ECC Interview

Howdy all,

I have an interview with ECC soon. I'm informed that there is going to be an English test covering grammar, sentence structure and spelling. I'm not so good at spelling... has anyone interviewed with ECC and got information about the interview and test? I would really appreciate any info.

[OralDouglas]

Yes. There is a MASSIVE grammar test. Study your ass off. Im not even lying.

You might want to check on Daves esl cafe or something like that, there was a nice report on what to expect for the interview.

Good luck.

[Glenski]

Here is what others have reported on various forums.

One opinion
The test is 100 questions multiple choice. I think there were 10 questions at the end dealing with teaching terms. I didn't know any of them but still passed the test. Part of the grammar section was given in passages with words and phrases underlined and you had to know the term for it. Just study basic grammar and parts of speech for that.

For the presentation part, we went around the room and selected topics like: colors, numbers, animals, etc. We had about 7 minutes to come up with a plan and were given blank sheets of paper for props which we could draw on and which left little time for really thinking about what to do. They want to see lots of energy and a naturally outgoing personality. The interview process was a piece of cake.

Another experience
just got back from my ECC interview... it was a pretty long day (11 am till about 6:30pm). Everything went pretty well I think. Had to teach a kids lesson for 7 mins... the way he introduced the task and explained his expectations made it pretty stressful during the 15 minute prep time... seemed like he was going to be expecting a lot, but we realized later that that wasn't really the case. The demo was ok, aside from the fact that I had to go first (since I was the only one with previous eikawa experience). The grammar test was right at the end, as were the personal interviews (which were only 9 mins each). The test was a lot more difficult than I expected, but I think I did ok

Another experience
Ok, I'm back from the interview!

First thing to say is relax. It's not at all scary or horrible!

The grammar test is 100 questions and the pass rate is 70 so there's a big margin for error. It's broken up into 5 sections. The first consists of sentences with different parts underlined. You have to say which of the underlined parts is incorrect or needs changing. Even if you don't know why, it's instinctive. It's just things like a verb in the wrong tense, or a word spelt incorrectly. The second section consists of typical problem words spelt two different ways - eg vaccum / vacuum. You say which is the correct spelling, a or b. The third section consists of a word followed by five definitions. You have to choose which one goes with the word. The fourth section is the most difficult. A paragraph has about 15 words / groups of words underlined. There are an equal number of terms at the bottom (adverb, past progressive tense, preposition etc.). Just match the terms to the right parts of the paragraph. Even if you only know a few, it's basically a process of sensible deduction.

The final part consists of about 10 teaching terms like 'introducing a roleplay' and 'realia' and there are 10 different examples of things a teacher might say to a class. You just match the two up. It's common sense, even if you're not familiar with the terms, you'll work it out!

The teaching demo was relaxed - you got 15 mins to prepare a 5 minute lesson and were given guidance. The skill level was complete beginners so you just need to teach 6 or so words of vocab. Topics chosen were colour, animals, fruit, numbers etc. I did body parts and taught 'head, shoulders, knees. toes'. I think it was a good choice - the interviewer complimented the choice and said my demo had been good during the interview itself so I was pretty pleased. Just have a quick think about it beforehand if you're worried.

The interview was brief and friendly with the usual questions.

Another person (referring to the demo lesson)
The idea for the presentation is to act as if the audience understands ZERO English. So practice using short, catchy phrases. If you can sing or say things lyrically, it will come off well. Keep it very simple but try to fit in 2 or 3 little activities. Get the group to talk, with you only talking a little bit. Get them to stand up and wave or jump or walk around. That is what they'll advise you.

More on the demo lesson
Always try to go first. It shows confidence and you tend to be scored higher for doing it without seeing other models. I've never worked for ECC, but this is a pretty universal truth. Of course don't appear to be too over-eager.

Also a benefit of going first is that you don't get the opportunity to over-think your lesson. If you are not well prepared, don't go first.


A view of the test and demo
Just got back from mine. The English Test was pretty hard, I think you guys lulled me into a false sense of security. Exactly half the people there failed the test (8 people), and were asked to leave before the teaching demo. My demo was a bit rubbish, I was quite disappointed with it. The other people (pretending to be 7 year old Japanese kids) were not genki at all, so it was a bit of a struggle to get them to do anything. I was assigned "Actions", so I did stand up, sit down, clap, jump, spin. I can't really blame the other people for not liking me getting them to stand up and sit down again 5 times in a row...

We'll see. It wasn't a disaster (I got through the test..), but it wasn't great either.

More demo experience
as for the demonstration , its a piece of cake. they put you in a childrenfs class room and ask you to demonstrate a lesson to kiddies. You pull a card out of the interviewers hand. You have 5 minutes too think about what your going to do.
basic 10 minute demo, make sure they know exactly what your trying to achieve in teaching the lesson. EG > fruits, big things little things, colors, numbers or whatever it may be

just to clarify
they put you into a REAL KIDDIES classroom to teach to PRETEND kiddies (which are the other applicants on the day)

Just ECC experience
I posted in another thread that I worked for ECC for a few years. It's a solid company. Most complaints about ECC are minor compared to those about other conversation schools. At ECC, the teachers rooms in some of the schools are very small (in newer schools, you get a small section of counter space in the staff's office). Free Time Lessons bore you out of your mind after a few months. Actually, it's not so much the lessons, but the students. To be fair to them, most of them don't like the Free Time Lesson books. The trainers will tell you it's the lackluster way that lessons are too often taught, but that's crap. The book is old, and the repetition is mind-numbing for the students and the teachers. Other than that, it's a good place to work. Out of the Big 4, ECC is the one I'd recommend. But, as with any other language school, don't put all your eggs in their basket. If TEFL appeals to you, do some formal schooling in the field and move up to better things as soon as possible.

More ECC experience
I've been with ECC for almost two months, and it's been a great experience so far. They are one of the big 4, but only have schools in Nagoya, Tokyo, and Osaka. They give you almost 3 weeks of training which prepares you fully. Most teachers have between 5 and 10 kids classes/week, and the rest adults. Everything is already planned - you just follow the manual. You work at 2-3 schools, which gives you a nice variety, and the opportunity to meet many more people than you would at just one school. You do have two non-consecutive days off, a Sunday and another weekday. However, I have Mondays off, so it's like having a weekend off. Most don't mind the non-consecutive days off as it breaks up the week. If you stay for another year, you can can give a preference for your other day off. And 7 weeks of vacation is a lot more than the competition. 30 hours/week from 3:30-9:30. Can't complain!

Another ECC experience (August, 2004)
Well, I just got back from my interview with ECC...I think it went well, gotta wait 15 days for an answer.

As there isn't a lot of info, recently posted, on this interview process, I figured I would give you an idea of what goes on...as others in this forum have been so helpful.

My first piece of advice is RELAX! It's not as big a deal as I had made it out to be.

The interview process was only 1 day that consisted of the following:

The morning was a general information (Q&A) session re:ECC. TIP: read the website thouroughly and prepare some questions.

Then we had to prepare a lesson plan (we had about 30 minutes to prepare). We were assigned a specific structure and theme with specific vocab. TIP: try to be as creative as possible, energetic and smile!!! The lesson had to last 7 minutes. (topics included: fruit, animals, emotions, food,etc.-level: beginner to intermediate) I had never prepared a lesson plan in my life and I think i did ok...so don't worry too much but do try to get some ideas from the web before you go.

Then we a had a test which consisted of: sentences with underlined passages, you had to select which one was incorrect, some were not that obvious. Then there was some vocab (you had to identify which one was correct). The grammar section which followed was a little bit harder.TIP: brush up on your basic grammar and verbs.The last section was teaching term associations such as: realia, roleplay, chaining, introducing a dialogue, etc. TIP: even if you don't know any of them, you can pretty much go by process of elimination.

Then, we had a quick interview, don't sweat it...they just ask you stuff re: where you want to live and when you can start.

[Guest]

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[Guest]

thanks for the great info. glenski. I'll brush up for the English test and demo. lesson.

[Guest]

what caught me off guard at my *failed* ECC interview was that during the demo lesson your are usually to assume that your students speak next to NO english. This totally screwed me since as I had understood the instuctions the students had limited, but some english skill. also the personal interview cannot last longer than 7 mintues, they will talk most of the time.

[spyderbyte]

Just had ECC Interview

Hi. After reading this post I thought I'd add my comments about the ECC interview I had yesterday. The man seemed disappointed in the group of interviewees as a whole, because we apparently did not ask enough questions or jump to answer his question prompts. The first person to do the demo has a huge disadvantage cause the following people learn from the comments made about the previous. I went 3rd and realized that not using English other than the vocab and structure questions was key as was maintaining a high level of enthusiasm, also important was making the students respond to your prompts (like saying the first word of a question hoping they will finish it) and finally the hardest was making a game situation where students prompted themselves (passing the props around seemed to work best for this). As for the grammar test, another post oulined it very well, I still don't know how to properly use the word "whom." The interview went a whole lot easier than expected. I thought there would be behavioral questions, but there really wasn't. The man commented repeatedly about how young I was. I probably should have turned that around better, like I'll relate to students better or stressed my ability with dealing with irate customers so polite old Japanese guys are a cinch. The young comment stemmed from a concern I suppose about how Japanese old men would view a young female teacher. No real way to counter someone else's views, other than confidence and experience. I don't know if I'll get the job but just thought I'd share for those yet to interview.

[Guest]

Wow, an all day interview !!!!! Don't want much do they.

[nsr-jamie]

Hi, sorry to interupt this thread, but since you are talking about the ECC group interviews, I was just curious...how many people would you say were wearing suits in your group? Was everybody wearing one? I wonder if you need to wear a tie??? Just curious, thank you