Job Discussion Forums

Osailor · Joined: 23 Aug 2011 Posts: 6 Location: Brisbane, Australia

Hi all

24 year old Australian male �long time reader/first time poster � here. As my departure date is creeping closer and closer, I�ve decided to write a post to let you all know where I�m at, what my options are at the moment and, primarily, to get some advice.

My partner and I would like to experience Japan for a year/a year and a half and are planning to fly over in mid-March next year. Although Osaka is a preferred location, we are flexible with where we end up (we would be more than happy to go rural if both of us were able to find jobs in a rural town). I have been teaching myself the language for the past year and I have a Bachelors degree, and am therefore eligible for a working visa if sponsored. I have currently received responses from my Gaba, Heart and Borderlink applications, and am scouring the internet for companies that hire from abroad. I will most likely hit $10,000 savings by the time my contract finishes in February, and my partner will probably be at around $6000�and that is my situation in a nutshell.

I�m in a bit of a pickle when it comes to what would be the best option for us. Although it still remains an option, I�m scared about coming to Japan on a WHV with my partner, staying at a guesthouse until we set ourselves up in an apartment or weekly/monthly mansion and frantically hunting for work, especially considering we have no teaching experience. My gut tells me to continue to hunt for a job before I get there (which I will continue to do), but most of these opportunities are ALT dispatch jobs, and you can�t google any ALT dispatch company without stories of their poor working conditions, low pay and mistreatment of staff�but considering I have no experience, is it okay for me to be contemplating going through one of these companies? What does the unionisation of Borderlink mean for the company and the way it treats its employees? And, for example, say I �am� successful with my Heart application in Mito, are there enough jobs for WHV holders without a degree and with no experience in that city for my partner to find work there?

I guess it all boils down to �should I avoid ALT dispatch like the plague, or embrace it as an opportunity to spend an extended period of time in a fascinating country with my partner?� (and yes, we are a gay couple, so if you have any information to share that is specific to us in that regard, please share also).

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

Osailor · Joined: 23 Aug 2011 Posts: 6 Location: Brisbane, Australia

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

Post counts are under your name, so it's easy to see how many times you have posted.

Coming on March 1st would be better, yes. If you have a WHV you can start work the same day as the interview, but if you need to change to a work visa, you will have to wait 2-8 weeks. (Some people work while their visa is being processed, a bit under the table, but that is not recommended for various reasons.)

deadzenpoet · Joined: 06 Aug 2010 Posts: 71

Inflames · Joined: 02 Apr 2006 Posts: 486

That website states that an emergency contact person (a family member) is needed. It seems to go without saying they need to be in Japan and able to communicate in Japanese.

Osailor · Joined: 23 Aug 2011 Posts: 6 Location: Brisbane, Australia

seklarwia · Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2011 8:09 pm Post subject:

steki47 · Joined: 20 Apr 2008 Posts: 1029 Location: BFE Inaka

Osailor · Joined: 23 Aug 2011 Posts: 6 Location: Brisbane, Australia

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

"Worth it"?
Bottom line involves 2 points IMO:

1. How much salary can GABA actually guarantee, and can you live on that?

2. Do you feel comfortable doing nothing except 1-on-1 lessons all day?

Osailor · Joined: 23 Aug 2011 Posts: 6 Location: Brisbane, Australia

OneJoelFifty · Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 463

I can't say that this information is 100% accurate but I work at Heart and have heard various things from the company and from friends who know people in the Mito BoE. Last year there were 15 of us as JHS ALTs in Mito. This year that number was cut to 7, with people being kept on if their schools liked them. The remaining places were taken up by direct hires, but it was part of a program with Mito's sister city in America (Oklahoma I think, there are links with the Christian university there). All indications are that the Mito BoE will move to employ more direct hires next year.

Heart still supplies a lot of people for schools in other parts of Ibaraki, along with Interac and JET. But it's a rural prefecture outside of Mito, and there aren't many Hearts ALTs living in the same area this year. So you might both get a place, and you may be able to live together, but one of you is likely to have a much longer drive to school. Any more questions about the company, feel free to ask.