New job dilemma
One of the jobs I applied for recently was at this English school, and it's actually pretty crazy. They had me do a phone interview, and then a Skype interview the next day, and then they wanted me to come in for a trial day on Saturday since that's their busiest day. It was INSANE, but I felt that I handled it fairly well. They said they'd get back to me about whether they wanted to hire me or not.
Instead they asked me to come in the next Saturday for another trial. It was just as insane but last time it was me, Aimi - the main receptionist - and the wife of one of the teachers. I felt more comfortable and could handle things a lot more smoothly. I also gotten more sleep than the first time and so I could properly manage money and calculating things. It went pretty well I thought. They said they'd get back to me by Tuesday.
I got word from them Wednesday and they said,
"Although we were impressed by your interest in the program and dealing with children, we have been looking for someone with a little higher comfort level and experience with children as well as experience handling cash-flow and dealing with all kinds of interactions with clients. But we would still like to offer you the possibility of working with us on a part-time basis, especially on Saturdays. With this option, we could offer you hours at Fukkoudai and possible additional hours at headquarters. So, the hours, at least for now, would not be as regular or as plentiful as we discussed earlier. If this option is something you are interested in, you could start as early as this Saturday."
So first of all I'm like, if you're impressed with how I deal with the children then why do you have to then say you were originally looking for someone with more experience? Just to make me feel inadequate? Also, I don't even think THEY are comfortable with the way things are there, it's that crazy. But most of all, I WAS APPLYING FOR A PART-TIME POSITION TO BEGIN WITH SO WTF?
But really, the real dilemma is this:
I double-checked the original job ad, and NOWHERE in it does it mention this huge chaotic event they have every Saturday. The job description sounds like a office/reception job dealing mostly with basic office assistant jobs like handling and counting money, working with schedules on a computer, and translating and interpreting. That's what I was expecting, and they're now making it sound like Saturday is what they want me for and I might get a few hours here or there where I can come to the office during the week.
So, let me explain how Saturday works just so you guys can understand why it's so insane.
First of all, the office is out of someone's house a little west of Tenjin (the center Fukuoka city). It's like 15 minutes for me to get there, no problem. But on Saturday they go to FIT (Fukuoka Institute of Technology) which is the opposite side of Tenjin from me, and takes me about an hour to get there just by train (not counting any time walking or changing trains). Fortunately they've offered to drive me from the office, but still, that wasn't in the ad.
What they do is rent out a large assembly room for the day and rearrange the tables so that there are four open areas, with two tables for reception at the far end of the room opposite from the doors and a couple tables for parents and children who are waiting. At 9am, we do all the rearranging and set up. This is all cool. Then a little before 10am, the students and their teachers come POURING IN and are flying all over the place! Because the reception is way at the opposite end of the room from the doors, the students have to come all the way into the room and some kids just are everywhere. The first time I worked was the first class of the year, so naturally there were MANY people paying tuition. So we have to greet the students, who are all over the place, and all very very young, many of whom don't even speak Japanese properly yet, in ENGLISH and get their names and teachers to check their name off. Then if the parents are paying tuition, you have to collect the envelope and check the money and write it off and store it. Sometimes parents have more than one kid coming so it gets kind of nuts because all the while, there are more and more kids piling up. Especially since it's just two people at the desk. Sometimes you have to give back an empty envelope to people who have paid before, so they all gotta be checked off. Also, all the little kids in the morning have name tags and many kids have the same name. OR they just run off after you've checked their name....yeah
Then during lessons, when things are a bit calmer, you have to monitor the money, organize your area and make sure none of the other kids are getting out of hand. I have no freaking idea how I'm supposed to even think to have the authority to jump in there and get a kid to sit down and pay attention in the classes, and I can't imagine anyone who would on their first two days, so like wtf. I honestly don't want to have to do that ever, this place is so crazy.. ugh. And the parents are often waiting with other children and doing puzzles and reading and stuff, so it's all around AWKWARD.
The lessons are seriously just all in one big room, only tables separating them, and they're all done on the floor, sometimes at the tables. There are four classes going on at one time, and they last 30 minutes or an hour long, depending on the time of day. In the morning are the 30-minute classes so it's a constant flow of chaos. But by 12pm things settle down.
Then actually in the afternoon, things are QUITE PLEASANT as there are less students, hour-long lessons, and the students are 4th-grade or older.
But now they're saying that I'll MAYBE get to do office stuff?
I don't know.. like...
I KIND OF MIND doing the Saturday thing because weekends are really precious for Mimu and I, since we have no time to do anything together during the week and Sunday nights I have band practice. And even though the mornings are like being in a zoo with escaped monkeys on crack, I'm sure I can get used to it...but I don't think I'll EVER be comfortable with it, or anyone would (like I said, I don't even think THEY are comfortable with it, they just deal with it because they're used to it)!
But if all I'm doing is the Saturday thing, and it's so far away and so early... at 800yen (approx. $8) an hour.....
I'd only be making 6400yen (about $65) a week.
And if you take out taxes and add transportation compensation, that's only going to be 25000-30000yen (about $260-320). And that's not even enough to pay my loans which is my main goal here.
Now, I don't have any other options right now, so I almost like have no choice.
But I feel pretty duped.
What should I do? Should I talk to these guys and tell them how their ad doesn't match the work I'm doing and I feel capable of doing more of the office stuff? Is that a no-no and I should just take the job and ask later? Would it be really bad if I joined, found work elsewhere, and then quit? I mean, they REALLY OBVIOUSLY need help on Saturdays but ..it's a sucky Saturday.
(PS - I can't remember if my journal has been set to allow for anonymous comments, but if not, please comment to my Facebook post. Thanks).
Instead they asked me to come in the next Saturday for another trial. It was just as insane but last time it was me, Aimi - the main receptionist - and the wife of one of the teachers. I felt more comfortable and could handle things a lot more smoothly. I also gotten more sleep than the first time and so I could properly manage money and calculating things. It went pretty well I thought. They said they'd get back to me by Tuesday.
I got word from them Wednesday and they said,
"Although we were impressed by your interest in the program and dealing with children, we have been looking for someone with a little higher comfort level and experience with children as well as experience handling cash-flow and dealing with all kinds of interactions with clients. But we would still like to offer you the possibility of working with us on a part-time basis, especially on Saturdays. With this option, we could offer you hours at Fukkoudai and possible additional hours at headquarters. So, the hours, at least for now, would not be as regular or as plentiful as we discussed earlier. If this option is something you are interested in, you could start as early as this Saturday."
So first of all I'm like, if you're impressed with how I deal with the children then why do you have to then say you were originally looking for someone with more experience? Just to make me feel inadequate? Also, I don't even think THEY are comfortable with the way things are there, it's that crazy. But most of all, I WAS APPLYING FOR A PART-TIME POSITION TO BEGIN WITH SO WTF?
But really, the real dilemma is this:
I double-checked the original job ad, and NOWHERE in it does it mention this huge chaotic event they have every Saturday. The job description sounds like a office/reception job dealing mostly with basic office assistant jobs like handling and counting money, working with schedules on a computer, and translating and interpreting. That's what I was expecting, and they're now making it sound like Saturday is what they want me for and I might get a few hours here or there where I can come to the office during the week.
So, let me explain how Saturday works just so you guys can understand why it's so insane.
First of all, the office is out of someone's house a little west of Tenjin (the center Fukuoka city). It's like 15 minutes for me to get there, no problem. But on Saturday they go to FIT (Fukuoka Institute of Technology) which is the opposite side of Tenjin from me, and takes me about an hour to get there just by train (not counting any time walking or changing trains). Fortunately they've offered to drive me from the office, but still, that wasn't in the ad.
What they do is rent out a large assembly room for the day and rearrange the tables so that there are four open areas, with two tables for reception at the far end of the room opposite from the doors and a couple tables for parents and children who are waiting. At 9am, we do all the rearranging and set up. This is all cool. Then a little before 10am, the students and their teachers come POURING IN and are flying all over the place! Because the reception is way at the opposite end of the room from the doors, the students have to come all the way into the room and some kids just are everywhere. The first time I worked was the first class of the year, so naturally there were MANY people paying tuition. So we have to greet the students, who are all over the place, and all very very young, many of whom don't even speak Japanese properly yet, in ENGLISH and get their names and teachers to check their name off. Then if the parents are paying tuition, you have to collect the envelope and check the money and write it off and store it. Sometimes parents have more than one kid coming so it gets kind of nuts because all the while, there are more and more kids piling up. Especially since it's just two people at the desk. Sometimes you have to give back an empty envelope to people who have paid before, so they all gotta be checked off. Also, all the little kids in the morning have name tags and many kids have the same name. OR they just run off after you've checked their name....yeah
Then during lessons, when things are a bit calmer, you have to monitor the money, organize your area and make sure none of the other kids are getting out of hand. I have no freaking idea how I'm supposed to even think to have the authority to jump in there and get a kid to sit down and pay attention in the classes, and I can't imagine anyone who would on their first two days, so like wtf. I honestly don't want to have to do that ever, this place is so crazy.. ugh. And the parents are often waiting with other children and doing puzzles and reading and stuff, so it's all around AWKWARD.
The lessons are seriously just all in one big room, only tables separating them, and they're all done on the floor, sometimes at the tables. There are four classes going on at one time, and they last 30 minutes or an hour long, depending on the time of day. In the morning are the 30-minute classes so it's a constant flow of chaos. But by 12pm things settle down.
Then actually in the afternoon, things are QUITE PLEASANT as there are less students, hour-long lessons, and the students are 4th-grade or older.
But now they're saying that I'll MAYBE get to do office stuff?
I don't know.. like...
I KIND OF MIND doing the Saturday thing because weekends are really precious for Mimu and I, since we have no time to do anything together during the week and Sunday nights I have band practice. And even though the mornings are like being in a zoo with escaped monkeys on crack, I'm sure I can get used to it...but I don't think I'll EVER be comfortable with it, or anyone would (like I said, I don't even think THEY are comfortable with it, they just deal with it because they're used to it)!
But if all I'm doing is the Saturday thing, and it's so far away and so early... at 800yen (approx. $8) an hour.....
I'd only be making 6400yen (about $65) a week.
And if you take out taxes and add transportation compensation, that's only going to be 25000-30000yen (about $260-320). And that's not even enough to pay my loans which is my main goal here.
Now, I don't have any other options right now, so I almost like have no choice.
But I feel pretty duped.
What should I do? Should I talk to these guys and tell them how their ad doesn't match the work I'm doing and I feel capable of doing more of the office stuff? Is that a no-no and I should just take the job and ask later? Would it be really bad if I joined, found work elsewhere, and then quit? I mean, they REALLY OBVIOUSLY need help on Saturdays but ..it's a sucky Saturday.
(PS - I can't remember if my journal has been set to allow for anonymous comments, but if not, please comment to my Facebook post. Thanks).