Job Discussion Forums

[ghostrider]

I currently live in Chiba and am looking for ALT positions near Matsudo<->Kashiwa or even in Tokyo. Does anyone work for or know anything, good or bad, about Borderlink? How about any other dispatchers?

I have heard it may be difficult to apply directly (not through a dispatch company), but would at least like to try. How would I do that though, specifically apply for positions at the prefecture level?

[fluffyhamster]

The problem is, dispatch companies are only as good as the BOEs, and it seems that those in Chiba are simply not willing to pay enough. For example, I heard about an AET job in Kashiwa that would only pay 60,000 yen for March (start date was 22nd or something, really late), then July, then March (and maybe one other month when there were very few school days scheduled); as for August, there was no pay at all! Like, hold me back, I MUST apply for that!!! Another example: Nagareyama is also pretty stingy and pay-by-the-day (not quite as bad as 60,000 for three or four months of the year, though, but summer is still also unpaid). I don't know about Matsudo, but I doubt it will be much better.

Of course, the dispatchers could be taking an ever bigger bite out of the paycheck, but the fact that at least two cities in the Chiba area ended up paying the same (through different dispatchers) surely tells us something.

I'm starting to hear bad things about Borderlink, like they seem to think no AET is good enough and are giving them grief, deducting bonuses for little or no reason, and not paying lunchtimes to make a 42.5 hour week sound like 40 (still expect the AETs to "work that lunchbreak", and after 5pm - quite a late finish compared to other employers - whenever the school requires it. Yes, I know teaching is a vocation but if the employee is treated like part-time rather than full-time staff benefits-wise, but expected to work as hard or harder than full-timers, then obviously there will be some friction somewhere).

[ghostrider]

Ouch. That doesn't sound good. What about pay in Saitama, Tokyo, or Kanagawa?

[fluffyhamster]

On paper there often isn't a lot of difference between companies (assuming that the pay is generally equal e.g. allowing for some paid as bonuses etc), it's the way they treat you and/or come to view you (and you them) that's important. If the company aspires to be the "best" it can start demanding the most, and start to resent you for even querying something (of course, it doesn't help sometimes that you're employed alongside ex-cons, previous or seemingly potential child molesters, drunks, and of course, the plain inept at teaching). Anyway, apart from the initial training (generally hand-waving from a somewhat stuck-up American woman and a laidback resting British actor who resembled Jason Issacs), Interac didn't give me any grief at all. I'd recommend them over the other companies that I've worked for. Do a search for keyword 'interac' and author 'fluffyhamster'.

[ghostrider]

I heard they don't pay on time and don't pay during breaks, is that true?

I would be pleased to hear Interac isn't all that bad as they seem to have the most contracts in and around Tokyo, right?

Would you consider them a step up, even a small step, from an eikaiwa? I want to get out of the eikaiwa English bubble, but not if it means getting into something worse.

[fluffyhamster]

It's not so much a step up (pay and benefits aren't that different) as a step out of one thing and into something else (translation: a step sideways); that being said, eikaiwa experience doesn't seem to count for much in Japan, but if you can say 'I've been teaching for two years in junior high schools in Kancho city, and contrary to what they say was not involved in the grisly murder-by-shinai-beatings of several kendo students there. Oh, and did I mention that I do kendo!', it's something it seems that you can build upon more (perhaps the next employer forgets, for a crucial moment or two whilst making the final hiring decisions, that you were only an indirect employee of Kancho BOE LOL), so it can make sense to make the move.

A lot depends on the kind of students you like, and what you consider as 'easy' pay. IMO you generally earn your money more in eikaiwa, given the potential range of (sometimes quite demanding) students (or their mothers), especially given the fact that you have to work evenings and Saturdays (and some public holidays), but if the thought of putting your brain on hold and your tongue in 'bite me' position all day doesn't appeal, then you may prefer to retain 'creative control' of whatever classroom time you have to get through (bear in mind too that high school kids are generally not very motivated to learn English). But if you end up with one of those aspirational head-up-its-own-*ss-we're-the-best-sh*fters-in-this-sorry-oops-great-"business"-so-be-thankful-we-employed-you-and-don't-expect-the-BOE-to-like-you-either dispatchers then you could get worked (~ over) LOL quite hard too (especially if there are elementary schools on your rota. They're interesting to prepare for, but teaching five or six 50 minute classes a day at full tempo can start to take it out of you a bit no matter how much you love the kids and they you).

In one of those six or so searchable threads I wrote about the benefits of JET (one of the best tickets into Japan) versus dispatch, and you might like to compare what you get at your eikaiwa with what I outlined there. Oh, and search for 'RCS' posts by me also, which contain a fair (perhaps that's putting it mildly!) amount of info too.

[ghostrider]

Thanks. I've read some of those, as well as posts on Gaijinpot, Big Daikon,
and Let's Japan. I'd obviously prefer JET working conditions and pay, but it's off the table now. I have already applied twice when I was still in the US, and was wait listed both times. There is no way I'm going through that again, flying back to the US for interviews, maybe getting it this time, just to find out I'm going to be working in the middle of nowhere.

As for Interac, did you have a say in the area you will be placed and the schools you will teach in? Do you get paid during breaks? What are your working hours?

It still sounds like a step up to me, unless you're all about teaching house wives, working on the weekends, having supervisors work along side you everyday, and living in a English bubble.