Job Discussion Forums

[Master Shake]

[steki47]

[nightsintodreams]

Hello

Firstly, I think you've confused the JET salary, it has gone down in recent years.

According to the official JET website JETs are paid 3.36 Million Yen for their first year. That's 280,000 yen a month. I think some JET jobs give very cheap apartments to rent, but that's hit and miss.

Also, with JET, you're more likely to be stuck out in the country somewhere. Whereas with Boaderlink you'll likely be in a city, making it easier to find part time work and meet people etc.

Both have their advantages and dissadvantages, so be careful to make the right shoice for you.

A final word of warning, a friend of mine applied to JET, passed each step and was put on the emergency teachers list. She assumed that some teachers would leave and she'd definitely be able to get on the program that year. Needless to say, she didn't and was told that she would need to apply again if she wanted to work for JET in two years time.

The whole process from application to being told she definitely wasn't going to be working for JET took over a year and a half. She felt like JET had put her life in limbo for over a year and was quite annoyed at herself for putting all her eggs in one basket.

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

I would say wait for JET (if possible), because, as others have said, there are other jobs in Japan.

Remember though, by far the majority of JETs are in rural placements. It makes it harder to find a job in Japan after JET (and then if you were placed on a small island off of Okinawa, then it would be REALLY hard to get a job in Tokyo without more than a bit of Japanese and qualifications [B.Ed to teach an additional language or English literature / MA TESOL etc]. There aren't a whole lot of jobs available in Okinawa for foreigners) For me, it would still be worth it to wait for JET (especially if you speak a bit of Japanese already). I know a few former JETs who did education related postgraduate work after JET and then just came back to Japan. I know others who never left the country and did distance degrees in TESOL or Applied Ling. And I know some who left after the first year and never came back.

[kzjohn]

[marley'sghost]

"...life in limbo..." I remember the wait. The JET application, interview, and placement process is so long, it really does put everything else on hold for months and months. It was pretty nerve-wracking.
I was in a bit of a different situation though. I was working, just a whatever job, but I was not digging into my saving while waiting. If JET had not panned out, it just meant back to the stockroom on Monday and figure out a new plan.

I was surprised to see how far the salary has come down. It is still a lot better than what you'll make at Borderlink. There are some hidden costs too. JET will pay half your Japanese health and social insurance taxes. Employers are supposed to do that for all full time employees. Dispatch companies like Borderlink will say that you work only 29.5 hours a week or something to get around that. They will probably pay less during the summer too. That 28 man a month from JET is year round, whether you spend August coaching kids for a speech contest or on the beach in Thailand. And JET pays airfare. We went Business class in my day. I hear that is a thing of the past.

Borderlink will get you in Japan and if you need a job now, like right now, that might be what you have to do. You know your own situation best.
Once here, you can look for something better. Though I seriously doubt you'll land a direct hire ALT gig in your second year, but who knows?

It does seem like it would be a shame to go through all the work of applying to JET only to take a crappy dispatch job because of a couple months timing. Hope it all works out either way you go.

[Master Shake]

One thing it would be really helpful to know is the stats of what percentage of interviewees from X country actually get JET placements. Even better if the stats were broken down by the interviewees qualifications, exp. etc..

Worth searching for, though I'm not gonna do it now...

[Rooster.]

[kpjf]

[cb400]

[jkozera]

AEON is only 270,000 starting, with NOVA, i could only calc like maaaybe 200,000 a month looking at their contract. I could be wrong but that is like maybe$1800 USD a month and heck someone with just a HS diploma can make that here. seems like us language teachers are not as valued as we used to be

[marley'sghost]

[nightsintodreams]

[nightsintodreams]

Another downside to JET is that you're forced to hang round with other JETS.

Although I have met some decent JET and ex-JETs in my time, the vast majority are so stuck up their own arse, it can be a challenge to occupy the same room as them at times.

[marley'sghost]