Class Acts, Bimbos, & Arrogant Gaijin

The How & How Not of Landing a Plum Teaching Position in Japan

by Kevin Burns

Japan:JL
Never make the mistake of thinking that your Emails and phone calls to schools are not important, because they "...aren't the real interview." They are the real interview because they show who you really are.

Everyone tries to conceal who they really are during an interview, the prime goal being to present a persona that will land
the desired job. At our schools we have developed a style that I imagine is used by many. Who you are on the telephone and how you present yourself in your Emails is who you really are. The interview has become a formality; a reassurance for the school and the teacher that neither are making a mistake in signing on the dotted line.

*The Odawara Bulletin Board for jobs in the Odawara area.
Dear Mr. Burns,

Thank you for taking the time to consider my resume. Please don't hesitate to call me should a position come up
in the future. I look forward to working with you. Again thank you for taking the time to review my resume.

Sincerely,

Shawn Thompson

This man is a class act. Even though we turned him down he takes the time to write a thank you letter. You can bet that if a position does become available I will give him a shot at it. As well, this thank you letter in its' simplicity, made me take a second look at Mr. Thompson. We didn't hire him but we may in the future. He hasn't burned any bridges.

hi, i'm from california, but an amazing number of other teachers from all over the world write like me and hope to work
at an english school. we have never mastered the art of using capital letters or we never got our shift key fixed. we hope
to get paid $30/hour but we are too lazy to use capitals, please consider us for a job at your schools. i know you said in your
ad that you must be in japan to apply but like so many, i never listen to directions. if hired i would though.

later man,

johnny surfer

hi johnny, we cannot hire you at this time. my five year old can write better than you. he has mastered capital letters
can draw trucks and cars, and will be considered ahead of you for a position at our schools. he also works cheap. sorry!

later dude!

kev baby!

The Arrogant:
Just because a school asks you to call them or calls you, it doesn't mean you have gotten the job.

"I want to contact your teachers. Please send me their Email addresses."--this was from a teacher that we had written back to, after her
initial Email. So we had written to her once
asking her to call our manager to talk about
the position and of course her. At no time did we say we wanted to hire her, but already she
wanted to contact our teachers.

I have no problem with teachers contacting out current teachers (providing they don`t mind), and after
we have stated we would like to hire you, but not before,and certainly not after one Email from us. That really is arrogant and pushy.

Don't make it obvious
that you are interviewing the school. You are, but let them think that they are interviewing you on the phone. If you
ask so many questions that the manager cannot even ask you anything you have lost. Once you find out that it is indeed
a good job, you have missed any chance of getting it. When you call introduce yourself, and tell them why you are
calling, then let the manager of the school carry the ball. She or he will ask you questions or in some cases call you in
for an interview. Just because you are tall, blond and beautiful doesn't mean you get the job. Don't act like Madonna!
You don't hold all the rights to the name. You don't hold all the rights to any particular English job. Remember some of the lessons your mother taught you, be polite and share--and that goes for conversation too.

Even a small school chain like ours gets about five hundred applicants a year. If you are hired, it is a little
like winning a small lottery as we
only offer one or two positions per year, if that. Maybe I`m pushing it a bit but I think you get my point.

Finally, once you do get that plum teaching job, don't spoil the future for others by doing something stupid. Be classy all the way through, because you are representing not only yourself, but your country and particular region, and even gender. I know of schools that will not hire Canadians because of what one jerk from Canada did, and it goes on and on.
As well, the Japanese tend to form their opinion of so and so nationality based on the one or few people that they meet.
If you don't care about this, you really should, as you may be the one ruled out by your nationality. In a perfect world, there
would be no discrimination. But we all know that it occurs everyday. Don't make it hard for the others after you. Here was one conversation we had with a teacher:

"I want my contract completion bonus."

"But you aren`t completing the contract."

"But I have done a lot for the school. So I feel
I deserve it and I am only quitting six weeks early."

"Have some class. You aren`t completing the contract so you don`t get the contract completion bonus. It is a contract completion bonus, you aren`t completing the contract."

This would have been comical had it been a sitcom. Unfortunately it was real life, it escalated from where I left off and tainted our mutual feelings for each other.

Here was another conversation with a teacher after he had been with us for four months. We met to discuss some problems and he said:

"I want to be your partner."

"Partner as in business partner?"

"Yah."

"Well if you mean that, that means you think we are equals."

"That`s right."

"So all the years I have spent handing out pamphlets, teaching classes and all the other headaches an owner and manager has to go through, you have discounted."

"Well when you put it that way, forget it. It was a bad idea."

We do our best to forget that some guy from so and so region of a particular country gave us 5 days notice when he quit.
But some schools don't bother. They will not hire from there again. As well, the 5 days notice story gets told and others
listen to it. Don't give yourself a hard time, be a class act. Some schools discriminate based on gender if a male or female gave them a particularly hard time. I know of some schools that will no longer hire women, or men.

In summary, check out the contract and if you like it, sign it and follow it. Don't break it,
because you may be hurting yourself.

Check out the internet and see what people are saying but be aware that a lot of angry people are posting about different schools. Would they be happy anywhere at any job?
You have to take that into account.

The happy teachers don`t "rant" about how great their school is, they are too busy enjoying their life in Japan. It`s too bad they
don`t "rant" as it would redress some of the balance on the internet about teaching at
an Eikaiwa (English Conversation School).

There are a lot of great schools out there,

Your job: find one.

Kevin Burns
Teaching Japan http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TeachingJapan
Jobs, resume postings and information about teaching in Japan