Job Discussion Forums

[Harajuku Girl]

Hi there

I'd really appreciate if people could tell me of their past experiences of going to Japan through Interac. Or, perhaps you know people who did so. I've read some of the older posts on this topic which weren't very favourable. Any feedback whatsoever would be great.....

[Mr_Monkey]

Google is your friend.

All the pages above at least mention Interac in some way. Of the first page of results, most of them (I didn't check them all) relate in some way to what it's like to work for them.

Personally, I'd avoid Interac, but I don't need an agency.

[Glenski]

[seklarwia]

I work for them now. My branch is fine. It's not a dream job, but the branch is fairly well managed, the support staff actually try to assist you, we have ICs who will come with us if we need to do things that require a higher Japanese ability than we have or who we can call if we lock ourselves out after office hours, etc... all in all, most of us have no major complaints.

But the Hiroshima branch is notorious for having some sucky working conditions.

There is no such thing as a good dispatch company, but you could do worse than Interac (debateable if you end up in a bad branch). For example RCS and A to Z pay less and working conditions at Borderlink are legendary (and not in a good way).

If you can get employed with JET, then you shouldn't even consider a dispatcher. But if you don't have the time to keep applying to and getting rejected by JET, then Interac isn't the worst company you could use to get your foot in the door over here. I wouldn't suggest any dispatcher for long-term job security though.

[Harajuku Girl]

[seklarwia]

1) I won't lie to you... it does happen. It didn't happen to many of the lot from my training group which was quite huge, but it did happen. BOEs can pull placements at the last minute, changes to specific placements (such as a driving requirement being added last minute by the BOE to a placement a non-driving ALT had been assigned to or a current ALT changing their plans) can result in a reshuffling of new recruits. I, myself, was demanding that I be changed from elementary school whilst at training. My manager changed me to JH, which meant another new ALT suddenly had ES dropped in their lap. Obiviously that didn't change our locations, but it's another thing that might change on you last minute.
I knew one ALT who was only told that their placement was no longer avaliable at the training in Tokyo. If your placement changes before your arrival, you'll will normally either be offered the choice of a different placement, to come as alternative or to delay departure until the summer. It can be a scary prospect for some: The new offer might not suit you; if you come as an alternative you have no say in where you are placed at all; if you wait until the summer when there are far fewer opennings on offer, you might not be offered anything or might end up with a placement that a previous ALT abandoned because it was awful. If it's any small consolation, if you do come as an alternative or have your placement pulled after you arrive and Interac has nothing to offer you, you won't be dumped out in the streets. Instead you'll work at head office in Tokyo until something does turn and will be paid as if you were at a normal placement... not always such a bad thing from what I heard from a couple of guys who I met at halloween who were getting paid to attend Japanese lessons or help with the odd bit of paper work.

If you are simply concerned about having already bought your ticket then having your placement location changed, then that shouldn't affect you much since most people regardless or where their placement is are normally all arriving at the same location for training first, then Interac will organise your onwards travel to where ever your placement is.

2) Interac will organise your accommodation. Some people are contacted by housing before hand, some aren't (I wasn't). You don't need to do anything for yourself there. The amount that you need to pay upfront is going to depend entirely on the type of accomodation you are assigned and where your placement is. Urban apartments cost more than rural. Leopalace places come ready to move into whilst regular rentals will likely require complete furnishing. Leopalace has some agency fees to pay upfront, but regular rentals may have the dreaded key money to pay on top of agency fees. A very few "lucky" ALTs in EXTREMELY remote placements end up in BOE housing, which has no start up costs, often has highly subsidised or occasionally no rent and may come furnished with stuff left by the previous ALTs.
I paid about 200,000 when I moved into my Leopalace place which was for agency fees, the first two months rent and some household essentials. But I think that figure is at the much lower end. I remember one girl on bus from Narita airport already had her housing details before arrival and had to pay about 320,000 upfront, but I can't remember any details about her housing. You might find out before hand how much you'll need to part with, or like me, you might find out at training (or if you are in the Hiroshima branch like my roomate at training, you might not find out at all).

3) If you don't drive you are normally assigned to far fewer schools. In my city, the non-drivers (like me) have only one large school. The drivers visit many smaller schools that might be harder to reach without a car. But in the cities with really good transport links, some non-drivers do visit a few schools: Not as many as a driver, but more than one.

I'm in the Tokyo branch which handles all the placements roughly level with Tokyo and above, including Hokkaido.

BTW, you will often find me quite negative about the Hiroshima branch, since not only do many of the complaints you find online relate to them, but I watched them make a royal hash of everything at training when I arrived and even after training some of my friends who had been placed in that branch were being given nasty surprises and had no idea what was going on. Yes, we did arrive only a couple of hours after the Narita plane crash and did get diverted all over the country which lead to a logistic nightmare with even trying to find out where ALTs were then trying to get them back to Narita hotel we supposed to be meeting at, but many of the things that were causing issues in that branch, were things that should have been sorted out before we even arrived and they didn't even send anybody in authority from that branch (the rest of us met our managers who well prepared and kept us well informed right from our arrival - with mine putting me intouch with the current ALTs in my city and even collecting and distributing contact details so that we could get intouch with the others in our prefecture and in neighbouring Yamanashi), meaning those ALTs were left in the dark and had nobody to address questions to.
But I am going to try (very reluctantly) to be a little more unbiased *takes a deep breath and braces herself*... One of the ALTs with me now who moved up from the Hiroshima branch to be with their JET partner, says that once they had settled in, they enjoyed working for that branch and that their placement down there was better than the one they have now up in our branch. And yes, I have kept in touch with some of the Hiroshima people who arrived with me: one bailed (not unusual in any dispatch company), a couple have decided a year is quite enough for their Japan experience, some are happy whilst others are trying to transfer out of that branch... so apparently not everyone finds that branch so detestable especially if they were able to stick it out for a year and some even want to resign. That wouldn't convince me to move to that branch of my own free will, but I've put it out there... make of it what you will. And don't expect me to say anything even remotely positive that branch in the near future.

[Harajuku Girl]

[gwynnie86]

The FAQ sent to me by Interac says:
It is recommended that successful hires bring at least �300,000 to ensure a smooth transition in moving to Japan. This money will be used to pay initial costs for an apartment, buying household supplies, furniture, and to have enough to live on before receiving your first salary, which is paid in
arrears (the end of the following month). Successful candidates may be offered some financial assistance (up to �250,000) in the form of a short term loan with an interest of 1%, but we ask that you be prepared to bring the majority of these funds with you. These funds will be disbursed after you have set up a bank account, so please don�t plan on using this money for the at least one and a half weeks.

I'm going in March/April 2010 all being well, so I'm just as worried as you are. I have no money!

[Harajuku Girl]

[seklarwia]

[Harajuku Girl]

Now that I think of it that 500 000 yen figure rings as bell. Pretty sure that's the figure they quoted at the interview. Yeah, I totally agree that socialising with the ALTs and staff is really important, as well as going to the hanami parties

[gaijinalways]

It's interesting that all the replies are related to BOE contracts with Interac, but Interac also does business/industrial contracts. I was offered a job with them in the boonies in Wakayama or Tokushima Prefecture. Basically I would have been going to factories, and only teaching about 14 hours a week until they got more contract hours for me ( I think the limit at that time was 20-25 a week). Another person I met in my Ｍaster's program took it as it gave him plenty of time to do his essay assignments, so he thought it was okay, but did mention that night life was extremely limited.

I turned the job down for a few main reasons;

1) I had my hopes set on working in Tokyo or nearby

2) the woman who interviewed me kept harping about how stressful Tokyo was, yet she didn't seem eager to take this job herself or another like it even though she had more language ability (I found out later she is still in Tokyo now)

3) I didn't think the salary was that great, and that particular job wouldn't have any extra hours (if anything, the opposite), though I suppose if I had been more ambitious I could have drummed up something

So it's possible you might get this kind of placement as well. And as far as I know, there was no driving for this one, you went to the factories by public transportation and factory employee picked you up from nearest station/stop.

[ghostrider]

JET is not worth it quite honestly, unless you planned to return within a year or two and were seriously interested in the remote life. Some people may not be that interested in Japanese city life, so JET is great for them. I think most who want to come here are interested in the cities though.

So, I'd first think about your goal. Is being an ALT more important or coming to a specific Japanese city or Japan in general? If it's the 2nd, I'd apply for more than just Interac, and keep in mind surrounding areas are nearly as good as being in the main city. Like, living in the northern part of Kanagawa is actually better than far west Tokyo, same for north west Chiba and southern Saitama. From there, you can always keep looking for better work.

If you commit to Interac, or JET, and end up in the middle of nowhere, it becomes difficult to move quite honestly. This is true with eikaiwas as well. It's easier for them to fill spots from abroad than to shuffle people around, so you really have to demand it and put in the extra work if possible.

[gwynnie86]

Okay, I'm freaking out. 500,000 Yen is �3,370.42 at the moment. I do not have that. I have what is 310,000 Yen saved up, no job until I get out there and I need to buy my plane ticket somehow as well. If I get the loan, great, and I'm telling them that I don't have much money so living somewhere with a lower cost of living would be great. But... uh.. what to do?? I don't want to start taking out loans (from the UK) or anything.

[Glenski]

Starting a life in a new career with a totally different language surrounding you and with no money is not exactly a safe way to do things, IMO. To get housing through your employer is one thing, but to start a job indebted to him for thousands of dollars as well should be reconsidered.