Job Discussion Forums

Generasian X · Joined: 06 May 2003 Posts: 50

Gracias for your opinions.

cangel · Joined: 12 May 2003 Posts: 74 Location: Jeonju, South Korea

I'd suggest just having the testicular fortitude to tell them that you have been offered another opportunity that's too good to pass up. However, in doing so, your school will be without an ALT, at least on a regular basis. Maybe if you're a JHS ALT and rotate between school, it wouldn't be such a great loss but if you have a base school, keep in mind the position you're putting your teachers and students in... Personally, I'd honor my contract, or have a dam* good reason to break it.

Celeste · Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2004 9:35 pm Post subject:

There is no nice way to do it, but I would tell them sooner rather than later. A girl in my city quit half way through her contract about 2 years ago, and she was not penalized. (Everyone was pretty upset, and her schools were left in the lurch. People still talk about it.) I would advise against doing this, as you will get a reputation for being flaky and unreliable.

ntropy · Joined: 11 Oct 2003 Posts: 671 Location: ghurba

All of the above with one more caveat...your visa may not be "workable" especially if you leave on bad terms. In order to renew/get a new visa, your old employer must sign off the old one. I've known places that refuse to do so, leaving the person unable to go to the new position

Gordon · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 5309 Location: Japan

Laura C · Joined: 14 Oct 2003 Posts: 211 Location: Saitama

I concur with honouring the contract.

I think that bailing out just for a better offer would be a pretty crappy thing to do to your school.

I wouldn't say that for all jobs, for example if a contract was being broken or whatever, but JET, imho, has excellent terms and conditions, and it's like slapping those in the face to bail out for such a reason.

I don't see how practically it could be done, either. JETs can go home if they are homesick, depressed or whatever -- at least they're of course not forced to stay -- but if a JET had to get their visa signed over so they could work elsewhere then it would be obvious they weren't going home. It would cause a huge amount of hassle, maybe damage the programme, confirm to some people the prejudice of lazy, unreliable foreigners... just not worth it, I think, and against the ethos of the programme.

L

TokyoLiz · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 1548 Location: Tokyo, Japan

Dang, what's better than JET? They give you lots of support, you get to meet other foreign folk at the conferences, they subsidize your rent and pay your way home if you go directly home on finishing the contract.

I wouldn't bail if I were you. If you're in the middle of the contract, I would stay and just hold out for the next school year.

struelle · Joined: 16 May 2003 Posts: 2372 Location: Shanghai

PAULH · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 4672 Location: Western Japan

Dr.J · Joined: 09 May 2003 Posts: 304 Location: usually Japan

I realise that many people have a bad time on JET, but the above posts pretty much sum it up. You will be much worse off if you split. Your school probably won't be hit as hard as people are suggesting (although the kiddies might miss you?) Summer is only a few months away.

Laura C · Joined: 14 Oct 2003 Posts: 211 Location: Saitama

Forgot to add that as far as I remember, you may be liable for reimbursing the cost of your airfare to Japan if you leave for a frivolous reason. I'm not 100% sure on that, but I know that we we told if we were sacked/arrested or whatever, i.e., lost our position through our own damn stupidity Very Happy

, we could be liable for reimbursing JET what they had spent so far on our contract. That can include salary paid so far as well, maybe also housing costs. No, they probably wouldn't make you pay everything back -- but check your contract, because in my young day they were entitled to do so.

L