Job Discussion Forums

[Glenski]

[Pmedix]

What is it about those companies that makes them bad to work for?
What companies would you recommend?

Thanks

[seklarwia]

All dispatchers and eikawa are money hungry businesses first, second and third, and care more about profit than they do about educating the people of Japan in English.

You will often see very mixed employee reviews on dispatchers. There are people like me, who have no real complaints about my employer; they pay on time, they pay what they promise, they pay me extra for anything outside of what was in my contract, they leave me alone but are quick in responding to my queries when I make them.

But in a different branch of the same company, you'll have very unhappy employees who receive the exact opposite of the conditions I just described.

No dispatch company is perfect and it's hard to recommend any, because whether you have decent or nightmare time working for them is really going to depend on which branch you are assigned to, which you will likely have very little control over.

Pretty much the same applies to any of the big eikawa.

Borderlink and RCS seem to be the worst of the worst when it comes to dispatchers.

One of our fellow ALTs here is currently working for RCS and being screwed over royally. They were formally a JET and were told they would be getting paid the standard 25man when they started working for them... they lied. They don't get 25man, they don't get reimbursements, they are paying over inflated rent in company housing and because they were earning 30man as a JET before, their NHI payments are eating a substantial chunk of what little they have remaining in the way of pay.
Basically, if RCS will not give them a raise come April and they can't find a better job elsewhere, they are going to have to go home.

Borderlink used to have some absolutely shocking reviews, with some of the worst being avaliable on their own website. But somebody at head office must have looked at their review section one day, because suddenly the site was revamped and the review section removed completely.
The only thing I can search out quickly is:
http://www.jobvent.com/borderlink-job-reviews-C15279

I would have thought that there might be some reviews on this forum, but the search function is just giving me a tiny error message on a blank page.

[Glenski]

Other major complaints about dispatch agencies include the following:

1. They operate illegally (no licenses for most), but the government does nothing about it.

2. They have taken away jobs from other contracted teachers. This has decreased due to union activity recently, but it still happens.

3. They often make promises about "performance bonuses", then renege on the deal after citing overly picky and sometimes fictitious claims against the teacher.

4. As with #3, they make promises of end-of-year stability in jobs, then claim that the teacher has not worked a full year there, short by just a day or week because of last-minute changes by the dispatch company itself.

5. Dispatch companies continue to make the same money from their clients even when the teachers are on break, yet the teachers (knowingly from contract clauses) get reduced (perhaps only 60%) of their regular pay.

6. Some dispatch companies avoid making shakai hoken copayments, claiming their teachers are not employees but merely "subcontractors".

Eikaiwas may have similar claims against them (although I have not heard of #6), but one more is that because of the number of hours in a classroom (not total per week, including prep time and other duties), the teacher is considered a part-timer and therefore not subject to shakai hoken! It's a legal loophole, but such employers need to be made to see the simple fact that if they hire teachers, their work entails more than classroom time and should be compensated accordingly.

[Pmedix]

Thanks for your great responses guys, very helpful.

I currently work for the government of Canada, so I am not accustomed to being manipulated or deceived. Our union would quickly rectify that. We get exactly what is in the contract. I wouldn't be happy with any of those slights, especially when in a new county and unable to speak the language.

I am starting to get a bad taste in my mouth and I haven't even started to teach yet LOL. My instructor at my TESOL cert course stated over and over again that there are tonnes of jobs everywhere, that its stacked in the teachers favor....its so easy to find work...yet from what I have read on different sections on this site, it sounds like those days are long gone and jobs (quality jobs) are hard to come by.

I don't even know if I will be considered in Japan. I have a 2 yr College diploma and a TESOL. I was thinking that with a Working Holiday Visa I could work in Japan, but I may be forced to go to China or another country that does not demand a degree.

Is it possible for me to get hired in Japan? If so would I be forced into a company such as above?
My TESOL instructor said to find a well run mom and pop school. That is really what I am looking for, only I cant tell what schools are what by the job posts. How do you tell?

Thanks again!

[Glenski]

[ShioriEigoKyoushi]

Text deleted

[Pmedix]

Glenski:

Very well explained. I am starting to come back to reality.
What do you think is causing the flood in Japan? Is an end in sight and how does one overcome it? (the million dollar question) Maybe the only way to get over it is to have been there 10 years ago.

I will leave Canada in early to mid March, wherever that ends up being.

My criteria for my destination are as follows, in a perfect world:
-able to bank some money
-warm climate (as I am coming from a life in Canada lol)
-ease of meeting friendly locals and expats
-can work without a degree
-clean and fun city, preferably close to water (surfing, scuba diving)

My list of places currently is China , Thailand, Japan, Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines, Ukraine,

ShioriEigoKyoushi:

You are very right about that! I am a newb to this industry, but even I can tell this well oiled machine has been running for a while. Perhaps I am coming in at the tail end of it. I think that there is still worthwhile opportunities for those who go for what they want.

[Glenski]

[flyer]

one good thing about dispatch companies (perhaps only a small thing?)
is they hire people over 30. I have heard of people in their 50's working there.
From what I understand JET doesn't. So yes, a private hire ALT (like me) is best but, but if I couldn't get a private hire job (and there just isn't enough of them to go around it seems?) a dispatch is the last resort (I am too old for JET).
After all, a job is better than no job, at least, you can work and look around for something better

[fat_chris]

Which ALT company would you choose?

It's not a company, but I would (did) choose the JET Programme.

JET has an age limit of 40. It's becoming more and more common for people in their 30s to be offered a position with the JET Programme.

Regards,
fat_chris

[Deep Thirteen]

[monchi01]