Employment opportunity through CLI program to go off and teach in Japan, is it worth it?

13 comments

1. Looks sketchy as hell. Like below interact or gaba. I would avoid. Try interact or Gaba or something with a bigger name. While those definitely have a ton of issues you at least know what you are getting into.

2. The problem is, the entire eikaiwa industry is set up to exploit people who want to come and visit Japan for a year. They want to get all they can out of you while giving nothing back – after all, if you only stay in a job for a year, why should they invest in you? This is par for the course in what is a temporary, minimum-wage, low-skills job. Think Walmart but with better pay.

   Whether you have a good time is a real crapshoot, because it depends fully on the school they place you in. Some school managers are nice people and will act as a buffer between you and the idiotic unreasonable demands by head office, while others get a little bit of power use it to bully their staff. Your co-workers might be nice, or they might be assholes. Ditto with the parents you’ll be dealing with. You really ought to look though this subreddit and read some of the stories people tell – if you don’t think you can handle the worst-case scenario, you might want to reconsider.

   If you have mental issues, Japan will only make them worse. You’ll be dealing with the stress of a new culture, a new workplace, learning a new job, and then on top of that you might have issues with your manager or co-workers.

   If I were you, I’d save my money and take a nice long backpacking trip around Japan – you’ll be able to see quite a lot of the country with none of the stress. Working leaves you little time to travel, and salaries don’t stretch that far, so why spend a ton of money moving here when you could use it all for travel?

   And no, do not contract any other dispatch or eikaiwa – they are all the same. These issues are endemic in ESL in Japan, and none of these companies operate ethically.

3. I know a lot of people who used to work for this company in the kyushu area and it sounds like it was absolute hell. From home visits from staff member for late night meetings, to hours of pointless report writing outside of assigned work hours. The owner at the time is also well known for forcing staff to write positive reviews on glassdoor to counter the horrific reviews written by their predecessors. Unless this company has had a complete change in ownership and management, and pretty much everything, I would avoid.

4. If you have mental disorders like OCD or “panic disorder”, it’s unlikely you will succeed at this type of work. Not trying to be harsh, just realistic

5. On the whole it’s based around North Kyushu mainly teaching kindergartens. You’ll be spending a long time on public transport. The training is quite good but the work atmosphere is quite toxic!!

6. I interviewed with them start of the year and they offered me the role. Significantly under paid (180k) and there’s lots of testimonials that Japanese teachers enter your home for no reason. Avoid like the plague.

7. I was offered a job then covid happened. Obviously the border shut down ment I didn’t get to actually come over. I can tell you the interview is odd, very long, and mostly the guy going over the company. It sounded great. Then came the training prior to coming over. I had to spend hours learning all these songs from memory. Then documents. Oy vey. The man would tell me to have x document ready to him by x date. Then a day later he is asking for the document. It was very frustrating (I was waiting for an ex employer reference letter) and paperwork kept having to be redone for some reason. I think I was lucky I wasn’t able to fulfill the contract I had just signed because of covid.

8. Apply for the next JET cohort.

9. > I do suffer from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Panic Disorder…

   C’mon over, sounds like you’ll fit right in.

10. That Salary is half of the JET program, which is the high end of pay for this type of work. If you have severe OCD, the program may lack the structure you would need to be successful. Living in a foreign country is also a huge stressor.

    Low pay even amongst ALT jobs makes this sound effed. Good luck!

11. I worked for CLI for a couple of years and there are a thousand better companies to work for. I’d even take nova over CLI.

    If you are desperate to get to japan, get them to sponsor your visa and find a better job as soon as you get there, but be prepared to be working for a psycho for a bit.

    The only good bit about the job was the kids and the other staff that are all held hostage in subsidised accommodation with you.

    1/10. It’s only got the 1 for the visa.

12. I was with them for 3 years.

    Everything you read about them negative online is true (based on my experience). Do not take positive reviews as true as staff are forced too/bribed to write good reviews.

    In you want to genuinely teach in Japan, use them only for the visa and then jump ship asap. You’ll need enough money to float yourself for a few months as well as moving in costs for finding your own place (CLI gives you an apartment but once you quit they kick you out asap).

13. > Up to £17.5K plus rent free furnished apartment and no key money (worth 6,000 pounds p.a.)

    Is it just me or is it weird that a ‘Californian’ institute is advertising in the UK? My town has a place called ‘American Home’… I’ve had to tell the owner on multiple occasions that I don’t speak American English and I’m not an English teacher anyway.

    Otherwise… 17.5k quid is what, 2.9m yen a year. 240k yen a month? Rent free that’s not bad IMO. Just check your work schedule… it can sometimes be pretty brutal with eikaiwas. On face value it’s a solid deal by today’s standards.

    The Californian aspect may also be worth looking into. I’m Aussie and have been in situations where (Japanese) assistant teachers at eikaiwas have spent a bit of time in the USA, had a bit of an American accent and constantly tried ‘correcting’ me. I guess it’s just annoying when you’re the native teacher but keep getting told ‘yeah but American English is better’. Not in a big way but I imagine that if it’s a US-focussed school… you could be teaching kids about s’mores, Thanksgiving Day and the like while being forced to favour US words/pronunciation (which I’d personally find stressful/awkward). You never know though 😀