Interview

I had an interview on Saturday for an ALT position. This company seems fundamentally different from my current employer. My current company's business plan focuses on getting as many contracts with as many schools as possible, and then spending as little on training and teaching materials as they can while paying their instructors (they don't call us teachers) as little as possible. The company I had an interview with seems to pay more attention to the quality of their teachers. They required recommendation letters in addition to a resume and cover letter, and seemed really interested in my teaching experience. My current company didn't really care if I had any experience or not, and probably would have hired me even if I didn't have TESOL certification. I think the fact that the average employee at my current company stays 2 years, compared to an average stay of 7 years at the company I went to this weekend is pretty significant.

My current job was good because they hired me right when I wanted to start, and I didn't have to work in an English conversation school like AEON or NOVA. It also got me a visa to work here. The bad thing is that there are two full months in a year when I am not under contract so I'm not getting payed, and two other months that I don't get payed a full months salary because they don't want to pay me while I'm on vacation. My hopeful future job will have a full 12 months a year paid (which seems quite normal and reasonable) as well as a higher starting salary. My current company pay the same low amount no matter how many qualifications you have, and no matter how long you've worked there. I'd rather work somewhere that will reward me for my hard work.

So hopefully after the read my wonderful recommendation letters, they'll give me a call back to get me a school and work out a contract.