"We look for highly enthusiastic people who will enjoy working with children and teaching them English. We also want people who are able to work independently and meet the challenges of living in a foreign country.

All of our foreign teachers must have complete control of the English language and therefore we focus on native English-speaking candidates" - according to their website.

Our take on this: Primarily they hire from Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand, USA, Ireland and South Africa, this basically means that similar to Aeon, Geos, Nova Holdings and to some  or a minor extent Berlitz and ECC, their hiring managers will favor these candidates over other applicants who may very well be native level fluent but whose passport doesn't make the cut.

In other words a native level fluent applicant who holds a passport from Germany would have trouble getting hired with this organization. However they do hire from other countries if you are fluent enough.

Regarding the application process at PKC, they will require 3 letters of reference. Two must be professional and only 1 can be a personal reference. 

Some interview tips for such candidates if you don't hold a passport  from the above mentioned countries, if you send a video to the hiring manager really take care regarding your pronunciation and how you come off. Also make sure their is not a single glitch in your resume. and that your cover letter is tight.

PKC & More on the Interview Process

 Typical Teaching Environment at PKC

Peppy Kids Club And One More Big Difference

Another notable difference is that unlike your typical ALT type work where ages are cut and dried, you get more variation in ages. What this means is that the classes themselves are more difficult to handle. This, and we are not kidding one XXXXing millimeter here, is exhausting to teachers as it breaks continuity in game structure as well as the class social structure itself.

"What?"  Say that again!"  Okay we will. It means that if there is a 2 or 3 year age gap in the average age of the kids in the same class, the older kids will finish any given task faster.

 "Great. And so?" Glad you asked. What will the older child be doing with the spare 5 minutes he  may have on his or her hands while he/she waits for the others to finish? Calculate pi (π) to the 69th digit or run around? Perhaps poke another kid with a pencil? Or sit quietly in a zen pose awaiting further instruction? I think you know the answer to that one.

Peppy Kids Club and Some of the Pros

• Some other quotes are "part time work for a full  time salary."
  
  
• "They pay on time and abide by their contract."
  
  
• "Foreign staff helpful and supportive."
  
  
• "They take pretty good care of you."
  
  
• "Training is hard and intense but very helpful" (They use quite a bit of shadowing or observation techniques in their training so you can pick up on how the teacher is actually running the curriculum right there in the classroom.)
  
  
• "If you are not a morning person, it's an ideal job."
  
  
• "Application process is easy and straight forward."

Peppy Kids Club and Some of the Cons 

Note: PKC is an after school type program meaning it is supplementary education and so like many small eikaiwas that function in the same way may not be considered real education. Take that for what it means.

Here's a crusher that can't be overlooked. Turnover. It exists for a reason and no amount of bull-shitting disinformation, can cover this up. Long time readers of this site know that we believe math doesn't lie. If the organization was the cats meow why is the, get this, Japanese as well as foreign staff turn-over so high? Why does the average duration of employment last roughly 2 years? Hmm...

Some of the Japanese staff can barely put an English sentence together. So if  you can't speak Japanese it's going to be tough to get to communicate your points of contention.

• "Decent entry level job in Japan but not for the long run."
  
  
• "If you work for Peppy Kids club, you work on Saturdays."
  
  
• "I worked for Peppy though it was a number of years ago. A few things you should know: first, it is an after school club...or it was when I worked for then which means you will be working in the late afternoons and evenings rather than during the day and I know that except for on Saturdays I rarely got home before 9pm."
  
  
• "The hours are also decent but can be ruined if your classrooms are far away. There is a good chance they will be far away if you are placed in a small city or rural town."
  
  
• "If you don't like kids though, especially rowdy and exuberant ones then this might not be the right job for you."

• You have to pay for accommodations during training.

• Work Abroad as an ALT - The basics on on being an ESL English teacher in the public sector.
• ECC- One of the bigger schools. 171 branches that employs over 600 ESL teachers in Japan. Also does well in the ESL forums in terms of few complaints.
• Aeon - A monster of a school. 320 branches all over Japan with around 100,000 students under their belt. They focus on adults.
• Amity - A spin-off of Aeon. It is their children's division with less than 100 schools throughout Japan teaching from toddlers to teens.
• The JET Program - Another ALT program. Participating  countries. do's and don'ts especially considering the application procedure.
•  The Basics on the Jet Program - Working conditions, salary, employment locations, health insurance etc.
  
• The JET Programme - What kinds of interview questions they ask.
• Nova - The basics on working conditions, accommodations and visas / sponsorship.
• Salary comparison chart for large English schools in Japan. 
• TEFL Program - Online vs onsite programs. The pros and cons are discussed. Find out which is best for you.