Peppys Kids Club Help

Hello everyone,
Would like to know if anyone here is in the training session for Peppy's starting Jan 17 in Nagoya...

Hi there Brian and Billy

I am starting with Peppy Kids Club on 1 Feb 2005. Is this your start date? I look forward to meeting you both.

Cheers Andy

Hi Andrea,

Both Brian and I are starting Feb 1st also. Look forward to seeing you there too. My e-mail adress is bad_ass_billy99@hotmail.com, e-mail me if you want. Brian's e-mail should be posted somewhere above.

Hey Andrea, Billy and I also start the 1st of february:)

my email is

Bestdefender@hotmail.com

email me if you want to:)

Hi Brian & Billy

Hoorah! Excellent to hear that you guys are starting on 1 Feb. I am so excited. I arrive in Japan on 26 Jan 2004. I will send you an email as soon as I can get onto hotmail (my computer is stuffed at the moment and the one site I can't get up is hotmail - arrgh).

My email address is coyle_6@hotmail.com

Cheers,
Andy

hey guys, im starting training February 1 in nagoya, too. after that tho im going to Yamaguchi City. anyone else going there?

hi, could someone please pass me the contact info for Peppy's? i'm interested in applying but couldn't find any contact info or a website (i only read about it through some australian recruitment agency's website). they do have a location in nagoya, but do they also have one in osaka? that's what i read, but everyone here seems to only be talking about the nagoya agency. :)

anyway, i'm pleasantly surprised at how many posters i see here from vancouver. i'm from vancouver, too, and am hoping to get to japan at least by the end of this month or early february.

nvm about the contact info, i just found it. :)

Hey all. I was accepted and am heading over in early may. Anyone else going?

Hey Sera,

Funny that I caught this page for the first time. Not sure if you're going to get this in time, but I'm one of your fellow colleagues in Yamaguchi city! Hope to see ya soon! I'll give you all the latest news on the company...muahaha...

Hi Everyone,

This is a really informative discussion board on PKC. Is anyone beginning training in May? Give me an email: winwin330 at shaw dot ca

btw- How much are the hotel rooms before/during training?

Hey, is anyone starting in June? kdonovan@uvic.ca

Just wondering if anyone else here is starting on the first of July. Also, those of you on a WHV - how do you find the 20% tax on your income? Is the pay decent enough to survive on? How much do you manage to put away each month, if any? Any tips on transportation, taxes, utitities, and general living would be great.

Thanks alot!
Minty

I am a former employee of peppy. I worked there 4 years. One thing I can say is that they company tried to improve itself over the 4 years I was with it. I have heard there was a restructuring this year in January though that went the wrong direction, and was a step downnward.

The job was good for me in that the hours were nice. Enough free time to do whatever I felt like. The downside of the job is that the company is fairly cheap, and wont give any extra money for anythinng, and will also not allow any work outside the company. So you are basically tied to the money they give you with no hope of getting anymore (legitimately).

Support for living in Japan can be great, or can be horrible, depending on your supervisor. Some supervisors are great, and some have no clue whatsoever.

Working with the kids can be hard, but it can also be satisfying. If you dont like kids, DONT TAKE THIS JOB. You will hate it. If you like kids, and are pretty laid back and can deal with the hassles of the company, its proably a pretty good job for you. Way better than Nova.

WHV holders beware - the pay is hard to live on. It is not the companies fault that the tax levels are higher, rather it is a governement decision. Either way, working holiday visa holders usually dont have enough money to do much more than live. Travelling is almost out of the question, and so is most everything else.

I accepted BEFORE I read any of this page, but I don't think it puts me off much. I'll make sure to get my travel allowance, don't you worry.

I lived in Japan for nine months back in 2003 and it was the best time of my life. I hope to be returning to Oosaka this time around, too. They haven't told me where I'm living, yet, but I'm training in Nagoya.

I know Japanese, so I shouldn't have to worry about comments I can't understand. I'm just praying that I don't have to change nappies, as I never have ~ ~;;

Well, I have to go now, as I'm busy-busy-busy.

Thank you for all of your input, guys!

Tsukinoko ^.~*

P.S. Can someone answer one question: is it a good idea or a bad idea to take details and resumes with you just in case? I heard that if customs finds them, you ain't allowed in! You get deported if you're found out on the other end!

Hey I was wondering if anyone could give a brief rundown of the interview process with Peppy's. eg. what sort of questions they asked and what they expected from each applicant??

Hey Gang I worked for Peppy as a District Leader and within the Support Staff for two years and for the most part had a great experience.

The great thing about Peppy is that it is a Big company that tries very hard to be accessible to front line staff. The main difference between places like Nova and Peppy is that if there is a problem with anything you can call the person who is directly responsible for fixing it, and it will get sorted. There are no evil people working at Peppy, when problems arise folks do thier best to fix it.

By the way, kids can be difficult to manage regardless of what country their in. The kids at Peppy are NO different then the kids at home. I hade good days and bad days but I promise the good days WAY outnumbered the bad.

So relax.....try Peppy out. If you didnt get a job dont whine, move on. If you get a position and things dont go your way everytime, take a breath and remember your having an adventure not a career.

I've been reading into Peppy's contract and it seems to me like there are a lot of fees and cocts associated with taking a teaching job with them (pay for airfare-both ways, paying for housing, utilities, paying a considerable, housing deposit, pension, income tax of 20% of salary if you haven't lived in Japan at least a year)--to me it sounds like these really add up. After all that are you really able to make a livable wage or save any extra money at all? I'd like to work with this company because I hear it's a great environment and run very well but I am not a rich person and don't think I can afford all of the up-front costs. Does anyone have any feedback about this? To get started, how much money (in US dollars) do you think I'd need (including cost for airfare to Japan)? Like I said, it sounds like a great opportunity, but I just don't think I could afford it. Ho hum. :(

I am working with Peppy now and i think u may be misunderstanding the fees. I know you pay the airfare both wasy but you ususally get a bonus at the end of the year which basically covers the reurn fare. Also if you live in Canada they offer airfare assistance and take it back from your salary in very small chunks. You do pay your own rent but you dont have to pay any housing deposits and also they take the rent from your salary so you dont pay it up front. I dont know about pension because i dont pay any (never heard about that) you do have to pay your own utilities and the ONLY people who pay 20% tax is WHV. As i said, the only fees you pay up front is the airfare and you should have enough money to last you the first 6-8weeks. You dont have to pay any rent up front.

Hi all, I started this string of posts almost 10 months ago while deciding to work for either Peppys or Nova.

Let me say that Peppys has been THE BEST job I have ever had. Period. Ive read all the positive and negative things about Peppy posted here and for the most part they are all true. Read all the preivous posts!

It does depends on where your are placed, but if you request a certain location they will do thier best to put you as close to that location as possible (Im 30min from Tokyo like I asked.)

The people Ive worked with are great, managers and head office are all excellent caring people that will do all they can to help you with anything that you need. Although again depends on where you are placed and your individaual manager.

After being here this long and seeing the countless other companies one can work for in Japan, Peppy is by far the best. But only if you like or can handle Kids. (The only other job here maybe better is if you can get on the JET program. More $$$$ etc.)

If you are thinking about NOVA, stop, drop and RUN as far away as possible. Go with some other adult teaching company. (Geos, Aeon etc) NOVA is BAD!!

As for fees with Peppy, Airfare you pay, (like everyone else but JET) but you get about a $1000 CDN bonus at the end of your contract to off set this.

Pension you dont pay unless you are management (Has a whole different pay structure.)

Rent you pay for (no up start fees etc) and is taken out of your pay check unless you want to find your own place, but Peppy usually finds great places.

You have to get your own medical insurance, about $1300 CDN a year.

Training and the first month are TOUGH, as you dont get your first pay check for 2 months.

Peppy will give you a training loan to cover these costs, which you can pay back at like $100 CDN a month for 12 months, or just bring like $2000 to cover the first 2 months. (But your first paycheck is HUGE!)

any other questions post`em here, I`ll try to answer them.