Job Discussion Forums

[locomote]

I read in a post on gaijinpot.com that there is a special status to the visa you get from Westgate that makes trouble for finding other jobs later (post quoted at the bottom). It didn't seem to get much reaction at the time, so I'm just curious if anyone has experience with working on the visa they got from Westgate after the 3 month contract finished?

I'm debating on doing the 3 months, then just doing part-time jobs/privates for the rest of the year on my own. Is that likely to be a problem with the visa?

It's important to me because the main reason I'm considering the Westgate program is for the visa, so that I can get some experience/cash, and then I can apply for the 99999999999999 jobs that require you to already be in the country with a valid visa.

Thanks~ ^^

[locomote]

I'm still a bit interested, but it's not important now. I just had my phone interview with Westgate. I was a little surprised that the interviewer had a very heavy accent and was so soft-spoken that it was difficult for me to understand anything he said. That aside, it seemed like a good interview until the end when I asked him when Westgate would inform me if they'd like to hire me or not.

He told me that it could be anytime until September that they would tell me... What?? I'm supposed to wait around for 4 months without taking another job, simply hoping that Westgate will hire me?

I assumed that they were preparing early, and they were organized enough to know in advance what positions they would have available, etc... He said it all depends on the students, so they can't know until that time. So basically, by interviewing me now, they're just trying to bulid up a database of possible teachers. Then when positions open up, they'll just start calling all the people who they "would" give a job to but "might not" depending on their situation. I guess some people can afford to sit around with all their eggs in one basket for 4 months, but that seems a bit much for me. I guess it's better than JET that expects you to put all your eggs in their basket for a year or so, huh?

[ionix-]

If you have a degree, it's not a problem to get a new work visa. You can get the WestGate visa and ask for a new sponsorship which will lead to a visa change request through MOFA. I think a professor visa might be a problem for ekaiwas:

[locomote]

Thanks for the reply~

Westgate isn't "really" working for a University...just because you can work with Westgate doesn't mean you can get a real University job. Those require an MA or even Ph.D. Westgate just requires b.s.~

If I worked with Westgate (which I don't see as likely now), then I guess I would finish my 3-months there with a professor visa, but no qualifications to be an actual professor - and Westgate doesn't often re-hire from what I've heard, and even if they do, you've got a break from December to April that you've got to figure out what to do with.

It seems like it'd be a REALLY raw deal if you taught for the 3 months, and then you had to find a school to sponsor you, go back out of the country to get the visa, and then come back to work (which is what that post seemed to me to be implying). I don't think that would be the case either though. I agree with you - I think it'd be quite easy to "downgrade" a visa like that...

Like I said, I don't think I'll be working with them, so it's not important to me anymore, but I'm sure there will be someone roaming these boards looking for westgate info someday that will find it interesting/useful. ^^

[Iwantmyrightsnow]

Are Westgate teachers actually issued "Professor visas"? As they are basically teaching eikawa I wonder if that is the case????? Someone I know was issued an instructor visa.

The Instructors visa is issued to people working in elementary, high school, etc

A Specialist in Humanities Visa is tradionally issued to those working in language schools such as Nova, Ecc etc.

You can get a completely new visa but you can also get

- Permission to engage in an activity other than that permitted by the status of residence previously granted
This permission is required when a foreigner who has a status of residence limiting his or her activities wishes to engage in an income-generating business or a paid activity that is not permitted under that status of residence. In other words, this permission is necessary if a foreigner wishes to engage in a secondary activity that belongs to a different status of residence.

Have seen quite a few people do this.

[locomote]

I shared your surprise that Westgate teachers get a professor visa...that's why I thought I'd post about it.

Thanks for the info...it's good to know that you can do that~

[julieoapw]

Having worked for Westgate I can confirm that you do get a professor visa.