Job Discussion Forums

[dog8food]

Here is my situation. I'm a 27 year old college graduate (US citizen) looking to work in Japan ASAP. I was once hired by the JET program but unfortunately due to unfortunate circumstances I was unable to start. Luckily I was able to get a taste of Japan by working one summer in Okinawa.

I'm looking for quick employment and thought about applying through Heart English School (since they hire fairly quickly), but some on this board have expressed their discontent with the program.

Can someone please point me to similar alternatives that are decent enough? Or can anyone pass along contacts? I'm hoping to begin work no later than September.

Any information would be greatly appreciated!

[Glenski]

I don't want to sound like a wet blanket, but there are thousands of people looking for work here and from abroad. Not many are going to be willing to provide specific help for someone who is apparently as desperate as you are to get here. If you've read any posts here you'll have learned how flooded the market is, and how poor job hunting is naturally at this time of year.

What's the rush to be here? Heart has a bad reputation. If you can't come to look for work (which is what it sounds like), you should realize that there are very few places that will hire from abroad, and it still takes 2-4 months for them to get things in order, so you wouldn't be starting work in most cases until at least September anyway.

Go with the few:

AEON
ECC
GEOS and NOVA (run now by g.com)
Altia
Peppy Kids Club
James English School
David English House
Language House
Westgate Corporation
Berlitz
Shane/Saxoncourt
...maybe a couple more who don't come to the U.S. to recruit but who might give a Skype interview.

I know you posted for ALT work and that most of the above are not ALT jobs, but beggars can't be choosers right now.

I take it you worked in Okinawa at a hotel for room and board...?
What is your educational background and work experience in EFL?

What do you mean by "alternatives that are decent enough"?

[employee]

Glenski,

Are you familiar with any other ALT/companies that hire from abroad that don't require person to person interviews? IE will rock skype and telephone interviews?

sorry to thread jack

[Glenski]

Sorry, employee, but I don't know any. People occasionally mention that they had such an interview, but few if any actually say with whom. I've been trying to collect such info for years.

A quick search shows the following people have reported doing Skype interviews, but they didn't mention the employer's name:

LITTLE PEACHES
anthonyteo
gallerygirl
Rakis
fng
The Hungry Yeti
flyingkiwi

I have no idea what this question means:
"IE will rock skype and telephone interviews? "

[seklarwia]

[Glenski]

Thanks, seklarwia. Never thought I'd need a translator for English! Considering flak incurred over the last time I wrote about someone's spelling, I don't dare mention it here, do I? (i.e., vs. IE)

[kotoko]

Hey,
I don't know many companies other than interac and w5 but if you go to any japan job related site (I'm guessing we are not allowed to name such sites?) then there will be loads of alt jobs posted. There may be some on this site too, I've not checked.

What you have to be careul of though I that things like holiday pay, insurance and job security will be quite low, if present at all. The w5 people who work with me get low pay, bu 1man "genki money" a month, awarded if they've been good little gaijin and not taken sick leave or done something silly at school. If you have to come out to japan right now, why not go with westate or something else? I think you'd get a better deal there. And non jet alt work is pretty much on the same level as eikaiwa work.

[flyer]

yes, I doubt whether any good company will hire you without an interview
esp if you are not in the country

[fujisan]

[gwynnie86]

Interac! You've missed applying for the August starts, though.
If you can afford it the best way is to come over here and then look for a job, I know people who've done that. But otherwise just apply for everything and be patient (and work back home doing anything you can to save up money while you wait)...

[where2next]

I'd say try JET again as well. If you got in once (and if it wasn't last year, because they specify you have to wait a year between your acceptance, and when you apply again, if you leave), your chances are really good that you'll get into it again!

[Glenski]

Let's get our definitions straight from the start. JET is not a company. It is a government sponsored program. Huge difference.

I think someone on this forum did try starting a thread to make a list of ALT companies a month ago or so.
http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=83136
The problem was that nobody really contributed much because the only names that came up were not the most reputable ones. Perhaps those who feel they are working for good ALT dispatch agencies want to keep the name of the agency quiet. Less competition that way. I don't know.

[where2next]

Thank you so much, Glenski! Your information, and that link are really helpful. And, I do realize JET is a programme, and not a company.

Until recently, I wasn't even considering other options (aside from JET), nor knew the names of any companies operating out there, so this is like a whole new world opening up. I appreciate you sharing your knowledge with me.

I still feel an ALT position would suit me best, and your info has helped me realize this more. That's unfortunate situation(s) you describe in #4, though.

[kotoko]

ALTs have much more free time. You can feel very unused a lot of the time. However, the other teachers that you come into contact with have nothing to do with you having a job or not; if you and your co-workers don't get along, you can just suck it up and you'll still have a job. In Eikaiwa, if you do something wrong then, because it's a business, you can find yourself out on your ear a lot easier. Replacing ALTs costs money and takes lots of time. That's why you get some really terrible people still working even though everyone knows they do a poor job.

If I were an eikaiwa teacher I think I'd be able to drop the job easily without much loss (JETs and other ALTs are tied in with free return tickets and stuff) and without much guilt. I dislike my job but I wouldn't leave my kids here with no ALT.

Hmm.. my post seems negative, but I think it's important to think of what you'd do if things don't go well. It's good character building if your ALT placement sucks but if it's really bad then you'd be losing a lot in quitting.

[Glenski]