First Job Interview at Gaba

There's me looking moody, ready for my interview!

I went over to Ebisu's Gaba Recruitment Centre for my first interview and Information Seminar this evening. I really need to start using a train guide for my journeys to find the best route - I'm just guessing really... (This was my busiest train journey yet - on the Yamanote line from Tokyo station to Ebisu station. It was about 5.00 and it wasn't shoulder-to-shoulder but it was quite crowded, but I was sitting.)

Well I found the place (the directions they gave me were quite good so it wasn't too difficult) and I got up to the sixth floor, was there at 5.45 for a 6 o'clock seminar. I'd been there about 30 seconds before a man came out and asked us to come into the presentation room, where we started to fill out forms.

It asked all the questions I didn't want to be asked. What is your phone number? Do you have a Japanese bank account? So I told the truth - phone number was pending, and I was planning to open a bank account as soon as I could either get through on the phone or find a branch of the right bank.

Then we had a 35 minute slideshow presentation about how flexible Gaba is and how it will work if we get the job. I had stumbled across a thread from Gaijinpot.com about Gaba earlier in the day, and it was not very positive at all, so I was a little worried about what it would be like if I actually got the job.

After the presentation, we were given a Post-Presentation booklet (basically a mini-exam) and they pulled us out a group at a time to be interviewed individually during the 40 minutes we had to complete the booklets (although we ran over slightly). I basically knew what to expect due to reading about a similar experience on Sum0's Japan Blog.

The first question asked us to complete this story. "Wonder Woman, Santa Claus and I were sitting on a park bench..." so I made up some tripe about us discussing who would win in a race, then Santa winning by using his sleigh (I'm sure I mispelled sleigh - is this one of those exceptions to the 'i' before 'e' except after 'c' rule?).

The second asked us to describe how we would explain the difference between "I like" and "I'd like" to a Japanese student of English. I used the "I like cake" and "I'd like cake" example.

Then there was a question that gave a student's profile, followed by an extract from a textbook about 'Causes and Effects' with sentences like "CAUSE - I was really hungry. EFFECT - I ate a cake". The question asked us to customise (spelt with a 'z' but I just can't bring myself to do that) the task for this man who sells home entertainment systems to US companies. So my answer went something like: Our system is good, so you will sell more. Because our system is good, you will sell more. Etc. etc.

Then there was a table with space to write different conjugations of 'to teach'. Stock up on your metalanguage (the language of language) before you go because you will need to know the past, present and future perfect and continuous versions of "to teach". I won't write my answers here because I'm sure I got them wrong (a vast hole in my knowledge for someone who claims to be an English student I know).

The last question was on idioms. It asked us to explain four idioms to a student and describe how we would teach the meanings. They were: 'on the ball', 'down to earth', 'out of the blue' and one other. Maybe somebody else who has taken this Gaba test could shed some light on it. Are there any other questions I've missed?

I'm sure Gaba won't be happy I'm revealing their test on the Internet but if they complain, I'll remove it. I want to help anyone else in my position as much as possible. It's not easy!

In my individual interview, I was told that my charcoal-grey suit wasn't black enough, and that my age was a problem. Being under 20 is turning out to be the biggest barrier of all here! I was told that I needed to open a Japanese bank account (which I already knew) and that, being under 20, I would have to have an interview with the big cheese of Gaba to make sure I understood enough business English. They invited me back for another interview on Tuesday, but I don't hold out much hope. I didn't in the first place, Gaba being one of the biggest schools in Japan, and me being an 18 year old with little teaching experience and no University degree. But it was an interesting experience, seeing an interview and understanding a little more about teaching English in Japan.

Because Gaba wants its teachers to commit to a long-term contract, working there would keep me in Tokyo for several months or so, and I'd much rather be able to stick to my original plan - find informal work at a smaller school or privately in Tokyo, and then move to Kyoto in April and do a similar thing there, then work my way down to Kyushu for the last month, before returning home in August. So we shall see. But I'm basically back to square one in terms of job hunting (I received an email from the other school saying that they were sorry but they'd already filled the position - grgh!).

On the plus side, I saw a poster for the Blue Man Group on the train home, I saw them at the Big Chill festival last year and they were great. Worth seeing...