ポストした日：２７日４月２０１４年
So the interview/info. session was yesterday. It was all pretty good. I actually messed up on a part that I didn't think I was going to mess up on. (I forgot to introduce what my map was about.) But I did remember to use my one piece image to make the map more interesting.
So here is how it went:
I arrive there around 8:05 am.
I take a 15 minute nap on the car because I'm exhausted!
I wake up, walk to the hotel where the session was being held, and realize that I forgot to take the pre-interview questions with me. (I left them on the kitchen table.) So I enter the room where we are suppose to be. (I asked the receptionist lady where it was.)
I go back downstairs to the same receptionist and ask her if there is a way for me to print out a paper.
She gives me a door key, and I realize it's a room with computers. I quickly post the URL for the PDF file on my facebook, print it, go back to the room, fill it out and give it to the person in charge (Beth).
A note about Beth: She makes you feel more comfortable and knows what she is doing. Also it's easy to ask her questions. Blonde. Makes jokes.
So the 2 hour info. session begins, and this is the portion where I was a bit dissatisfied. When she told us that many of their fall spots have been filled already, so we may be starting in April of next year, that is when my heart dropped a bit. . . . ok a LOT. I have heard of this somewhere else before (here specifically) about a person who found out she was given an offer but it would start the next term. When she told us this I was wondering if this happens with the company a lot. I'm not in a rush, but I would have liked to know the probability of starting out in Fall verses Spring.
With that in mind, I'm still looking for other places. I prefer elementary or junior high school level at the moment, but teaching at an eikaiwakan is fine also. As long as I have a steady income, benefits, and guidance with certain life aspects (finding a place to live, cellphone, bank account, etc).
After the session we took a quick 5 minute bathroom break. I seriously needed to go! Jajaja. .
Came back and started our grammar quiz. It has a spell check portion, (I forgot if it was seperate or separate. But I was pretty sure it was separate at the moment), a insert-periods-and-commas-portion, it asked if the sentences were active or passive (I had no idea what this was. . .but neither did another person), another section where you had to circle which phrase or word was wrong in the sentence, circle the right verb that belongs in the blank (very easy), and that was pretty much it.
Started on demo part.
I was 5th to go, and it is true that you are doing it in front of other people, but the groups are always fairly small so it's not intimidating. I personally got nervous because I felt I had lack of practice and I just always get nervous before the start of anything. (Although this doesn't stop me from doing it.)
There were 3 people there who already had some teaching experience (one did an internship, one did JET, and another did Interac so this was their second time applying). The rest of us were either graduating soon or had already graduated but the teaching experience was all the same.
After this we took breaks. Me and 3 other people were the last to go for our one-on-one interviews, so we went to go have lunch together. Some people had to go early because of flight or bus arrangements.
This was a fun part for me because we could share our Japan stories that our friends are probably sick of hearing. Plus these are people that have more or less the same interests as you (teaching, traveling, japan, etc), so you can talk about things that your usual posy doesn't really care about.
The interview session was just like any other interview. She does ask what are your strengths and weaknesses, and preference for where you want to be located.
I told her I have family that lives in the middle of mountains, but I haven't lived in such a rural place where I have to ride a bike just to go to a supermarket. So I told her, urban is more my style. As long as I am close to transportation where I can be mobile, 30 - 1 hour away from a big city, and a village that has more than 1,000 people, I will be ok. I like cities but I also like quietness, so something in the middle. Kyoto kinda embodies that idea (quiet but also city-like). I did say I was open to other suggestions, and that I was flexible.
From what I heard based on talking with other people that day, she kinda directs the questions based on what you project. I know there was this one guy who we learned (plus he told us), that he has never lived that far away from his mother and was too chicken to try stuff other than american food when he was in Japan (he didn't really do anything culturally significant either; just kinda went with the flow of things), is a bit too safe to try new adventures, and was very specific on his preferences (like having amenities and transportation at least 30 minutes from where he lived, and a cold place).
Even I kind of questioned why he was even applying for teaching jobs. . . . I'm not sure.
Anyways, I would make sure to practice for your demo lesson in front of other people; friends, family, whatever and try to get some feedback. It is pretty common to have to speed things up when you are nervous. She even started all over again for one guy because he was going way too fast. A lot of people did their self-introductions in both Japanese and English (to show whatever Japanese ability they had). I just did mine all in Japanese. The self-introduction part is for the people who will be watching the video (business-lvl people), so that is the person I kept in mind. You can do whatever you want with it though.
I think all of us except 2 people did the directions demo lesson. I do know that I have to work on my speaking level. I was told to raise my voice but apparently there was no change. . . . I thought I raised my voice but I guess not. (> 3 >)''
So that's all I have for now. I should get a reply from the 3-4 weeks from now. I like this company, but I don't necessarily want to wait all the way 'till April. . . . I might as well apply for JET. I will be looking at other places. I already sent my application to Gaba (but they are not my first choice at the moment, simply because there is the issue of building up your customer base and finding a place on your own; which is hard. . .), and already beginning other ones.
In any case, I can accept a placement with Interac and see what happens with other offers. . . You never know, maybe Interac can place me in their Fall openings, maybe not. . .
So the interview/info. session was yesterday. It was all pretty good. I actually messed up on a part that I didn't think I was going to mess up on. (I forgot to introduce what my map was about.) But I did remember to use my one piece image to make the map more interesting.
So here is how it went:
I arrive there around 8:05 am.
I take a 15 minute nap on the car because I'm exhausted!
I wake up, walk to the hotel where the session was being held, and realize that I forgot to take the pre-interview questions with me. (I left them on the kitchen table.) So I enter the room where we are suppose to be. (I asked the receptionist lady where it was.)
I go back downstairs to the same receptionist and ask her if there is a way for me to print out a paper.
She gives me a door key, and I realize it's a room with computers. I quickly post the URL for the PDF file on my facebook, print it, go back to the room, fill it out and give it to the person in charge (Beth).
A note about Beth: She makes you feel more comfortable and knows what she is doing. Also it's easy to ask her questions. Blonde. Makes jokes.
So the 2 hour info. session begins, and this is the portion where I was a bit dissatisfied. When she told us that many of their fall spots have been filled already, so we may be starting in April of next year, that is when my heart dropped a bit. . . . ok a LOT. I have heard of this somewhere else before (here specifically) about a person who found out she was given an offer but it would start the next term. When she told us this I was wondering if this happens with the company a lot. I'm not in a rush, but I would have liked to know the probability of starting out in Fall verses Spring.
With that in mind, I'm still looking for other places. I prefer elementary or junior high school level at the moment, but teaching at an eikaiwakan is fine also. As long as I have a steady income, benefits, and guidance with certain life aspects (finding a place to live, cellphone, bank account, etc).
After the session we took a quick 5 minute bathroom break. I seriously needed to go! Jajaja. .
Came back and started our grammar quiz. It has a spell check portion, (I forgot if it was seperate or separate. But I was pretty sure it was separate at the moment), a insert-periods-and-commas-portion, it asked if the sentences were active or passive (I had no idea what this was. . .but neither did another person), another section where you had to circle which phrase or word was wrong in the sentence, circle the right verb that belongs in the blank (very easy), and that was pretty much it.
Started on demo part.
I was 5th to go, and it is true that you are doing it in front of other people, but the groups are always fairly small so it's not intimidating. I personally got nervous because I felt I had lack of practice and I just always get nervous before the start of anything. (Although this doesn't stop me from doing it.)
There were 3 people there who already had some teaching experience (one did an internship, one did JET, and another did Interac so this was their second time applying). The rest of us were either graduating soon or had already graduated but the teaching experience was all the same.
After this we took breaks. Me and 3 other people were the last to go for our one-on-one interviews, so we went to go have lunch together. Some people had to go early because of flight or bus arrangements.
This was a fun part for me because we could share our Japan stories that our friends are probably sick of hearing. Plus these are people that have more or less the same interests as you (teaching, traveling, japan, etc), so you can talk about things that your usual posy doesn't really care about.
The interview session was just like any other interview. She does ask what are your strengths and weaknesses, and preference for where you want to be located.
I told her I have family that lives in the middle of mountains, but I haven't lived in such a rural place where I have to ride a bike just to go to a supermarket. So I told her, urban is more my style. As long as I am close to transportation where I can be mobile, 30 - 1 hour away from a big city, and a village that has more than 1,000 people, I will be ok. I like cities but I also like quietness, so something in the middle. Kyoto kinda embodies that idea (quiet but also city-like). I did say I was open to other suggestions, and that I was flexible.
From what I heard based on talking with other people that day, she kinda directs the questions based on what you project. I know there was this one guy who we learned (plus he told us), that he has never lived that far away from his mother and was too chicken to try stuff other than american food when he was in Japan (he didn't really do anything culturally significant either; just kinda went with the flow of things), is a bit too safe to try new adventures, and was very specific on his preferences (like having amenities and transportation at least 30 minutes from where he lived, and a cold place).
Even I kind of questioned why he was even applying for teaching jobs. . . . I'm not sure.
Anyways, I would make sure to practice for your demo lesson in front of other people; friends, family, whatever and try to get some feedback. It is pretty common to have to speed things up when you are nervous. She even started all over again for one guy because he was going way too fast. A lot of people did their self-introductions in both Japanese and English (to show whatever Japanese ability they had). I just did mine all in Japanese. The self-introduction part is for the people who will be watching the video (business-lvl people), so that is the person I kept in mind. You can do whatever you want with it though.
I think all of us except 2 people did the directions demo lesson. I do know that I have to work on my speaking level. I was told to raise my voice but apparently there was no change. . . . I thought I raised my voice but I guess not. (> 3 >)''
So that's all I have for now. I should get a reply from the 3-4 weeks from now. I like this company, but I don't necessarily want to wait all the way 'till April. . . . I might as well apply for JET. I will be looking at other places. I already sent my application to Gaba (but they are not my first choice at the moment, simply because there is the issue of building up your customer base and finding a place on your own; which is hard. . .), and already beginning other ones.
In any case, I can accept a placement with Interac and see what happens with other offers. . . You never know, maybe Interac can place me in their Fall openings, maybe not. . .
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