thing because the pay is not guaranteed. People wanting a fixed schedule, fixed salary, benefits etc should not consider working for Gaba. If someone does work for Gaba and doesn't get enough lessons they cannot say they were "screwed over" because Gaba never promised them a guaranteed salary. If someone is paying any attention at all they will realise this right from the outset.
I work part time for a Japanese public relations company and do freelance proofreading among other things, so I work at Gaba when I'm less busy with my other jobs. It's great being able to put in a schedule for whenever I want to work (usually a few half days a month, mostly in the morning) and earn some extra money, even if the pay is not great at my "belt" level. My schedules are 90%-100% full most days- it's really not that hard.
I know guys with families here who have been there a few years who are now on the higher "belt" levels- they are earning over 3,000 yen an hour, have almost full schedules, and you could not pry them out of their jobs with a crowbar. Sure, there is no transport reimbursement and no paid holidays, but the fact that there are able to choose when they want to work more than makes up for that.
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