ECC Experiences or Stories?

[JestersJ]

I have a friend applying for ECC since they didn't get a JET interview this year. Does anyone have any stories?

I've found a few blogs online about how some people go with their accommodation and end up paying a lot more than other residents in the apartment building, but that most people like the schools and friendships they gained.


For anyone else that's interested in applying for ECC, if you apply now they contact you within 12 days about an interview in end of Feb/March usually in a city of convenience. (if you're chosen)
Leave date for that hiring is May 2015 (and maybe later if you need more time to prepare)
Application consists of.. an application, and a short personal statement on "why Japan" and just some basic info about schooling and passport.

[webstaa]

Only ECC in my area pays a college student to be a part-time juku class leader. For next to nothing as far as salary. But it's apparently the only English instruction work that's less actual work than a regular ALT.

[JestersJ]

Only ECC in my area pays a college student to be a part-time juku class leader. For next to nothing as far as salary. But it's apparently the only English instruction work that's less actual work than a regular ALT.

Yeah I heard that. ECC seems to be pretty similar in salary full-time as other eikawas. (at least they advertise it as that salary) She's also trying for Interac and the Himeji program (restricted to people living in Phx to apply)
The problem with interac is she has a very small wrist tattoo and they require you to cover 24/7 even while not at work, so she's unsure if she wants to deal with that. But they have offered her an interview at least.

[weepinbell]

I applied for ECC as a backup and got hired. I applied in November and would be leaving in the August group since I have a conflict. They'd contact me about a placement in June, so it gives me the perfect time table to prioritize JET since we find out in April. Out of the 10 people who came to my interview, only 3 of us were hired (so hey, at least they're pickier than some eikawa). I still talk to the other hirees a bit, because I'm interested to find out about their experiences firsthand since they're leaving this month. I've heard mostly good stuff about ECC other than your typical eikawa BS - plus side is, you don't have to sell anything to your students/have sales quotas like Aeon because they have a seperate staff for that. Obviously, you have to 'market' the company, but you do it by being genki as heck, teaching a crap ton of demo lessons, and duh... handing out tissues in your downtime. Salary obviously isn't as nice as JET, but it's still 252000/mo and you only work 29.5hrs (that way they get out of helping you with health insurance lol, but at the hiring session they said lots of employees start taking on more hours so they can be eligible).

All in all, the impression I got was that they're pretty real about what they're doing, why they're doing it (they are a company not a school they said that a lot), and the benefits you'll get. There's something in the pre-hiring FAQ that says something like "Besides JET, ECC offers the best package deal among blahblahblah programs" and mentioned this at the session, too. And I mean, it's pretty good. You have a solid 5wks paid weeks off plus all holidays and I think like 5 'sick/vacation' days?

The session was pretty fun, too, they had the remaining 4 of us (they cut most people after the grammar test, which personally I think is mostly an excuse to weed out the weirdos lol) do a demo lesson together and it was actually a pretty nice set up and a really smart way to see how well people will fare with jumping around with a bunch of children haha. The two guys who held the session were super chill and really helpful when people struggled with the demo. They want super genki, sociable people. That's pretty much the number 1 requirement.

As for the apartments, I know ECC has complexes specifically hold spots for their employees - sounds like maybe that could factor into why people end up paying more than maybe native residents/non-ECC people? But the pricing is set for all the locations, they'll give your friend an info sheet on the accomodations with what's provided, how much you'll pay for a place in each area, etc. They did say in the session that they are like the quintessential shoebox living situation, though haha.

I'm gonna keep in touch with the two heading to Japan with them to get the inside scoop haha, but I think you're right when you say most people have a generally good experience with them.

[lovelierlex]

My experience with ECC is a few terrible interviews with interviewers that seemed totally arbitrary in who they hired or didn't and/or almost sadistically impossible to please. The same guy interviewed me all 3 times though (with a different person alongside him 2/3 times, the other times he was alone.) Now, I'm pretty sure he just doesn't like me for this job, for some reason and I'll never get it if I interview with him (and I'm super genki and got 90% or higher on the grammar test guaranteed, so wtf?).

The last interview seemed so terrible it was funny. A guy wearing sweatpants to the interview, and the guy who forgot to bring the paperwork we were all supposed to bring both made the second round, but the professional English teacher with several years of teaching experience in the US got cut, again wtf? Maybe the first two were grammar geniuses, but still, you've got to admit that looks bad. I doubt any of us got these chimerical positions, and if anything, I think the 30% percent success rate weepinbell mentioned is HIGH for this company, which in my experience is a lot HARDER to get into than JET!

Still kinda want to work there, though, and if I do leave JET (which I am strongly considering), ECC would be my third choice after Interac and Westgate.

... Scratch that, probably Interac, Westgate, ALTia Central, then ECC... if ALTia Central is any good, I need more info about it.