Decisions, Decisions- advice please

[pragmatic]

Here's some random pics from mountain tops looking over the city and Setonaikai. You can just barely see downtown through the dust in the first.

Polition aside, looks quite good... Do they need ob-gy ?

I am going to imagine that if this job does not work out, my options for other jobs are limited in this area

[Russell]

I am going to imagine that if this job does not work out, my options for other jobs are limited in this area

Maybe you think too deeply.

The offer in Fukuyama looks much better to me, not only in terms of salary, but also in personal (career) development. I get the impression that your teaching qualifications are much more appreciated in Fukuyama. And if they offer you only a 9-month contract in Nagoya, they have a reason for that (like laying you off at the end).

If it doesn't work out, and you cannot find work in Fukuyama, you could always try another city. It's not as if you are obliged to stay there indefinitely.

[pragmatic]

I am going to imagine that if this job does not work out, my options for other jobs are limited in this area

Maybe you think too deeply.

The offer in Fukuyama looks much better to me, not only in terms of salary, but also in personal (career) development. I get the impression that your teaching qualifications are much more appreciated in Fukuyama. And if they offer you only a 9-month contract in Nagoya, they have a reason for that (like laying you off at the end).

If it doesn't work out, and you cannot find work in Fukuyama, you could always try another city. It's not as if you are obliged to stay there indefinitely.

I know that, I just hate moving around Japan.

[Mike Oxlong]

I am going to imagine that if this job does not work out, my options for other jobs are limited in this area

Maybe you think too deeply.

The offer in Fukuyama looks much better to me, not only in terms of salary, but also in personal (career) development. I get the impression that your teaching qualifications are much more appreciated in Fukuyama. And if they offer you only a 9-month contract in Nagoya, they have a reason for that (like laying you off at the end).

If it doesn't work out, and you cannot find work in Fukuyama, you could always try another city. It's not as if you are obliged to stay there indefinitely.

I know that, I just hate moving around Japan.

Sure, moving around can be a major pain. So can being one of many qualified teachers in a market saturated with other similar candidates. Going to Fukuyama looks like an opportunity to be one of few qualified teachers in a place looking for just such a candidate. If you feel like going back to the big Nag, or some other concrete jungle later, that experience will likely do you better than dispatch Interac ALT. Just sayin'.

[Coligny]

Moving around is a good way to get rid of your unused junk... Little Panda company asked us what we wanted to discard when loading the trucks, had we know before much more would have been dumped much more easily than could now be done...

(too much junk... can't breath when thinking aboot it... and lost around 12 limited edishiun minicars somewhere in the bunker, been searching for 2 weeks...)

[pragmatic]

I am going to imagine that if this job does not work out, my options for other jobs are limited in this area

Maybe you think too deeply.

The offer in Fukuyama looks much better to me, not only in terms of salary, but also in personal (career) development. I get the impression that your teaching qualifications are much more appreciated in Fukuyama. And if they offer you only a 9-month contract in Nagoya, they have a reason for that (like laying you off at the end).

If it doesn't work out, and you cannot find work in Fukuyama, you could always try another city. It's not as if you are obliged to stay there indefinitely.

I know that, I just hate moving around Japan.

Sure, moving around can be a major pain. So can being one of many qualified teachers in a market saturated with other similar candidates. Going to Fukuyama looks like an opportunity to be one of few qualified teachers in a place looking for just such a candidate. If you feel like going back to the big Nag, or some other concrete jungle later, that experience will likely do you better than dispatch Interac ALT. Just sayin'.

Yeah, I suppose I have to look at my career objectively. While moving far away is very lonely and sad, this is a career advancement.

[pragmatic]

So, I went there the other day to get more of an inside look at this school. They have about 10 foreign teachers working there. Altogether in the school they have about 40 teachers total if you include the Japanese teachers too.

Here is the breakdown of the 10 foreign teachers they have there:

3 people from the Philiphines
2 people from Mexico
2 people from the US
1 person from New Zealand (the vice principal)
1 person from Australia
1 person from Belize (please forgive my spelling)

They said they most of them have been there about 1 or 2 years. The vice principal has been there fore four years. To be perfectly honest, I am a bit disturbed by this turn over.
Is this normal for a private school?

Also I am wondering why they hired philipinos. Don't get me wrong, every philipino I met speaks perfectly good English, but I am wondering why they hired them?

I am wondering with the type of people they are hiring ( and the turn over rate, if I should take this job or not.....

Once again, your opinions please.....

Thank you

[sillygirl]

My opinion would be make your mind up yourself rather than asking strangers on the interweb...go with your gut feeling and as said before, if it doesn't work out, chalk it up to experience and move on.

Eh, just saying. My opinion means fuck all!

[Yokohammer]

... Also I am wondering why they hired philipinos. Don't get me wrong, every philipino I met speaks perfectly good English, but I am wondering why they hired them? ...

Um ... because they speak perfectly good English?

Did you bother to check everyone's academic qualifications? That would have told you a lot more than country of origin.

And why do you question the Filipinos but not the Mexicans? The official language of Mexico is Spanish, whereas the Philippines has both Filipino and English as official languages.

Methinks you overanalyse without bothering to do the most basic research, and ask many questions that nobody but you can answer. Sometimes to know the answers you have to dive in with both feet.

Sillygirl provided some sage advice.

[pragmatic]

I realize that I am the only one who can make the decision. I am asking on this forum because many people offer different points of view and advice which help aid my decision.

I am worried about the turnover. This is a private school and I am surprised that people leave after only a year or two. They told me the Australian who is leaving is going back to his home country. Another teacher is leaving because they took a job at a kindergarten in Kobe. With all of these people leaving, one has to wonder if it is a good place to work or not and therefore, is it worth the risk of me moving?

[sillygirl]

Prag, this is more like a conversation you should be having with your mates down the nearest 居酒屋　　

[sillygirl]

Aw - reminds me of my fave karaoke duet I used to murder in my hostess days.

[yanpa]

I realize that I am the only one who can make the decision. I am asking on this forum because many people offer different points of view and advice which help aid my decision.

Last year I quit my "safe-but-going-nowhere" job in a small company to pursue an opportunity in a much larger company in a very different industry. Though my "due diligence" didn't throw up any particular red flags, I did go into it with the awareness that it might not work out and I wasn't really expecting to be there for more than a year or two. 10 months later I am now no longer working there.

However I was also sure that if I could pull off what they initially hired me to do, it would be very good for my resume whatever else happened, and I also had a couple of fallback positions which made it feasible to take the risk. Fortuitously something else came along which is much more to my liking, and which I probably would never have found had I not made the change.

YMMV.

[yanpa]

Aw - reminds me of my fave karaoke duet I used to murder in my hostess days.

Did you keep them in a sand-filled bath on your balcony?

[Yokohammer]

Pragmatic ...

Listen, I'm being harsh, but that's not because I enjoy being an asshole. Much.

Let me add some info to Yanpa's story above. Although Yanpa knows some of the people who hang out here personally and (I assume) might trust their opinion, he did not come to the forum for advice when deciding to change jobs. Those were decisions only he could make. He knew there was a chance of failure, but he took the risk because ... the only way to get ahead is to take risks and move into the unknown. Nobody can advise you on the unknown, because everyone's desires, needs, values, and responses differ.

And it's not just Yanpa. Other members have changed jobs, gotten divorced, gotten married and moved into totally unknown situations ... all without going into "oh dear what should I do with my life?" analysis paralysis mode here.

The most useful advice you'll get around here is: "Advice you get on a forum like this is worth exactly what you pay for it."

You're just faffing around overanalysing something you'll never understand unless you get off your ass and do it. And didn't you say you're 40 years old? Jeebus farking christmas dude, take some responsibility for your life! Take the bull by the horns and wrestle, fer fuxsake!

It's like being stuck in line at the ticket counter behind someone who can't decide where they want to go. Just buy a fucking ticket and go see what's out there! Or not. You decide.

OK, that's it. I'm done with this one.

[Coligny]

Aw - reminds me of my fave karaoke duet I used to murder in my hostess days.

Did you keep them in a sand-filled bath on your balcony?

More importantly...

Daguerreotypes...

[wangta]

So, I went there the other day to get more of an inside look at this school. They have about 10 foreign teachers working there. Altogether in the school they have about 40 teachers total if you include the Japanese teachers too.

Here is the breakdown of the 10 foreign teachers they have there:

3 people from the Philiphines
2 people from Mexico
2 people from the US
1 person from New Zealand (the vice principal)
1 person from Australia
1 person from Belize (please forgive my spelling)

They said they most of them have been there about 1 or 2 years. The vice principal has been there fore four years. To be perfectly honest, I am a bit disturbed by this turn over.
Is this normal for a private school?

Also I am wondering why they hired philipinos. Don't get me wrong, every philipino I met speaks perfectly good English, but I am wondering why they hired them?

I am wondering with the type of people they are hiring ( and the turn over rate, if I should take this job or not.....

Once again, your opinions please.....

Thank you

The non native speakers (including Philippino people regardless of how good their English is) are hired probably because the school pays them less. Philippino people do not get paid the same money as those classified as native English speakers, this sucks in some cases.

It is a fact. If you come from a country such as the UK, USA, Australia, Canada, New Zealand where English is the official language then you are a native English speaker according to Immigration in Japan. That is why there is a list of countries approved for Specialist in Humanities visas in English teaching.

You do have some reason to question why Mexicans are there as this is not usual in the ESL/EFL industry in Japan. I'd say they are on a different visa. I doubt a Mexican national can get a Specialist in Humanities visa for English teaching unless they are qualified to work in another industry. Same for the person from Belize.

About turnovers, yes it is helpful to be suspicious. But having recently completed a year in the worst eikaiwa job I've ever had with sociopaths for co teachers and a nasty nut of an employer, I'd say the turnover rate isn't everything to look for. The gaijin losers I worked with have drifted around for a combined 25 yrs or more in Japan and are still singing songs and making 'funny' noises to kindie kids as well as older brats and an assortment of useless forever beginner adult students.

The previous 3 teachers who did the job before I did were there for two yr contracts. They were desperate for money. For me, the kind of nasty and at times underhand bullshit that went on there wasn't worth any amount of money. But I have self-respect.