Job Discussion Forums

[furiousmilksheikali]

[DNK]

Well, their response is as stated, starts where it ends (the visa process). I was seeing if that was the case, as I've heard otherwise from a few people, but maybe things have changed.

Anyway, they've semi-semi-offered me a position, but I have to be there in two weeks. I'm not sure I can make it just because tickets are fairly pricey and it's a lot of financial risk for an unsure situation. I've shot back an e-mail with all the questions I have, but as it stands I'm becoming less and less certain about this position, as enticing as it may be (oh, decent jobs in warm coastal rural towns can be hard to find, especially this time of year). The position has been "must start in two weeks" for the past month or so...

I'm betting they've got a couple other people they're waiting to hear back from on the date right now. That or it's the old, "someone else is coming to look at this car tonight, so it might not be around tomorrow" routine It's always fun to try and gauge which it is, no? I've concluded it's a reputable company, as I have heard fairly little negative about them, despite their being of decent size, which says enough in itself; so I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt on some things, but, well, we'll see...

I'll let you know what their answers were to the visa questions, and I'll keep up my own end of the search, and post here for future reference, at the very least. Not that it would do much good, as these things have a tendency to change.

[nonsmoker]

Do you mind sharing which company this is?

PM me if you don't mind.

[DNK]

Sorry, but that's highly classified information. Tell = kill sort of thing, you know?

The end conclusions I've reached are it's a reputable, mid-sized company with the tendency to hire people on short notice who work at first illegally, but afterward generally enjoy a pleasant job.

I'll leave all guesswork to you

[midnightpariah]

[canuck]

[fluffyhamster]

Another thing to bear in mind is who submits the paperwork - unless you actually do it yourself here in Japan (or wait for a COE back in your home country), you can't be sure it is actually being processed...so you might end up being strung along for a month or two of illegal work before being cut loose without much legal recourse...not talking about ALS necessarily, just generally.

One more thing (again, not re. ALS): I wouldn't work for anyone who kept writing "visa's" (for the plural).

[DNK]

Reputable in that I have heard little negative on them, and haven't seen anything about them actually abusing the no-visa work situation, so that I would not fear the extreme horror stories some people put up about not being payed, etc. Reputable in that they are completely committed to employees and care deeply about the educational process over making money - however you wish to define it... no comment.

To wrap this episode up, I replied saying the timeframe was too short (would have been maybe a week by the time we had actually come to an agreement!), after waiting a few days for replies to a rather extensive e-mail asking every question I could think of. I have yet, two to three days later, to hear back from them.

[Ajax123]

[G Cthulhu]

[J.]

There's no way to know in advance if any particular company will withhold pay during the period that a person is working illegally, but the fact that the person mentioned is being trained with no pay for 5 days is not a good sign. If the company adamantly insists on the prospective teacher coming without proper documents, I feel it is precisely in order to have the upper hand in the situation. Then if they don't like the looks of the person, his/her personality, or anything else, they haven't gone to any real trouble or expense and can dismiss them easily.

You take a chance when you accept such an arrangement and it doesn't reflect very favourably on a company that refuses to do things the right way. I would say probably it will be more of the same in your work relationship with them. At the very least, it shows a complete lack of empathy for an employee willing to come across the world to work for you on such skimpy assurances. Any of these employers listening?

[taffer]

Well written posts. I process teachers into my company for a living. Docs are submitted to immigration once a Teacher arrives on a Tourist Visa. COE is issued after 6 weeks or so. Teacher goes down and picks up work visa. Teachers do everything by the book after that. Renewals, Re-entry, etc.

That is just how it happens. Wish it could be done on the up and up legally from the start to protect employees. Wishing doesn't get much done.

[Ajax123]