Job Discussion Forums

gwynnie86 · Joined: 27 Apr 2009 Posts: 159

Hi guys!
I'm doing a TEFL course in a couple of weeks, and I have applied for the Interac teaching in Japan programme, for which I have an interview on the 27th of May.
I couldn't find a thread specifically discussing the programme, so I thought I'd start one. Has anyone here been with, or currently is with, Interac? And if so... well, what are they like? I would like to make sure that I'd be going with a reliable company, that don't rip you off or treat you badly etc, so if anyone here can help me out by sharing their experiences I would be very grateful!
Gwynnie xx

slodziak · Joined: 17 Oct 2005 Posts: 143 Location: Tokyo

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

Interac gets a lot of posters on many forums complaining. A few people come to defend Interac, but not many. Could be any number of reasons.

Here is the most recent hot thread.
http://www.debito.org/?p=2993

seklarwia · Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2009 10:05 pm Post subject:

They are a dispatch company not the a programme. Their primary concern is to make money. Do your job, keep your nose clean, submit your forms, they leave you alone and everything is fine.

I work for them now. I've got no complaints, but I can assure you that isn't the case for all their ALTs.

I suppose in terms of preferences I got what I wanted. I didn't want young children; I work in 1 JH school that's only 10mins walk from my house and the JTs there are all amazing, especially the kyoto-sensei. My job is pretty easy to say the least. I wanted to be in a suburban type area within shooting distance of a proper city; I'm in the middle of Saku-shi, which is definately not inaka (kinda looks like a typical American suburb) and am only 1h20mins from Tokyo and not so far from Nagano-shi either. I like snow and am not fond of summer heat; well I'm Nagano (i.e. Japan's skiing mecca), between the slopes, onsen, and active volcano Laughing

and I've been told summers here are bit more bearable.

On the other hand, one of the other ALTs in the same city has 7 schools (which is nothing compared to some of the Hiroshima lot), drives for about 40mins to get to the main school, has supposedly had a "request" from Interac not to use even basic Japanese in the classroom when they are teaching elementary kids with no English and little support from the JTEs. Many JTEs in elementary don't even fully understand the concept of what an ALT is or team teaching. They don't have too many major complaints but it isn't the perfect situation either.

Then the other two ALTs here from interac have already completed 2 years with them in this city (meaning they can't have had too many problems if they have already resigned twice).

I'm not going to sell Interac as the company to go for. They are a money making business. But at the same time, I don't see them as the axis of evil that you will often see people describing dispatch as.
Yes, there are labour law disputes going on with regards to dispatch. No, they don't pay in full during school holidays (I believe a couple of companies do but Interac is not one of them). But they are one of the few ways to get an ALT position without having to fly out to Japan first. They sort out accomodation and visas for you. You can use it as a way to get your foot in the door to Japan EFL, get that first year experience that many of the decent direct hirer jobs ask for, look for a better job whilst you are in country which opens the way to a much larger selction of job opportunities. Or maybe you'll be one of the ones who actually like what Interac offers and stay on with them for years (I met some Yamanashi people who had already been with them for 3 years+)

degolasse · Joined: 26 Jan 2007 Posts: 21

There is indeed tons of threads dedicated to Interac. Generally what you'll find in these threads is half the people bashing them because they are a dispatch company which are by nature the Devil, people claiming that they have a reputation for not paying their employees, ripping them off etc.... and then half the people reporting that they worked for Interac and have had few negative experiences with them.
I'm in the second camp - I worked with them for a year from Aug 07-Aug 08 and for the most part found them a perfectly fine company to work for. When I first arrived there were a few rough moments where hotels that they promised would be booked and paid for weren't, my contract seemed dodgy and confusing, my placement got moved around etc..... But a couple days in, once all that was sorted and I started teaching I had a hassle free year with them, with a car included, a great apartment arranged by them, all the help I needed, and always got paid on the hour promised (and actually a higher wage than originally promised). For the most part, I actually rarely even had to deal with them as long as I was doing my job at my school. I would usually go a couple months at a time without any contact with Interac.
Truth be told though, if you are doing an ALT job (teacher in a public school rather than a private English Conversation School), how good your your experience in Japan is will have little to do with choosing Interac over JET or some other ALT company/program. In the end you will work with and for your school and Interac will be just a name in an office far away who sends you a paycheck and makes you go to pointless meetings every once in a while. Your experience will depend on where you are placed, what school you end up at, how the staff is, what role your English teaching coworkers gives you, and how you choose to adapt to the metropolis/town/village/rice field that you are placed in.
Just as examples, while I am a country guy and had the best year of my life in my placement in the a mountain village in the middle of nowhere, where I made friends with the locals, had wonderful schools and students and a perfect job, and was happy enough with Interac...my buddy in the next town over, who wished he was downtown Tokyo, despised every second of his time there, spend most of his time complaining, and as a result, will be the first to tell you that Interac is a horrible company. It's all luck of the draw and if you are open to anything, you'll have a great time no matter who you work for.
So yeah, Interac is a fine and reliable company. It may not be ideal, and I have a number of friends who were messed around a bit by them, but in the vast majority of cases, they'll get you where you need to go.

On a side note, it seems that few companies in Japan, including Interac, care if you have a TEFL certificate. Their only requirement is that English is your first language or that you've done the majority of your schooling in it, and you have a university degree in anything. I don't have TEFL and I met few other fellow Interacers with one. If the course is going to cost you a bit of money, you might want to do some research and consider if it's worth it.

gwynnie86 · Joined: 27 Apr 2009 Posts: 159

Thank you

To be honest, I'm not doing the TEFL course to increase my chances with Interac.. I'm doing it to ease my nerves about teaching a bunch of children who may not understand a word I say! Plus for the interview I have to do a 3 minute "drill" teaching imaginary children colours or something, and at the moment I have no idea what to really do so I'm hoping the (cheapest) TEFL course will help a bit...

Also, I'm not really planning on staying with Interac or anyone else for more than the 6/7 months of the contract that they've mentioned. I have family and a boyfriend and a bit of a plan back home, it's more for the experience than as a plan to move out there for years... I've read www.gaijinsmash.net since around 2006 and despite his constant complaining about the Japanese school system, I STILL find myself wanting to do it.

I think what I'm most concerned about is all the forms, documents and legal/financial stuff, like setting up accommodation costs and bank accounts etc, but Interac help with Visas and living arrangements? I hope? It was the main reason I applied... but at the moment I'm finishing Uni so I won't have a massive amount of money to take out there with me, so perhaps a less expensive country would be a better start?... Hmmm

slodziak · Joined: 17 Oct 2005 Posts: 143 Location: Tokyo

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

gwynnie86 · Joined: 27 Apr 2009 Posts: 159

Well, I have read that, I just wanted to hear real experiences from people who had worked for them!

JMcinlay · Joined: 23 Jan 2009 Posts: 5

seklarwia · Posted: Sun May 17, 2009 9:31 am Post subject:

Normally contracts are a year from March. Of course if you are one of those who go out from about August then your contract still only runs until the end of the academic year meaning 6/7 months. Since the later start is what she is aiming for, then no, she is not planning to bail before her contract is up. In fact she'll be replacing either a JET or someone who did bail out early for whatever reason.

gwynnie86 · Joined: 27 Apr 2009 Posts: 159

Well thanks for calling me thoughtless and selfish, maybe you should wait for an answer to your question.

The contracts are for September to March. If I wanted a year, I would start in March until the following March. If I wish to renew my contract for a year in March after the 6 months, I could do so. So yeah... take it back Razz

cornishmuppet · Joined: 27 Mar 2004 Posts: 642 Location: Nagano, Japan

JMcinlay · Joined: 23 Jan 2009 Posts: 5

Yeah, I do take it back. I did say that in my original post...
But yeah, I should have waited until the post was answered before saying stuff.

Also, with the kids being affected, I guess it really depends on each situation.

cornishmuppet · Joined: 27 Mar 2004 Posts: 642 Location: Nagano, Japan

You'll find that if you teach adults a lot of them will be upset when you leave. I had one old lady burst into tears. She then proceeded to give me 10,000yen as a leaving present which was pretty nice!

Kids generally, unless you're like a surrogate mother and they adore you, tend to be quite excited to get a new teacher. Air of mystery, maybe. At least little kids do. High school kids rarely do so much as acknowledge your presence!