Quote:
Originally Posted by jasonbvr
JET is not a company but rather the government program. Originally all ALT's were JET's, but the trouble is that they don't find and hire enough JET's to fill the positions in all the schools. This is where the ALT companies come in the picture. They lobby for vacancies and find teachers to fill them.
As far as Heart, I think it depends a lot on where you work. As far as I know, Heart teachers are some of the lowest paid ALT's around. Working for them would not be bad, but I wouldn't ever settle for anything less than 250,000 yen a month. That really goes for any company and anywhere in Japan. Some teachers are in such a rush to get over, they'll sign anything.
I work for a regional ALT company called Fifth Wings. From what I have heard of other teachers is that Fifth is really the best to work for in this area although certain parts of my contract are not in compliance with Japan's labor laws. This could've have been easily avoided if I negotiated and knew these things before signing, but I didn't. I have yet to argue with them about it and probably won't because I am figuring out a sly way around it. That way if I resign in August, I can get a better deal because they see me as being a trouble-free employee.
Other companies I know of, Borderlink is fairly new in are region so I don't know much about them. OES, I have never really talked to anyone who works for them. RCS has lost a lot of teachers and a lot of staff. Some complain of having trouble but overall they really seem average to me. Interac sounds very appealing to me. Although they are national and say couldn't take me to the doctors if I had some trouble like Fifth would, they seem very professional and the pay is good.
A lot of your contract stuff will actually depend on the area you work in. Take my situation for example, in Ota we come to school even though we don't have any classes. Take my friend in Oizumi, she doesn't go to school for the holidays but also was paid less those months.
So what it boils down to is 1) the area you work in and 2) what you sign to in your contract
I may have posted it before but in case I didn't, I am very interested in anyone who is in the interview process and talking about exactly what they are offering to you.
Here is a few reasons people like Fifth:
They set up a cellphone for you before you arrive.
They give you a bicycle.
They put you in an apartment and give you a futon, pillow, blanket, sheets, a small saucepan, a frying pan, a coffee mug, forks, knives, spoons, chopsticks, and food when you first arrive.
If you get sick, arrested, or your scooter breaks down and you are going to be late for school, Fifth saves your ass and doesn't complain much about doing it. (Although to my knowledge no Fifth employee has ever been in trouble with the police outside of traffic violations.)
Now why I think Fifth does all these things, very simply put it is owned and run by women. Besides the managers that do the hiring, the whole operation is run by very kind ladies who treat their teachers like lost children. Then again maybe it is just me because women always treat me like a big kid.
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wow ... I bask in your knowledge ... thank you for the info it is greatly appreciated.
edit: does fifth or heart have a website or info pack ? Googled it but too many matches to sort through.