Hi! This is my first post as a part of this group woohooo. I recently got my COE for Heart Corporation, but am going to back out because I’m seeing what an awful reputation they have. Guess I kind of dodged a bullet.
Now I’m looking at eikawas, and have applied to ECC and NOVA. Does anyone have any input for these two schools? Like how hard they are to get into and when I can expect to hear something back? Also, are there any other eikawas currently hiring? I don’t want to stop applying until I receive a job offer from somewhere.
8 comments
NOVA is on par with Heart as one of the worst companies to work for.
I hear mixed opinions about ECC. If you’re late 1 second because of traffic or because you helped an old lady who fell down, they will put you on a new contract in which you will get paid less. But I also hear that ECC is 35 hours per week instead of the 29.5 hour scam.
You also have to look at it from another perspective – they gave you a COE which nowadays is not easy to enter Japan. You could use them for the visa and work a little while for them, try it out and if you still dont like it you can change jobs in Japan
Nova are the eikaiwa equivalent of Heart. If you backed out of Heart then you should avoid Nova. ECC are better than both, they’re a decent enough company to start out with. However, if after being here for a while you see yourself staying here long term then you should aim to be working for someone better than ECC.
I would give you very low odds indeed of being able to enter Japan in the first half of 2022.
The first job you get, be it with an Eikawa or dispatch company, is going to suck with respect to the company. Jet is something of an exception.
Just stick it out for one year and if you decide you want to stay longer get a direct hire position. If you want to teach in Japan long term get a masters degree and tefl certificate, get the language ability up and apply for positions at an international school.
Lol applying for NOVA.
Take the Heart job. It won’t be great, but it’ll get you in the country (m a y b e), and it won’t be Nova lol. You can find another job after you’re here and have an idea of what’s what.
Interesting people are saying NOVA is worse than Heart. I mean on pay alone NOVA is better (¥240k+ compared to ¥190k/month?)
Personally i would prefer to work at Eikaiwa instead of being an ALT. But i prefer to be a teacher and in charge of the classroom instead of a tape recorder. Some people like the lighter workload of an ALT.
Truth is there are zero good companies in Japan in regards to English. If you’re dead set on teaching in Japan take literally any job with a visa then move to direct hire at a private school or start your own eikaiwa.
I understand the reluctance to work for them but I would at least give them six months because getting a COE these days is becoming increasingly difficult.
That would just be me being grateful though. You do you.