Pros
The company was overall a positive experience. - The pay is good, paid on a per class basis which adds up to your monthly salary, and the work hours are a lot less any other English school I previously worked at or have heard of. - lots of training to prepare you for what’s expected, and for teachers who don’t want to make their own lessons, there is a curriculum guide that has example activities to play. You can choose your own activities if you don’t like the sample games given, but you have to teach the language for that day. - teachers, staff, and trainers are nice and more than happy to help if your having trouble. - lots of scheduled yearly time off (10 weeks) that are non adjustable but fall on major holiday seasons. Spring break, Golden week, Summer vacation, last week of September, Christmas and new years. - only teach 17-20 classes 50 minutes each per week based on contract with additional prep time. Teach classes 4 days a week and a 5th training day used to cover classes if a teacher calls out, or if there are extra training meetings to prepare for events like open class week. These meetings last 2-3 hours or may be some document you have to do at home, usually 1-2 hours. - if you have to cover for a sick teacher you get paid equal to your per class rate ~4000¥ per class you cover.
Cons
DISCLAIMER: All the cons I have are clearly expressed at your first or second interview, contract signing, or in your contract document. So anyone who has problems with these things were informed when they signed up. I don’t know if that makes it ok. But I think people who agreed to this have some responsibility and should pay more attention to what is said to them or written on the contract. - You are technically contracted as an outside contract worker. Which excludes you from paid sick leave, you have to file and pay your own taxes, and you are contracted yearly, though you will only be let go under extreme circumstances. If you tend to call out, I don’t recommend this job. If you are fairly healthy and don’t call out, you will have no problems. - the classes are very fast pace, take a lot of energy, and don’t have much flexibility in teacher creativity when it comes to language. Classes are split into 5 minute segments with predetermined topics. You are eventually expected to perform classes with a high bar as a standard, but I feel a lot of new teachers falsely thought they were expected to be perfect out the gate and put a lot of pressure on themselves. Which leads me too… - the learning curve the first few weeks is steep. It’s very hectic and can be stressful when you’re just trying to figure out what to do. Most teachers I’ve seen quit, do so in the first 6 weeks because they put unrealistic expectations on them selves and think they have to be perfect from the get go. This time also includes extra, paid, training with the area’s trainer weekly, and writing up detailed lesson plans. This can be time consuming and draining mentally and physically. But I think it does build a good base and things are much easier after you finish the first 6 weeks. - If teachers call out a lot you are required to go in on your training day. Sometimes the call to cover comes last minute. On the flip side if too many teachers call out the same day, and there isn’t anyone available, you will be asked if it’s possible to go in even if you’re sick. You can still say no but your classes will be cancelled for the day.