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OneJoelFifty
Joined: 06 Oct 2009
Posts: 463
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 Posted: Sat Apr 03, 2010 6:46 pm Post subject: |
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| I'm supposed to be teaching in a single high school, in Mito. Where are you off to? |
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ssjup81
Joined: 15 Jun 2009
Posts: 664
Location: Adachi-ku, Tokyo, Japan
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| Posted: Sat Apr 03, 2010 9:22 pm Post subject: |
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| OneJoelFifty wrote: |
| I'm supposed to be teaching in a single high school, in Mito. Where are you off to? |
Wow, you won't have to move anyplace. I'm going to be in Yamagata at a single jhs. |
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OneJoelFifty
Joined: 06 Oct 2009
Posts: 463
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| Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 3:13 am Post subject: |
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Thought I'd give people an update as a lot of you posted in this thread. I'm all set up in Mito now and start teaching on Monday. Yesterday I went into the school to meet the Principal and teaching staff, the school seems really nice and so do the people I'll be working with.
The Heart staff have gone out of their way to be helpful, even going so far as to drive me around the area stopping at shops to pick up bits and pieces for my apartment, even though many of them seem to be working at the office until midnight at the moment.
My LeoPalace apartment is literally five metres from a lovely log stairway that leads into this park, one of the three great parks in Japan. You step out my back door and you're there. http://i.pbase.com/u15/gwarman057/upload/41934787.KairakuenKairakuenparkinMito.jpg
So far I have nothing negative to report at all, and Mito seems like a really nice place to live. It's two hours to Tokyo by bus or one by train. |
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ZennoSaji
Joined: 02 Feb 2010
Posts: 87
Location: Mito, Ibaraki
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| Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 7:20 am Post subject: |
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Thanks for the post, OneJoel. :3 I've been looking at Heart for a little while now and I read so many mixed reviews.
In hope you all keep us updated on what goes on over the course of the next term. |
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ssjup81
Joined: 15 Jun 2009
Posts: 664
Location: Adachi-ku, Tokyo, Japan
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| Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 9:29 am Post subject: |
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| OneJoelFifty wrote: |
Thought I'd give people an update as a lot of you posted in this thread. I'm all set up in Mito now and start teaching on Monday. Yesterday I went into the school to meet the Principal and teaching staff, the school seems really nice and so do the people I'll be working with.
The Heart staff have gone out of their way to be helpful, even going so far as to drive me around the area stopping at shops to pick up bits and pieces for my apartment, even though many of them seem to be working at the office until midnight at the moment.
My LeoPalace apartment is literally five metres from a lovely log stairway that leads into this park, one of the three great parks in Japan. You step out my back door and you're there. http://i.pbase.com/u15/gwarman057/upload/41934787.KairakuenKairakuenparkinMito.jpg
So far I have nothing negative to report at all, and Mito seems like a really nice place to live. It's two hours to Tokyo by bus or one by train. |
Ah, the park. You're that close to it? I went there two days in a row and took as many pictures as possible. I went to the museum in the area too. That was really cool.
That aside, I have nothing yet to report "negative" about Heart either. They did the same with me, and to think, I had to be driven to Yamagata from Mito, which they did. That was a four-hour drive. I was also driven to different places, to show me around, where I'll be going, the stores, etc. My coordinator even drove around to help me try to find an adapter for my laptop. How nice was that? They also seem very supportive and helpful whenever I call with a question or an issue.
Aside from probably the pay (as it is kind of low, I'll admit), I'm curious as to what people have against the company. Getting down to it, I don't think I've ever come across a specific reason...just to "stay away". I guess we'll see what happens next month when I get my first check.
Anywho, I really like the school I'm at so far and the teachers were very nice. We had the welcoming party last night. Very very nice. Wish we could have that sort of thing every month.  I like how much more open the teachers were for it. Today it was back to business (and boring). =P
I'm also in a Leopalace apartment. I'm trying to get the hang of the trash thing. lol I guess I did it right. My bag was gone from the bin out front and there were no notes left saying that I did it wrong when I returned home today for my non-burnable stuff. lol
Anywho, I hope you do well in Mito.  |
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OneJoelFifty
Joined: 06 Oct 2009
Posts: 463
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| Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2010 1:52 am Post subject: |
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I should probably mention that a couple of the other ALTs have had slightly less luck, but they have arrived several days later than I did so there's been less time for them to get things sorted and less time for the staff to help them.
I think it's a fault of the system rather than the dispatch companies; as far as the schools are concerned they get ALTs at the last minute for the best price, while the companies supplying the staff have to quickly get people in and settled at the last minute.
Thanks, you too! |
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ZennoSaji
Joined: 02 Feb 2010
Posts: 87
Location: Mito, Ibaraki
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| Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2010 5:28 am Post subject: |
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ssjup, to answer your question slightly, I read one Negative review where a girl moved from West Japan I think all the way to Mito for the job and when she got there they said it wasn't available anymore after they'd promised it to her. That was from a handful of years ago, though.
And then there's a Facebook group with 6 members that all say that they got cheated out of their contract-end bonuses or something along those lines. |
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lisa111082
Joined: 20 Sep 2007
Posts: 37
Location: Too close to Mt. Fuji
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| Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2010 8:35 am Post subject: |
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| ZennoSaji wrote: |
ssjup, to answer your question slightly, I read one Negative review where a girl moved from West Japan I think all the way to Mito for the job and when she got there they said it wasn't available anymore after they'd promised it to her. That was from a handful of years ago, though.
And then there's a Facebook group with 6 members that all say that they got cheated out of their contract-end bonuses or something along those lines. |
I know a girl who was so royally screwed out of money by them that she had to live in the company car. Her apartment didn't even have a shower in it. |
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copet
Joined: 29 Apr 2010
Posts: 3
Location: Chicago
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| Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2010 3:33 pm Post subject: |
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| Has anyone been offered a job with Heart where they come to Japan prior to getting a visa and then applying there? I have heard that this was illegal... |
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Imseriouslylost
Joined: 09 Nov 2009
Posts: 123
Location: Tokyo
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| Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2010 3:54 pm Post subject: |
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| copet wrote: |
| Has anyone been offered a job with Heart where they come to Japan prior to getting a visa and then applying there? I have heard that this was illegal... |
It's not illegal. It's only illegal if you actually go to work without a visa.
Most people with my company arrived before they started processing their visa. Some of them had to start working late because it wasn't done in time but you can be here without it, you just can't work until you get it. |
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copet
Joined: 29 Apr 2010
Posts: 3
Location: Chicago
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| Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2010 4:14 pm Post subject: |
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| But getting it would take several months, no? And a person cannot work while their visa application is pending, can they? |
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seklarwia
Joined: 20 Jan 2009
Posts: 1546
Location: Monkey onsen, Nagano
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| Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2010 4:15 pm Post subject: |
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| Imseriouslylost wrote: |
| copet wrote: |
| Has anyone been offered a job with Heart where they come to Japan prior to getting a visa and then applying there? I have heard that this was illegal... |
It's not illegal. It's only illegal if you actually go to work without a visa.
Most people with my company arrived before they started processing their visa. Some of them had to start working late because it wasn't done in time but you can be here without it, you just can't work until you get it. |
What they are doing may not be illegal as such, but there is the problem that many airlines will not allow you to travel to Japan on a one-way ticket without a proper visa. |
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Imseriouslylost
Joined: 09 Nov 2009
Posts: 123
Location: Tokyo
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| Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2010 6:12 pm Post subject: |
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| seklarwia wrote: |
| Imseriouslylost wrote: |
| copet wrote: |
| Has anyone been offered a job with Heart where they come to Japan prior to getting a visa and then applying there? I have heard that this was illegal... |
It's not illegal. It's only illegal if you actually go to work without a visa.
Most people with my company arrived before they started processing their visa. Some of them had to start working late because it wasn't done in time but you can be here without it, you just can't work until you get it. |
What they are doing may not be illegal as such, but there is the problem that many airlines will not allow you to travel to Japan on a one-way ticket without a proper visa. |
Yeah I was working under that assumption. A two way ticket is necessary. |
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copet
Joined: 29 Apr 2010
Posts: 3
Location: Chicago
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| Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2010 7:47 pm Post subject: |
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| Imseriouslylost wrote: |
| seklarwia wrote: |
| Imseriouslylost wrote: |
| copet wrote: |
| Has anyone been offered a job with Heart where they come to Japan prior to getting a visa and then applying there? I have heard that this was illegal... |
It's not illegal. It's only illegal if you actually go to work without a visa.
Most people with my company arrived before they started processing their visa. Some of them had to start working late because it wasn't done in time but you can be here without it, you just can't work until you get it. |
What they are doing may not be illegal as such, but there is the problem that many airlines will not allow you to travel to Japan on a one-way ticket without a proper visa. |
Yeah I was working under that assumption. A two way ticket is necessary. |
Ah, so they (the company) made you buy the two-way ticket even if you weren't going to use it? Also, did you wait till you received the Visa to start working, or did you work before? I guess I am curious about how your situation went since it seems like I might be offered something similar... right now it seems like something I don't want to do. |
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seklarwia
Joined: 20 Jan 2009
Posts: 1546
Location: Monkey onsen, Nagano
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| Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2010 10:07 pm Post subject: |
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| copet wrote: |
Ah, so they (the company) made you buy the two-way ticket even if you weren't going to use it? Also, did you wait till you received the Visa to start working, or did you work before? I guess I am curious about how your situation went since it seems like I might be offered something similar... right now it seems like something I don't want to do. |
No, it will be the airline that you fly with (not the company employing you) that may have a problem with you flying to Japan without at least some form of pre-booked onward travel to show that you intend to leave the country before your tourist status expires, since they will not only have to fly you back if you get turned away at Japanese customs, but will also be liable for a very hefty fine for allowing you to travel in the first place without the necessary visa or onward ticket.
Some companies like Imseriouslylost's may have you wait until your COE has been processed (which can take upto 2 months but can take as little as a few weeks if all your paperwork is in order and immigration isn't so busy). It's normally fine to work once you have received the COE and taken it to immigration and are only waiting on your stamps to be put in your passport.
But two months not working until you receive the COE followed by the two months it will take before you receive your first paycheque... 4 months is a long time to have to support yourself with no source of income. And with companies like Heart often bringing in people right at the last minute there will likely be not enough time to get the COE before your schools require you to start work. I'd imagine that many companies will allow you to start working whilst your COE app is in the works, which is quite a risky yet an all-too-common practice.
Due to my *cough*skin colour*cough*, the fact there are few foreigners in my city and even fewer who stand out or are quite as easily remembered as me, I would not have been willing to run the all to real risk of being stopped and found working without a valid visa in hand. Just as well... I got IDed a few times just after I arrived before I had even started working.
I'm not saying that people shouldn't do this, mind; just saying that I personally wouldn't do it because the risk of being caught and not heard out is very real for me and I've already had more than my fair share of run ins with the police in a few countries (my favourite was guns in the face by the Spanish Guardia Civil). It's up to you whether you are willing to take this route, but bare in mind, many of the smaller outfits like Heart can't afford to sponsor and bring over lots of spares that a giant like Interac can to replace any visa bandits who bail once they have their visa in hand and will often wait until the last minute to hirer and bring over recruits because they can't afford to support them finacially if BOEs decide to not offer them placements (BOEs will often wait right until the last minute to make a decision). If you decide you don't want to work for a company purely for their visa routine (and there is nothing wrong with this reason) you will be lowering your chances of getting hired in these extremely competitive times. |
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