Job Discussion Forums

[moot point]

[wangtesol]

You are probably not American then. Yep, why would people outside the US know what religion runs Brigham Young University, anyways? That's why it is just easier to come out and identify the group. But we have had a thread deleted earlier because I identified the church outright.

So try this link to Brigham Young University's website and you will probably figure it out. There is a link to their church on that page. You can search for Interac on the university's site and find the internship program Interac has with the univeristy.

http://www.byu.edu
[/url]

[yamanote senbei]

[chirp]

Yes, I can confirm that Interac does indeed suggest that you should have $5000 to assist you in covering your expenses in the first two months that you will be in Japan. I guess it is up to the individual applying as to whether they feel this is reasonable or not.

[tokyo376]

It cost me 255,000 yen to get my 1 room apartment in downtown Tokyo. That included 1 month rent (72,900), real estate commissions, deposit, and insurance. Depending on your spending habits (restaurants, clubs etc.), I would say $4000 should cover you.

I prefer to find my own place to live, and there are lots of little agencies around. I just went to the station where I wanted to live, and found a real estate office right across the street. The only challenge was language. I needed my Japanese friend to translate. They showed me 7 apartments over 2 days, and I moved in the following day. As for furniture, all I need is a futon, a TV, a little table, and 2 cushions to sit on. I got it all new for 20,000 yen.

[wangtesol]

tokyo376 you sound like an Interac manager pretending to be an ALT. Your messages just sound like advertising copy trying to justify the $5000 requirement.

What school do you work at? If you have been working for Interac for 7 months as you say you have, then you were hired in July. That seems like an odd time to be hired since most hires are in September or April. Do you care to explain?

[PAULH]

[wangtesol]

He could always go work for another company though. Most companies will give cash advances to help out with those first few months of settling in for ALTs. Looks like Interac wants to avoid this and raise the bar in settling costs. Usually $2000 is what is asked.

Paul, are you saying that it is not expected in the industry that your employer will give cash advances for moving?

[PAULH]

[PAULH]

[wangtesol]

It is not a loan, Paul. The ALT has already worked the hours, and she is asking to be paid early. Interac will only pay until the last day they are legally required to pay (and often beyond that), and for that first pay cheque an employee could be waiting for over 2 months. Other companies pay well before that.

And if a person has just graduated from university, they often will be in debt, so it is not a surprise that the average ALT will be poor. If Interac is targeting new graduates, such as the 600 they get from Brigham Young University, then they should expect new ALTs to have financial difficulties in the first few months.

It is probably hampering their maximizing of profit, so they are asking the outrageous amount of $5000, so they can avoid giving the standard cash advances. They are just undermining standards.

[chirp]

Wangtesol,

While Interac may offer positions to BYU graduates (I have no idea nor do I care), my recent interview with them was clearly not targeting new graduates. All the candidates had spent time in Japan (most had lived there) and all had teaching experience.

They were also very forthcoming about their payment schedule and the financial burden of the first few months. I can only speak for my experience but frankly, it is up to the individual to make an educated choice based on their priorities and financial situation.

[wangtesol]

aclarke, 600 Brigham Young University students working on illegal gyomu itaku contracts is the big deal. Lowering standards is the big deal. Flouting the rule of law is the big deal.

If UCLA was going through ELS to send 600 students on illegal contracts to Japan, the UCLA student union would be all over that. But since it is BYU and Selnate International School, everything is in the family and the corruption continues.

Does BYU send 600 students to work for IBM on illegal contracts every year?

Are you a Mormon adn BYU grad, aclarke? You seemed pretty handy with those figures.

[wangtesol]

aclarke, whoever said anything about an internship program between Interac and BYU? I didn't know they were that close. So, I guess now some of these students aren't even coming on work visas, but rather on "trainee" visas. These visas are often abused. People end up working full-time on these visas when they are supposed to be working no more than 15 hours I week.

Want to tell us about it?

And Paul, you know these Interac jobs are JET jobs that were privatized, right? So if a local school board had apartments available for JET ALTs why can't they also make available apartments for non-JET ALTs? Why should private company ALTs work beside JET ALTs and get less? It is the same job.

As you know, citing NOVA as an example of a standard is like citing ENRON. I enjoy your comments and you're a great source of info, but I doubt newbies would know that NOVA's standards are low, and as the #1 employer of migrant workers (over 5000) in Japan, they should be chided for their standards at every turn since they help to set the bar for what is tolerated amongst any kind of foreign worker from any country.

Just as NOVA does not enrol employee into shakai hoken, so follows Interac.

[wangtesol]

So you probably thought I was saying that Interac hires 600 Brigham Young Students through internships. God, I don't know why I waste my time on these forums. Someone also asked me if Korakuen was advertising in the Japan Times for boards of education.