The ESL Job Search Continues – Peppy Kids Club

So Peppy Kids Club has become the fourth interview in my expedition to find work teaching English abroad – and the third for Japan.

If it isn’t obvious by now, it’s an after school club of sorts that caters primarily to children. They say they’re the third largest school of this jurisdiction in Japan but the number one for children. Sounds good to me. Very reputable even.

I will admit, however, that I did have my reservations. I’d read mixed reviews online, but after speaking with a couple of people who had actually worked there, I decided to send in an application. My interview was scheduled for two weeks later and so off I went.

I arrived forty-five minutes early to this one. A downgrade from the ECC interview, but still way too early so I dossed about for thirty of those minutes – found a skirt in Topshop that I think I’ll buy next week – and then eventually went in.

My interview commenced with a grammar and writing test. The grammar test questions were pretty standard – identify the error and insert the correction type stuff. For the written part of the test, I had to pick one question and write a 300 word (or less) essay type response. Halfway through this section, my pen ran out of ink so I had to embarrassingly step out of the room and ask for a pen. Fortunately, the interviewer was really nice about it. She gave me one and told me to keep it.

The second part was a presentation. I knew most of the information already, but there were some handy parts that I didn’t know or had actually intended to ask questions about. The interviewer was really pleasant and made me feel at ease. I was then shown a DVD of a typical Peppy Kids lesson and got some laughs out of it.

The third part was the section I’d been dreading, but interview questions are pretty much the highlight of every interview, aren’t they? Fortunately for me, I’d done some research beforehand and some of the questions that people had mentioned actually came up in the interview so I had some answers ready. There was one question that did catch me out, however, despite the fact that I had looked it up.  I was asked how I’d deal with two disruptive students so I talked about introducing a merit system. I was then asked what I would do if it didn’t work. I actually went quiet for a moment because I hadn’t expected this, but somehow managed to churn out an answer about channelling that energy into something positive. I have no idea how I pulled that one out as in general, I don’t really feel like I interview too well.

The final part was my teaching demo. I’d pre-planned this and I’m glad I did because initially I wasn’t going to and the interviewer seemed very pleased with this. (I think my experiences with ECC might have potentially made me lazy). Overall, however, this went okay as well.

They took my photo and I nearly walked out without the documents that I was supposed to bring.

This included both my original degree certificate and my passport.

What the fuck?

Overall, I thought it went well but the last time I thought something went well, I got rejected, so we’ll have to wait and see.

I was told it would be ten days before I hear anything.

Let the countdown begin.

The ESL Job Search Continues – Teach Away

So I have a really bad habit of jumping the gun.

When things don’t go according to plan, I don’t like it. What can I say? I’m an epic control freak and the sad thing is, is that it’s probably not going to change.

So after facing rejection from ECC, I decided to expand my search to include Hong Kong and China. I don’t really know a lot about these places – not in the way that I do Japan – but I know people in Hong Kong and I’ve spoken to people in China so I thought, why not give it ago.

On the interwebs, there’s a huge debate about using recruiters versus applying to the companies directly, and thinking about it, it probably is within anyone’s best interest to go to the companies directly. However, for someone like me who doesn’t really know where to start in terms of China or Hong Kong, I’m thinking that I’m probably gonna benefit from a recruiter.

And I was pretty desperate too so I jumped the gun without really doing too much research and submitted an application to Teach Away.

A lady named Angela (not her real name) got back to me pretty quickly and scheduled an interview with me for today stating that the school she had in mind was called English First and that the branch they worked with were based in Daqing, China.

Now all I know about Daqing is that it’s definitely not a multicultural hot pot. There are very few foreigners about so it’s an ideal location if one wants to get stuck into the real China, but it’s not the location that concerns me – it’s the company. And low and behold, when I then did my research into them, I came across a whole host of problems based on the experiences of other people and it’s got me biting my nails a bit.

I’ve read peoples’ experiences concerning late pay, unhelpful Directors of Studies, unruly students (but that’s a given) and unfriendly Chinese co-workers. I’ve read about people who’ve left the country without so much as a “farewell” or people that have simply left and moved onto other companies – all stating the same thing; avoid, avoid, AVOID!

ECC was the dream because I couldn’t find a bad word against them, but all these other schools I’m coming across seem to be a meagre second and it’s giving me a lot of food for thought. But I figured that I’d already scheduled the interview and it would definitely be an experience so I didn’t cancel and I had my interview not one hour ago.

I also didn’t prepare for it.

Probably a bad move.

Maybe that's telling me something.

Anyway, it lasted about 15-20 minutes and it didn’t go particularly well. Angela asked me some qualification questions which she seemed happy with but her praise-worthy responses soon depleted when I only had one question to ask her about the company. She then went on to ask me interview questions concerning how I’d motivate my students, how I’d introduce a new word and how I’d cope with living in another country.

I’m not the kind of person who can just wing an interview. I have to prepare or I’m guaranteed to flop. The only time I don’t have to prepare for an interview as much is if I already have extensive experience in the industry. Interviewing for my current place of work wasn’t new to me, but teaching English abroad is, so I need all the preparation I can get.

Irrespective, she said that she’d forward my details onto the employer but ultimately, the decision lies with them and considering that they’ve managed to employ people up to November this year, I suspect they’ve probably had a lot of applicants.

But I guess I need to ask myself a real question and that is, should, by some fluke, I get this interview, am I wasting this company’s time? Do I really want to work for them when I know damn well that my heart is still with Japan?

The ESL Job Search Really Begins - Interview with ECC

Degree. Check.

CertTESOL. Check.

Money saved. Check.

Sheer desire to teach overseas and get get the hell out of the UK. Double check.

So, a couple of weeks ago, I attended my first English Language Teacher interview outside of the JET Programme.  

ECC are quite a well-known company both inside Japan and amongst the ESL community. In terms of negative press, there is very little on the internet and their benefits package, teaching schedule, locations...etc, is pretty darn good in my opinion so if you're looking to teach English in Japan,  definitely check them out.

As it's a Japanese company, we were instructed to come in formal dress. I don’t really own a suit, but I do have a blazer and a pair of trousers that happen to be the exact same colour. I also, had a shirt. So fundamentally, I wore a trouser suit – the exact same one I wore for my JET Programme interview…and parts of which I wore to my graduation.

Regurgitation for the win.

Money spent.

Zero.

As I wasn’t banking on London transport into the city, I decided to leave 90 minutes before I was scheduled to be there. I donned make-up, perfume, acquired a “handbag” – albeit, it’s actually more a practical bag that I take to the club sometimes (don’t worry; there were no sparkles) – and made my way down there.

I got there over one hour early.

Keen much?

So I took a walk around the area, bought a bottle of water because it was surprisingly warm that day. I showed a lost woman where a university was – my good deed for the day – and then rounded back to my interview location. I was the first to arrive and literally about thirty seconds after I entered the room, the door opened and more people walked in.

Sixteen of us arrived and the day began.

We spent the first couple of hours undergoing a presentation of the company. I think I made myself known from the beginning without even realising it and I wonder if my enthusiasm to answer questions or put my hand in the air might have annoyed people in the room – including the interview coordinators. It got to a point where one of them even looked at me expectantly for the answer when no one else sprang up to give a response. So yes, I felt like I came off like this:

while everybody else was like this:

Okay...not quite...but you get my drift.

What followed was a grammar test. We had been told that if we failed this test, we would not be able to progress onto the subsequent sections of the interview. A lot of us were bricking it and even though I had brushed up on my grammar a couple of weeks prior, when it was set in front of me, the nerves kicked in.

From what I can remember, a great bulk of the test was about indicating which words or phrases were incorrect in some way. There was a section on inserting the correct word into a sentence. There was a spelling section – I thank my lucky stars that I’d looked up some spelling a couple of days before. (The word “occasion” came up and I’ve spelt that word incorrectly for most of my life so I couldn’t help but smile when it was in there). There was a definitions section. There was a paragraph where we had to identify which word or phrase matched up with which particular term e.g. preposition…etc and right at the end, there was a matching task where we had to match a statement with a teaching method. I tore through the questions that I knew in 30 minutes and then went back and filled in the many blanks that I’d left behind. I then went over any one’s that I was unsure of, made some corrections, moved things around, panicked and spent the last five minutes checking my answers a second time. By the end of the test, I didn’t know what to think, but it was reassuring to know that I wasn’t the only one who didn’t know what “obloquy” meant.

We broke for lunch and I went to one of the branches of my place of work to get a soup. As I already work for them, I was entitled to a discount – but I didn’t have my ID card so no discount for me.

Bastards.

We came back and almost immediately, we were cut down.

Sixteen became ten.

Initially, I sat myself at a table with two guys. I looked down and the middle button of my shirt had come undone exposing the pretty blue bra underneath. I look back and think to myself – no wonder those boys looked incredibly uncomfortable.

Irrespective however, one of those guys wasn’t supposed to be there so we became nine. And then we were split into different groups and asked to generate a teaching demo of which we would each have three minutes to demonstrate.

I virtually improvised my insert and was told that my facial expressions were good.

I hadn’t even realised that I was making facial expressions.

There was feedback after every group and then we were cut again.

Nine became five.

This was the section of the day that I hadn’t prepared for in the slightest as I was too panicked about the grammar test more than anything else. So I was a little concerned. My interviewer asked me the standard “why us?” question and then decided to challenge me with questions pertaining to why I’d left it so long to apply for teaching work overseas considering that I’d done my CertTESOL back in September 2012. I answered that money was an issue and then he further countered it by implying that I could have gone somewhere else for much cheaper had I wanted. I answered that Japan had always been option number one.

I was asked about preferences of location and flexibility and whether I’d want to go back into psychology considering that it was my degree. I think I waffled a bit at this point and I look back and realise that I said things that maybe I shouldn’t have.

I didn’t get the job. I was devastated for the entire weekend as I realise that I wanted it pretty badly…even moreso than JET. I keep thinking to myself that maybe they thought I was false or maybe it was just highly competitive. My group was the last group to be interviewed in London and then the interviewers went on to Dublin as well. Maybe there were some really good specimens or maybe spaces were limited. Or maybe I just sucked and came off all wrong.

My advice to all the prospective teachers out there. Be yourself. Or at least, be the person you’d want to be in a classroom. I probably wasn’t perfect but I don’t think I could have done anymore…except maybe prepare a bit more for that one on one interview...or bought an actual suit.

Ultimately, nonetheless, I’ve picked myself up again. I’m still determined to find work overseas. I’ve actually expanded my search from Japan now so we’ll see what happens there. Who knows? Maybe I might end up in Hong Kong…or the Phillipines…or South America instead.

The world is my oyster, right?

The JET Programme ~ The One After The Interview

Well, it’s been a long time coming and I’ve been avoiding this because I didn’t get the desired result, but I got a result nonetheless so I figure that it’s only right that I update you.

On the 15^th January 2013, I had an interview for the JET Programme.

On the 6^th April 2013, I received a large envelope indicating that I had been granted Alternate status. 

For those of you not in the know, an Alternate is a reserve/waiting list candidate. Alternates can be upgraded anytime between May and December of the same year (although in the UK, an upgrade after June is very unlikely) and are necessary because shortlisted candidates on occasion drop out for various reasons.

As I’d been following the forums the day before where masses of British folk kept stating that they were shortlisted – and therefore definitely going to Japan, when I received my letter, it virtually translated as “you were good – real good­…just…not good enough”.

What can I say? I was heartbroken. It’s like an A grade kid getting a B in their best class. It feels like you’ve been shot. And all the optimistic comments of “have faith” and “you’re still in with a chance” make you feel like gouging someone's eyes out.

I’d been due to go out for a work colleague’s leaving do that evening and didn’t even go to that to cheer myself up.

What equally frustrated me was the amount of paperwork we have to do despite the uncertainty of an upgrade. Collectively, I’ve spent over £150 on this programme already and considering that I was pretty much broke last year, that cut deep.

But even though I’ve submitted all my paperwork now, I’m moving forward. Currently, the Americans are getting their placement information – the cities and prefectures that JET will be sending them – and Brits will receive theirs in the post meaning that more upgrades will be underway.

Am I holding my breath?

Maybe just a bit. A work colleague told me my phone was ringing in the middle of my shift today and my brain immediately considered that it might be the JET Desk before I came to find that it was just a call from my mum.

Thanks mum.

Do you remember this post of mine? Well the Busy Bee Syndrome has been well and truly repressed now. Things have dried up on the tutoring front and I haven’t taught a lesson since last year. In fact, the only thing still consistent from that era is that I still have my CertTESOL certificate and I’m still doing my Japanese-English language exchange…which is more of an English-English language exchange these days as work has virtually sucked away all my energy.

But ultimately, now that I have my senses about me, I don’t think I deserve JET as much as some of the other people. I’ve heard of people crying in absolute disbelief upon hearing the news that they’ve been shortlisted and I’ll admit, I rolled my eyes thinking to myself “Don’t cry about it! Go out and celebrate!”. However, contrary to how melodramatic I might think these types of reactions are, I reckon these are the kind of people that probably deserve it because clearly they wanted it really badly. And as for me, I distinctly recall that during the time I put together my application for JET, I was thinking about my chances with another company.

Low and behold, however, I submitted an application to said company a few weeks ago now and received a phone call which culminated in them inviting me to interview.

I interview next month and have started preparations for it.

Wish me luck.

The JET Programme ~ The One With The Interview

As you already know, I applied for the JET Programme back in November last year and last week, I received an email and letter inviting me to an interview. Cue shock-horror! Because you see, the last time I’d applied to the JET Programme, I was rejected…and rightfully so I might add. I don’t remember what I put in my application, but I do recall not following such simple rules as putting my application pack in the correct order. Nevertheless, despite doing things correctly this time and having someone look over my personal statement, I still hadn’t expected I would get an interview considering that the programme is extremely competitive. New graduates are introduced to the JET programme and some apply constantly every year. In actuality, I had damn near forgotten about it until I received that email. Thus, I systematically had one week to prepare.

This is virtually how my interview went:

For you see, it started off pretty well. I was a little wobbly, but I started to feel pretty good until they dropped that question. That one bastard question! But I always find that in any interview I’ve been in, there’s always one question that trips me up. And low and behold, it surfaced.

I’ll start from the beginning, shall I?

I arrived in the area of the embassy about thirty minutes before the time I was asked to arrive. In order to calm my nerves, I took a walk and listened to some music. My MP4 player died halfway through, but I felt strangely tranquil. Mariah Carey can sing! I entered into the embassy about five minutes prior to the designated arrival time. Went through security. Signed in and sat down opposite a Japanese man. We exchanged “hellos”. I managed to catch words of his conversation and felt quite proud of myself for being able to understand. Then another guy who was interviewing also emerged. I introduced myself as I saw he had his passport too (they requested that we bring identification with us); he seemed just as nervous as I was but I didn’t get to talk to him much as I went to the bathroom to change out of my thermal leggings – it was a furnace in there. When I came out, the representative was there and so it began.

I don’t know what the experiences of other embassy’s are, but the whole thing was very formal. We had to distribute any recording devices into lockers and then when we entered into the interview area. We were also, instructed not to speak to one another even though I distinctly recall two other participants who came in after us, who were having a rather in depth conversation.

We were told to sit at a table and given a short grammar test. It wasn’t too bad. Circle the odd word out. What is the difference between these two sentences? Correct this paragraph. Which word fits this definition? Afterwards, we chatted to the ex JETs about their experiences with the JET DVD playing in the background and then were led back outside into a small waiting area. Minutes later, an old white guy poked his head out of the door and invited me in.

I was happy there were only two of them instead of three and I shook their hands. The other interviewer was a Japanese woman with that phenomenal Japanese poker face but I didn’t feel intimidated by her strangely enough. The room was quite big and there was a screen across it which makes me consider whether there might have been someone on the other side listening in… Nevertheless, I wasn’t thinking this during the interview, but I was still as nervous as hell.

As soon as I came in nonetheless, the man mentioned that he thought I’d been interviewed previously. I clarified that while I had applied back in 2009, I had been rejected. The interviewers exchanged looks and I can’t help but think that they fully intended to do something horrible had it emerged that I had had an interview previously.

I’m not sure if I remember my questions properly - it was all a blur - but they were something along the lines of this:

Why JET and why Japan?

This is standard procedure and I had my answer ready. I mentioned anime (yes, I went there. People say that you shouldn't but I mentioned it in my personal statement as well and I still got an interview) and that I had read some books utilising a historical Japanese theme. The English guy homed in on this and asked me how that would apply to modern Japan. I launched into knowledge about the behaviour and the level of politeness used in historical Japan and even in current Japanese society. I mentioned my knowledge of keigo and the Japanese woman seemed impressed.

Introduce yourself in Japanese.

Despite the fact that I mentioned on my application that I had no Japanese ability, they asked me to introduce myself in Japanese. I think it’s because I mentioned my interest in the language in my personal statement. I did this and they seemed quite impressed. Granted, I have been told that my pronunciation is pretty good so I think this is a saving grace. My level of confidence was rising and the initial nerves began to dwindle. 

What’s your Japanese knowledge and what have you been doing over the years to improve said cultural awareness.

The English guy mentioned that I’d indicated I had a TESOL qualification. I mentioned that I was currently doing a Japanese-English language exchange. I’m sure I mentioned something else, but I don’t remember what I said. They seemed satiated.

Give us a possible activity where you had to illustrate a grammar point.

I launched into an activity I was going to do on my TESOL course. Money Bingo. The English guy wanted me to clarify what the grammar point was but I think he came to his own conclusion in the end. He also, dropped in that I need to be careful that the grammar point doesn’t get lost in the activity. As I sit here writing this however, I realise I should have probably mentioned the Murder Mystery idea I actually did implement when I was teaching Modals of Deduction.

What do you know about the Japanese education system?

I mentioned the 6-3-3-4 system with High School and University not being compulsory. I mentioned the emphasis on reading and writing and the 100% literacy rate. I mentioned that students in Japanese schools may be a bit shyer. I mentioned cultural events like Bunkasai/Bunka no Hi and Sports Day. Pockets of information like that.

Tell us about an experience of being a community where you stood out?

Had this ready. I’m Black. I’m British. I went on holiday to visit a friend in his mountain village in Granada, Spain. The children stared at me. Hard. The rest was history.

What could you introduce to Japanese people?

I picked food and mentioned baking a Victoria Sponge…etc. They mentioned that it might be difficult as some schools don’t have ovens. The Japanese woman said that when she came to the UK, she had to learn to use one.

Do you play any sports?

I mentioned that while it's not a sport, I do attend zumba classes. I think they liked this…or at least the Japanese woman did as she mentioned it later.

What are any after school clubs that you could introduce to the Japanese people.

I mentioned I could introduce a games to children e.g. British Bulldog, Stuck in the Mud, Bench Ball…etc. Probably should have said zumba.

As a teacher, stand up and introduce yourself as if you were speaking to a large room of people in two of three sentences.

I think I spoke loudly enough for them. The English guy thanked me and made some notes.

And then there was the that question which was about British culture. He asked me about the Scottish Referendum and I froze. I know vaguely about it, but I rarely read newspapers so my knowledge of current affairs is limited to hear’say. But no, the man didn’t stop there. He asked me to recommend places to visit in Wales – what do I know about Wales? And then he asked about England and for the life of me, I was so flustered at that point that I couldn’t think so I blurted out Canterbury for its festivals to which the guy than stated that festivals happen everywhere. I mentioned Cambridge for its architecture, but he wouldn’t drop it and wanted to know what about the architecture specifically so I just admitted that I didn’t know anything about architecture in the slightest and knew at that instant that any hope that there was had been dashed* as he began to school me on the importance of knowing about British culture.

The Japanese woman asked me an additional question along the lines of what I could bring to the community or something – I don’t remember – but I do recall saying that maybe I could launch a medieval banquet with jesters, kings and queens, lords and ladies…etc, in order to introduce this aspect of British culture. The English guy then asked me who my favourite King was and I answered “Not King but Queen - Elizabeth I”. I think he liked this but I’m not sure.

They asked me about my tattoo and I explained that I was aware of the cultural significance of the tattoo in Japanese society. I remember that every time I'd say something e.g. I mentioned that it was really small...etc, the English guy would follow up with a comment as if he wasn't sure if I understood the cultural significance of a tattoo in Japan. I ended with the fact that I'd keep it covered.

Nevertheless, I’m pretty sure the question that they asked towards the end e.g. “Is there anything else you’d like to say about yourself?” was a means of disguising the fact that I’d bombed the cultural question quite badly and I needed to say something that would save myself, but I waffled incredibly and came off desperate.

The English guy finished by asking me what I intended to do in the next year – this makes me consider that I definitely haven’t got it now, but - I said, I hope I’d be teaching English in Japan and he asked me if I’d considered other companies. I listed a few and then he asked why I thought the JET programme was better. This question was easy because obviously teaching English and teaching about culture are two very different things. I said that companies like Interac, ECC..etc are just jobs, but the JET programme is about internalisation, and cultural exchange and I’d like to be a part of that.

They thanked me, I shook hands with them both again and left with my tail between my legs. I said a quiet hello to the guy who was waiting in the waiting area and then collected my belongings and waited in the hall all emo-like until I was collected by a member of staff and escorted back to the embassy reception. (I wonder if I should have done that now however considering that there were probably cameras watching me).

I look at it now and realise I had some good bits, but that British culture question was a very important one as it basically quantifies the “E” in JET – Japanese Exchange and Teaching Programme. I think I fulfilled the “J” and the “T” to some extent, in my interview, but the “E” will stand against me. What’s more, when I signed out I think I was one of the first people to leave.

Ultimately though, I don’t think I’ll make it onto the JET programme. It’s very competitive. Interviews will be taking place over the next six weeks meaning they’ll be interviewing hundreds of applicants. I needed to walk out of it today feeling neutral but I walked out feeling horrible.

I hate job interviews with a passion anyway, but if anyone’s reading this and hopes to join the JET programme some day, I would say – know your culture; current affairs and politics included, even if it’s just a bit. I think the reason why I was asked these questions however was because I didn’t mention anything on how I would promote British culture in my personal statement and that’s where they caught me out.

Best of luck to any future JETters.

*I look back and realise that I could have said Brighton for the British seaside culture. –headdesk-