Experience with Gaba corporation - Part 2

こんにちは peeps,

Ninja Gaijin here with a sequel to the ever popular post (you can find it here), the writing style rivaled by authors, nominated for a Pulitzer...

Ok...ok....maaaaaybe.... that was a little over the top.

So there I was...contemplating my next move. I had just gotten off the phone off Liam Neeson who just threatened to find me....and then krill me. I think he wanted to take me out to a sea food place.....he's such a nice guy.

Here's a link to the post to refresh your memory - Experience with Gaba Corporation - Part 1

As mentioned, the guy who interviewed me sent me an email a few hours after our conversation. Attached was a single word file consisting of 6-7 tasks which I was required to fill up and send it back in 5 days. 

First page was basically fill in your name, age, email etc.

The next few pages required me to

• Write a story (300 words)
• Explain the difference between 2 words
• Prepare a lesson plan for a student
• Answer a few questions based on a case study
• General questions like - Why do you want to come to Japan, why is teaching ESL different from math, etc etc

The questions were straight forward and do not require a lot of time to finish.

Even being the lazy guy that I am, I took 2 days to finish and sent it back...with the dates I was free to have a second interview. 

Then I started learning Japanese again.

....to be continued in part 3.

Experience with Gaba corporation - Part 1

こんいちは peeps,

Ninja Gaijin here and in this post, I'll be covering my experience in applying to an English Instructor position at Gaba corporation.

Before I begin, I would like to mention that there are a lot of posts online that criticize their methods/treatment of foreigners. After some extensive research, I've noticed that their claims are baseless and it's their own damn fault for not reading the contract properly. I'm not praising any party here, but sometimes, you need to use some good ol' fashioned common sense. I will write another post about the controversies if required.

One day I was just strolling around Gaijinpot.com when I came across not one but thousands of English teaching jobs. This English teaching gig is quite common for gaijins and I though, 

"Hey! It's been a while since I actually taught someone. I do have some experience in teaching people and its an easy sounding job. Maybe I should try for it. So I sacrificed a sheep on minecraft for the almighty Google God and I published the results on Teaching English in Japan.

Aaaaanyway, I decided on the Independent contractor gig as I would have more time for myself. And Gaba was the first result to pop up. Filling the application form was straight forward,

Name: NinjaGai...oops...Real name

Resume and a cover letter.

One days later, I get an email for an initial Skype interview. The Japanese are really efficient in this way. Japan being on the other side of the world meant that I had to get up super early (I'm clearly not a morning person) and I had 20 minutes to freshen up, take a quick shower and wear a shirt and tie.

He messaged me ten minutes before the scheduled time asking if I was ready and then he called me on the dot. They mention in the email what they will ask you, which is the usual boring stuff.

"Tell me something about yourself...

"Why do you want to come to Japan...

"Why do you want to teach English....

While I wanted to reply to all with
"BECAUSE I WANT THE MONEY BI@TCHES!!!!......and also come to Japan.....

I decided against it. Stating the usual, generic, monotonous answers sugar coated enough to give them diabetes.

The interviewer was a nice guy, and wasn't Japanese, which kinda bummed me out a bit. We then had a small mock lesson where he role played a typical Japanese student and I had to explain the difference between two words. He then told me he would be sending me a test to check my English and then determine if I qualify for a second interview. We said our goodbyes and ended the call. 

Overall, the entire interview took around 30-40 min (typical) and it was quite basic. Then again, its expected for someone applying to a teaching position....I guess.

.....to be continued in Part 2

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