I applied online through GaijinPot, and was contacted within a few days for an interview at Kspace. I am a university graduated ESL English teacher specialized in kindergarten and elementary levels with a good few years of experience, so I found the interview questions to be more common sense than theory based ones and just super easy. I was asked to do an impromptu demo class on the spot, they told me the topic, have me 4 minutes on my own and came back with 3 kids for a 15-minute class. I got the vibe they were just desperate to hire anyone, to be honest. It did stand out that the owner carried out the interview in an open space area right next to where the kids are picked up by the parents, so it was very noisy sitting the whole process, and it was in full view and earshot of the kids, the parents and the teachers working there, which was weird and quite unprofessional.
I was offered a full time position as en English teacher for the elder grades they have, and even though I had read the reviews here, I was keen on giving it a chance. (Background: I had only arrived to Japan 3 months before and was working for GABA because it was very easy to get the working visa through them, though I was not ecstatic about their wages and overall conditions, especially because I have the pertinent university degree and experience, and knew I could find something better soon)
They said I would have a 1 week or 10- day paid trial, I don't remember, and that worked for me, as you never really know what a place is really like until you are working there... and I was so glad I tried it before signing the one year contract!!
As the older kids go there later in the afternoon(3:30-4ish), I was told I was to "help" all the other teacher's with anything the needed till my prep time for the class (30 minutes before the class or so), so 8:30-3 pm I had to do all the tasks employees don't want to do, eg: changing diapers, feeding 5-10 kids under 2 years old at the same time, cleaning after them, cleaning vomit on the floor, taking kids up to the terrace and down again in some horribly winding and narrow stairs that are super dangerous, etc.
I was also informed that for the summer holidays the normal classes would not take place and instead, every teacher needs to think of a course to offer for students to sign up, and you get paid accordingly... I can't see this being great for interpersonal relationships within the work place...
I was only able to take my lunch break once, for 20 minutes, as I would otherwise always be called back to "help" and be released around 3, when I had to do the class prep work, so, no break at all.
By the end of the trial I had a sense of how this place works, and had witnessed first hand a few instances in which the owners where rude and nasty towards employees without there being any need to be so, highly stressed teachers working unpaid overtime to complete pointless admin tasks and the daily report with photos or videos for the parents to read online for EVERY class they had had that day...
I politely declined the offer, and was immediately treated like the worst ever! The owner who carried the interview refused to deal with me and was passed on to the other owner to arrange to collect my wages, which was delayed a few times and the day I went to collect it, I was made to wait over 2 hours, as none of the owners wanted to hand me the money, which was turning ridiculous.
I am not angry at them, but my attitude and expectations in a workplace are not the ones they showed me, so I'm glad I dodged the bullet.
I could not possibly recommend this as a good workplace either.
