Fighting back: A challenge to gaijinpot

[JST]

START DATES
It should be required for employers to specify the start date for jobs posted here and face consequences if it turns out there is no job actually starting then. Except for universities, who don't usually advertise on here anyway, companies do not need any In the case of recruiters, GP should insist on getting their client info so they can verify the existence of the job. Other sites such as the one that advertises university jobs post Start Dates. Otherwise Gaijinpot is just aiding and abetting the whole recruitment scam in this country. You got to do better than what you are doing right now.

PREFERENTIAL RATES
There should be preferential rates to incentivise direct hires, visa sponsorship, provision of accommodation and full-time job offers. We need to encourage more direct hires to eliminate recruiters. Gaijinpot should make recruiters pay more to give incentive to schools and companies to hire directly. Companies that offer full-time jobs should given preferential rates because often our visa extensions depend on having a full-time job. Even though we end up paying for our own visas and re-entry permits, Japanese companies are reluctant to sponsor--and like to take advantage of people who already have visas. Well more than likely that person had to struggle to get his first visa. So companies who are willing to sponsor should get a break. Companies who insist on a teacher already having a 'proper visa' should have to pay astronomical rates for advertising.

CONTRACT PROVISIONS
Teachers should create their own contracts or form a union for contract negotiations and insist on terms comparable to those in their home countries, including the provision of housing. We're not in our own country--so we shouldn't be burdened with basic issues of survival and caught in a catch-22 as so often happens here. Other countries in Asia make allowances for foreign workers, especially in the teaching profession. Why should Japan be the exception? And we are not to be compared with Japanese contract workers. Because they treat their own so badly, doesn't mean we should put UP with it.

Gaijinpot should implement these or similar changes because ultimately we collectively make their business. If we didn't come here, those companies wouldn't advertise here and would have to look for other channels.

[well_bicyclically]

.....

Gaijinpot should implement these or similar changes because ultimately we collectively make their business. If we didn't come here, those companies wouldn't advertise here and would have to look for other channels.

if you are any indication.... I think those employers get what they pay for.

... hate to dash. I have an interview for a high paying teaching job later this afternoon, and another one on Thursday! Ta..

[Marius_II]

Gaijinpot should...

And don't get me started on the free Tokyo Notice Board paper.
Man, if they don't demand that their job-ads are shaped in the way that I tell them...

[dairyman8880231]

I don't think your allowed to use high paying and teaching in the same sentence.

[steki47]

I dont think your aloud to use high paying and teaching in the same sentence.

Hmm, I don't think you're allowed to teach when you spell like that.

[kluh]

Some very good points. The job ads lie because when they say it is fulltime, usually it's not 40 hrs a week but 29.5 hours and you don't get shakai hoken and all the fringe benefits that regular fulltime workers get. Until the English Teaching (cheap-a#@ & rip-off) industry provides better work conditions and benefits, it'll always be a joke industry with no respect, attracting mostly knuckleheads.

[Runeblade48]

Give him some credit, some ideas are good. Start dates should be added, or at least a window. I dont think the cost of the job add is so much that it will put off direct hires though.

[well_bicyclically]

Give him some credit, some ideas are good. Start dates should be added, or at least a window. I dont think the cost of the job add is so much that it will put off direct hires though.

OP is a malcontent who cannot, for what I am sure are MANY reasons, get a job interview.

Despite the lowering of wage levels, the standards for teaching candidates is still pretty high. In this economy, employers have the advantage and can choose from a variety of highly qualified candidates.

If the OP put as much effort in to developing his skills and deportment as he is doing in this rabble-rousing, he would be happily employed by now.

By the way, the interview on Tuesday afternoon went well. The school is small, but the students are interesting. They have all “graduated” from places like NOVA, and the like. They are also VERY demanding in that they never want to study at a school like NOVA ever again!

[life'sspark]

It's "choose", ____face. And I wouldn't have let it bother me if you didn't sound like such a know-it-all, self-righteous piece of waste.

[Ken44]

And we are not to be compared with Japanese contract workers. Because they treat their own so badly, doesn't mean we should put UP with it.

.
While I'm sure you mean well nobody forced you to come to Japan and teach English. If you are unhappy with the working conditions your best bet is to either change professions or simply leave. Personally, I wouldn't put up with half the shxt many gaijin language teachers deal with these days and would have left after six months.

In fact I almost did just that after I first arrived (1985) and jobs were for the asking. It was only because I scored a private teaching contract with Japanese company and could now easily make ends meet working 20 hours a week that I decided to stay. (Of course being able to afford to get drunk every night, chase the J-ladies and not have to worry about getting up too early didn’t hurt either.)

[well_bicyclically]

It's "choose", ____face. And I wouldn't have let it bother me if you didn't sound like such a know-it-all, self-righteous piece of waste.

thank you for your input! thank you for thinking of me a resource from which good things can emanate!!

[EichoKago]

Why are you in Japan? Couldn't pass the teacher exam or couldn't find any work back home?
You deceived yourself...

[JST]

Why are you in Japan? Couldn't pass the teacher exam or couldn't find any work back home?
You deceived yourself...

Weak. Try again.

[well_bicyclically]

If you are looking for teaching assignments for January starting dates:

Very few schools hire at this time of year. (I know of only three, and only one of them is still looking!) Most students start programs in either April or September. There are a few places that are looking to replace teachers who have left, are about to leave, never come back from the winter break, etc...., but those cases are few.

Schools that specialize in Business Out-lessons are not so busy either. Their sales people have to visit clients to say "Thanks for the last year", and all, so it is a good time to advertise and see what kind of teachers are currently available for future work.

The criteria for selecting new hires, in my experience, has been:

1) North American native speakers of English and other native speakers of English with light accents
2) everyone else

New hires having a degree and experience are easier for a school to market to current and prospective clients.
Having Japanese language ability helps new hires communicate with staff and in daily life outside of the school, but non-Japanese speakers are welcomed.
A good resume will get you the interview. The rest is up to you!
Interviewing takes practice. Even when I have a good job, I still apply to jobs just for the chance to practice interviewing, as it useful for building networks and making contacts.

I treat all interviews as a chance to measure the job market and see what is going on, and where. I never let my immediate needs/desperation come through in the interview, but I always appear eager and ready to start whenever they wish.

In this economy, EVERY student is precious and needs to be treated that way by all school staff. In the interview or follow up contact, you have to show the interviewer that you understand that.

Timing and luck play a big part! You have to say, "No", to jobs that take up prime teaching hours at low pay and wait for the other jobs to come along.