About the Company
Here at Aclipse, we believe that to teach English abroad is the best way to gain a global perspective and start a fulfilling career. Many of us have already spent time teaching overseas in Japan, Korea, and other parts of the world, so we speak from first-hand knowledge. Our years of experience and our commitment to education make us one of the most trusted names in overseas job placements and long-term career mentoring.

Team Bios
The Aclipse team is made up of career placement professionals who have previously taught
English and advanced their careers overseas. They understand how to meet the needs of
applicants and employers. Here are some of the people who make Aclipse a success.

Misty Crooks
Recruiter, Boston Office
Teaching overseas was the best thing I have ever done. After I received my Bachelor's degree, I had a job that wasn’t fulfilling. I wanted something more, but wasn’t sure what that was. I didn’t know anything about teaching in Asia. A friend told me about his experience teaching in Japan. I applied, got the job, and moved across the world. I spent four years in Japan. I traveled all over the country, went to Thailand and Cambodia, saw temples older than my own country, met the most amazing people, and became stronger and more confident.

I also fell in love with teaching. I learned how to work with different learning styles, how to overcome barriers to understanding, and how to put together activities that I enjoyed as much as my students. I haven’t had to look for a job in seven years. The contacts I made teaching in Asia have led to two other jobs. Now, as a recruiter, I help other people experience what I loved so much.

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Caryn Boehm
Recruiting Coordinator, Boston Office
After graduating from Boston University with a theatre degree, I was lucky to land work as a temp with Aclipse for a few months to make ends meet. When the company offered to turn my role into a full-time position as the Recruiting Coordinator, I was very happy to accept and join a great team of dedicated people. Although I have not taught in Asia (yet!), I have traveled and lived abroad extensively and now enjoy being part of the behind-the-scenes work in sending others to experience such an adventure.

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Stephen Farely
Director of Asian Operations, Osaka, Japan
After graduating with a Science degree, I wanted to travel and see the world. I decided to start in Japan, and worked as an English teacher in Tokyo. It wasn’t long before other opportunities opened up, and I worked as a teacher trainer before moving into recruitment and personnel work. I was given the opportunity to be a Regional Human Resource Manager and then worked in a recruiting office in Australia before transferring back to Japan to become the General Manager of the Recruitment, Human Resource, and Training Department of a large language school. After 18 years experience in training and recruiting teachers for Asia, I joined Aclipse where I now get to find the best companies to place people into throughout the region.

Overall, teaching was an amazing experience and something I would do all over again if I had the chance. My travels have filled the pages of four passports. I live in Japan and this year alone have visited Australia, China, Korea, Taiwan, and the U.S. It’s a great feeling to help great people develop their skills while offering them the adventure of a lifetime.

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Michael Gargano
Recruiter, Chicago Office
In 1996, I was living in Cincinnati, Ohio and working three jobs to make ends meet. That summer I received a job offer to teach English abroad in Tokyo, Japan. It made me extremely happy that I could make enough money from one job and have fun in a new country at the same time. I was intimidated at first, but I quickly found my place in Japan and taught English for almost seven years. All of my students were excited to be there, and their ability to pick up English so quickly inspired me to learn Japanese.

I eventually became a trainer, running the on-the-job training for new instructors. In 2003, I moved from Tokyo to Chicago to recruit English teachers. I’ve visited dozens of countries, including Hungary, Slovakia, South Korea, Indonesia, Singapore, Guam, and Saipan. It’s great to be able to help those who have a passion for teaching or, if they are like me, are interested in trying something new!

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Dan Jacobson
Recruiter, Chicago Office
When I was in living and working in Tallahassee, Florida after receiving my Bachelor's degree, I wanted to travel the world by bike. But I realized just planning the trip was so exciting that it wasn't going to be enough. I wanted to live in a new place, a new country. With no teaching experience and no foreign language skills to speak of, I landed a job as an English instructor in Asia.

I spent five years in Japan, first in Tokyo, then Yokohama. I vacationed in Guam. I made friends from around the world. I spent four of the coldest days in my life in Sapporo for New Year's. I worked hard. I got married in Sakuragicho. We went to Hawaii. I drank under cherry blossoms. Japan is now a second home to me. Now, I'm in Chicago helping people do the same thing, and I can't imagine what my life would be like if I hadn't gone to teach in Japan.

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Amy Kwong
Recruiter, Toronto Office
In my final year of University, I stumbled across a Work/Study Abroad fair and gathered information about some teach abroad opportunities, thinking it would be a “last resort.” Instead, I found myself completely drawn in by the prospect of living and working in another country. So, I embarked on the adventure of a lifetime in Japan! I worked first as a teacher, then as a program coordinator at my school, then as an assistant trainer, and finally in the Tokyo head office as an HR Generalist.

During my four years in Japan, I traveled the world, met wonderful people, and experienced
things I never thought possible: eating live octopus in Seoul, watching a Thai boxing match in Bangkok, shopping the markets of Singapore, hanging out on the beaches in Australia, seeing Japan from coast to coast, and so much more. I returned to Toronto and started recruiting full-time for ESL teachers in August 2006.

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Naoko Maeda
Placement Manager, Japan
I trained as a teacher in the Japanese public-school system before working at Japan’s largest private English school. I studied English for a year in the U.S. before spending another year working in Australia, which helped me develop my language skills and intercultural understanding. This helped me immensely in my role in the recruitment and teacher support section of a major English language school in Japan where I worked for 14 years. Since joining Aclipse, I have been involved in researching potential employers and making sure they are a good fit for our recruits. I find placing teachers to be rewarding, as I see a lot of great teaching candidates and know that they are being matched with great employers. From my own experiences, I know the opportunities that people can have when they live in another culture and develop their skills. I believe that great people deserve great experiences. That is why I highly recommend that people take this challenge and live and work in another culture.

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Sean Mahoney
Recruiter, Boston Office
During my time as an undergraduate student of the liberal arts, I had the privilege of studying art and architecture overseas in Italy. Being abroad for such an extended time was not only a pivotal point in my undergraduate career, it was a transformation of the way I lived my life. Of the many remarkable experiences I gained overseas, there was one which left an indelible mark upon me: the experience of the mysterious way in which the cultural treasures belonging to the most diverse peoples are revealed and preserved by the languages they speak. As a result of this experience, I was left with the growing aspiration to someday be involved in language education overseas.

After completing my undergraduate studies, I did what many recent university graduates do: I took a corporate job doing something totally unrelated to my university education. I quickly grew tired of my initial job and found myself longing for a position where I could make more of a difference in the lives of the people around me. My desire for change led me into the field of corporate recruiting, where I was able to directly help people, many of whom were recent university graduates who were just as unsure as I had been of what to do next. While I enjoyed my time recruiting for corporate professions, I never forgot my experience abroad. When the opportunity came to help others go overseas and share in the experience of language, I knew it was too good to pass up. I never thought that my professional interests would fit together with my personal interests, but that is exactly what happened!

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Nicole Ostrowski
Recruiter, San Francisco Office
I am originally from Seattle, but I caught the travel bug after studying abroad in London,
England during my university eduction. I’ve been traveling the world ever since. I fell in love with Japan after a vacation there, so I accepted a teaching position in Nagoya. Within a year, I was promoted to Assistant Trainer and, at the end of two years, I was promoted to recruiter in the San Francisco office.

Whether you’re going abroad for one year or several years, I truly believe that an overseas work experience leaves an indelible impression that will always stay with you. I love reminiscing about my two years living abroad in Japan and after eight years of ESL recruiting, I still enjoy being able to hire and place qualified candidates to teach English throughout Asia.

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Brian Park
Vice President, Recruiting
After receiving my Bachelor's degree, I worked for a few years as a Marketing and Business Analyst in New York City. I was generally unfulfilled with my employment, so I decided to take a year off to apply to law school and visit South Korea with a few of my other Korean-American friends. I planned to stay in Korea for three weeks; instead, I stayed for five years!

One of the main reasons I loved Korea so much was the large, diverse expatriate community
there. I had friends from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the U.K. Each of us had a uniquely different story, but we shared a common bond of living in this foreign country together. I taught at one of the largest English Language institutes in Korea, CHUNG DAHM Learning, with over 1,000 teachers, researchers, trainers, and other staff. I taught there for about a year before taking a new post as a teacher recruiter, and I have been a recruiter ever since. I was fortunate enough to be promoted to Director after three years, and I have since transitioned to Aclipse.

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Michael Potter
Recruiting Manager, Sydney Office After several years working in corporate law, I got the travel bug and wanted to do something really different for a while. I packed my bags and headed to Tokyo, Japan, on a working holiday. What an adventure—no accommodations, no job, no Japanese ability, and no contacts. But that was what made it so exciting. Oh, and did I really like Japanese food! I soon found out—I loved it. I found a place to live, started teaching English to children and adults, studied Japanese, and made some great friends. While I was in Japan, I was an instructor— a trainer— and worked in a human resources department. After almost six years, I left Japan to become a recruiter in Australia, giving others the opportunity to have a wonderful overseas experience without the initial uncertainties of my own experience. I have recruited throughout Australia and New Zealand and have also spent two-and-a-half years recruiting in the United Kingdom. Travel has enriched my life, and it is a pleasure to be able to help others enrich their lives as well.

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Don Smith
North American Recruiting Manager, Boston Office
When I lived in New York state, teaching by day and working in restaurants by night, I longed for travel and adventure. Teaching positions in South America didn’t pay well enough to cover my student loans and other expenses. Instead, I discovered an opportunity to teach overseas in Japan, so without speaking a word of Japanese, I landed in Japan with the intention of staying for two years and returning to the United States for grad school. Two years swiftly turned into eight.

During those eight years, I learned a significant amount of Japanese, ate a multitude of creatures I hadn’t realized were edible, traveled to numerous exotic parts of the globe, met countless new friends from all over the world, and earned regular promotions at my school. Since returning to the U.S., I have been working as a recruiter, sending people off to embark on the same type of life-enriching adventure that so impacted my life. Over the years, I have sent over four hundred people across the world to reap the rewards of living and working abroad.

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