I apologize if this question has come up before, but I really wanted to hear the opinons of people who might have dealt with something like this before.
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Basically, I’m brand new in Japan. I’ve been living and working here at an eikaiwa for about 2 months. Between the schedule, one of my coworkers, and some other shit the company is trying to pull regarding my pay, I’m already asking myself how I’m gonna put up with this for a year. I feel like a quitter for saying this honestly.
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Meanwhile, I see some postings for ALT work, immediate start, in the part of Japan that I wanted to move to after this contract anyway. I think ALT work would be right up my alley, as I most enjoy working with junior high/high school students already. It looks tempting, so I have a few questions.
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* How bad is it to leave this contract early if I give, say, a month or two notice?
* Would the ALT company possibly find it sketchy that I’m trying to leave a contract so early?
* As someone practically brand new in Japan, would it be too much of a hassle/not worth it to move to a different prefecture and get settled in all over again?
* Am I out of my mind for thinking about this?
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There are some costs I still have to settle with my company (cost of hotels I stayed in before I could get my apartment) but honestly I wouldn’t feel sad if I just had to pay them the rest as a lump sum. Besides that, the logistics of moving seems daunting, but the new company would help with that anyway.
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This all depends on if I even apply, and manage to get an interview and subsequent job offer. But I’m kind of thinking of going for it. If anyone could alert me to any potential consquences/problems that may arise I’d hugely appreciate it. I guess my main question now is, should I even try?
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Screw the company. Never be loyal to a company.
If you can get hired as an ALT it is probably a much better gig. I was an ALT decades ago, on JET.
Your main problem is going to be your visa. Sorry, I don’t have any specific information to give you, as mine was sorted out for me. Good luck.
Just prepare what you need to before you announce your leave, the Eikaiwas don’t give a shit about you and are dispensable.
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I think you need to do what’s going to make you happy, and if it’s leaving the Eikawa then do be it. Life’s too short to give a shit about something or someone who doesn’t give a shit about you. One month notice is more than enough, but do check your contract just to be careful. Some companies do try to pull a fast one sometimes. Moving can be stressful same with changing jobs, but you’ve been here two months so how much stuff could you possibly have? What’s the new prefecture?
You are deep in the doldrums of culture shock. The honeymoon phase is over and now everything sucks. That’s normal. Ride it out.
I’m not saying stay at the job. If something better comes along, take it. But just keep in mind that you might be putting off your adjustment period after culture shock if you do.
It never hurts to apply and go to the interview. It’s as much of a chance for the company to find out about you, as it is for you to learn about them and see if they are worth jumping to.
Of course, they’re not going to be upfront about most things, and things up until signing your contract can all change. So it can be hard to tell, but it might help sometimes to just apply and see where it goes.
Definitely expect the company to ask you if you have completed your current contract and related questions. I almost always got asked this question during my interviews.
Do what you you want to. But be aware there’s probably a 50% chance the next company will be just as bad, ALT work or not
(Ive been living in Japan 16 years, teaching English mainly at different Eikaiwas around Tokyo/Yokohama)
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How bad is it to leave this contract early if I give, say, a month or two notice?
– Ironically if you leave early enough the story of you being smart enough to bail on a bad (“black”) company becomes believable. However this is dependant on the individual hearing the story. I would say go for it, and simply explain that the company you worked for was not treating you well. “Black companies” (who treat workers badly) are a real thing here and whether yours is or not, you can tell the story that way. A month or two’s notice is plenty.
Would the ALT company possibly find it sketchy that I’m trying to leave a contract so early?
– I have never worked ALT, but in the english teaching community they do not have the best reputation for sketchiness themselves. If you are reasonably sure that you will get what you need in salary and situation, then you will probably be okay. In any case, contact them if you can and secure the job before giving notice at the previous place. _I highly recommend getting the ALT company to commit to their job offer before quitting the old place!_
As someone practically brand new in Japan, would it be too much of a hassle/not worth it to move to a different prefecture and get settled in all over again?
-As long as you can navigate the ward office and the visa stuff (I suggest a native speaker help you, maybe from the new company), it is not really that much hassle. You probably have a work visa now, so if you can complete the move before that visa needs to be renewed it will just be minor annoyance. The only other big thing is new bank accounts, but that should be facilitated by your new employer as well.
Am I out of my mind for thinking about this?
– No way. Fight for what you want and remember that the glory days of English teaching are gone. the industry now treats teachers like crap and too many people just take it because they are afraid to jeapordize their situation. If you have a confirmed chance, go for it.
The grass is often greener on the other side.
With everything in life, there are upsides and downsides. It is no different for eikaiwa work, or ALT work.
Just how different were your perception(s) of eikaiwa work, vs reality? Similarly, you might need to be aware that your perception(s) of ALT work could be quite different from reality.
Make sure you’re aware of both the upsides/downsides of what you’re getting into. ALT work isn’t a bed of roses either; the biggest downside would be there is usually no job security aside from the current year’s contract. All dispatch companies have a clause in their employment contracts, that your employment is conditional upon their contract with the Board of Education (BOE) you are assigned to. If they lose that BOE, your employment with them is over too (unless they redeploy you to another BOE/area). A number of ALTs also have to deal with “substitute” assignments (which in some cases can be assigned by phone anytime from 7.20am each morning)… some dispatch companies do not pay your transport costs. Some ALTs have a “regular school”… while others teach in 2-4 different schools every week. I’ve heard, for this year, some ALTs are assigned to 2 schools in a single day.
If it’s a reasonably large ALT company, they would be aware of the visa restrictions. They’ll help you with the switch, but until you are switched, you won’t be allowed to work for them. A change of your status of residence (visa) can take anything between 2 to 6 weeks, so if you’ve left your eikaiwa during this period, it could mean that you have no income for that period of time.
Most of the time, moving is pretty expensive in Japan – usually from the upfront cost (deposits/key money/agent fees/etc). Just make sure you have a good idea how much it could cost you before you pull the trigger.
>How bad is it to leave this contract early if I give, say, a month or two notice?
Perfectly legal. You can actually get away with two weeks.
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>Would the ALT company possibly find it sketchy that I’m trying to leave a contract so early?
Yes. Depending on how desperate they are for their Urgent Hire, they might let it slide, but probably not if you left after 2 months.
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>As someone practically brand new in Japan, would it be too much of a hassle/not worth it to move to a different prefecture and get settled in all over again?
It depends how much money you have. The actual moving process is relatively painless: A trip to your current city hall, buying the apartment, a trip to your new city hall. A few more trips if you have a driver’s license or something else. Not bad at all.
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>Am I out of my mind for thinking about this?
Nope, we have this thread every week or two.
From someone who has done this, some small tips.
-make sure you have your next job already lined up
-be ready to move by the time you announce you’re leaving
-dont tell them about your next job
-announce your plans to leave just after you receive your last month’s pay
When I returned to Japan, I ended up in a shit eikaiwa in BFE Ibaraki. It was misery, but I also knew that there was better stuff out there, since I’d lived in Japan before. I jumped ship after about three months. I gave them a one month notice. I got a response from the president telling me to be ready to move out by the weekend. If I wanted my pay I’d have to go to their head office in Asahi, Chiba one month later. When I asked if they could transfer it to my bank account, the guy got super hostile and basically said I was lucky he wasn’t pursuing legal action. The company sucked, so unsurprisingly the president was a dick.
Luckily I already had my next job lined up and my new boss helped me get an apartment lined up within a week. I was super lucky, but I could’ve been up shit creek if I wasn’t prepared. Make sure you’re financially, physically, and mentally ready to bounce once you drop that notice.
Edit: also keep in mind, until you get that job offer, you can still back out of anything at any time. You’re not beholden to taking the job just because you started down that path
Apply for the new job. Once you get it make sure you have a new place to live or at least something booked online. As soon as you get your paycheck leave and call in sick the next day. A few days later tell them you quit.
I do not understand what you are saying about money. Do you owe them money because they purchased a plane tix and got you a visa?
A tip for moving; if you have furniture it may be cheaper to try and sell it and buy new stuff in the new prefecture. Moving companies can be expensive. When I moved last year, it cost us about ¥45,000 to move about an hour away in the same prefecture. Mind you I’m married and we have a whole apartment worth of furniture. ¥45,000 was a reasonable price. If you use a mover DO NOT ACCEPT THEIR FIRST PRICE. Especially any time in the next few months is not peak for them, so you can get a better deal.
As many people have said, make sure the job is 100% before putting in your resignation. Make sure you’re financially prepared.
I personally wouldn’t put in my resignation till your change of visa comes in. By law you only need to give them two weeks, but if you don’t have the correct visa for eikaiwa work, then it’s illegal for you work, so they can’t force you.
Your current company sound like dicks. They’ll probably tax you a lot of money for leaving before contract ends, but stand firm. You may lose your last months pay depending on your living situation (apartment via company?).
What dispatch company are you looking to apply for as an ALT. Some are shit, so it’s good to know what you’re getting in to.
This is going to get downvoted, but since you are asking I’ll give my two cents: Leaving the company that sponsored your visa after only two months is flakey and irresponsible and will make any potential employer raise an eyebrow about your character and ability to work. If I were hiring and saw that you had left your visa-sponsoring job so quickly I would immediately bin your application. You wouldn’t be worth risking the resources to hire and train you.
Sounds like you’re having a hard time. As others have said, just be aware that ALT can be sketchy too. Your relationship with the main Japanese teacher you work with becomes really important, and if it’s not good then you won’t have a good time. Some JTEs want to collaborate with you and develop great lessons together, others just want you to be their read from the textbook, mark tests and essays robot. Personally having done more eikaiwa but a little ALT stuff here and there, I prefer eikaiwa because I’m the sole teacher in the classroom and while certainly the manager and parents can tell me what to do, in the classroom I can generally decide how to teach the lessons myself. Also the much smaller class sizes. Anyway, I think if it sounds better to you then go for it, but just remember that you won’t be the main teacher anymore, you will be the main teacher’s assistant, and so you’ll have a more direct boss who is almost always in the classroom with you and such.
Consequences? You’ll never work for this eikaiwa company again unless they’re over a barrel in terms of getting new people.
Hardly a consequence considering you want to leave.
Send in your resume, just make sure you know what the salary of the ALT position and the costs in the area you want to move to are.
> How bad is it to leave this contract early if I give, say, a month or two notice?
Not bad at all, particularly if it’s a big eikaiwa or something. I did it to Nova and used them as a springboard. So what? People leave jobs all the time… no employer owns you.
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I know that Winbe/Kids Duo are hiring, apparently need staff according to a friend.
>I’m already asking myself how I’m gonna put up with this for a year
>I feel like a quitter
You see that there’s something wrong and want to bail early. Just prudence, I think.
>I’m kind of thinking of going for it.
Go for it. If you’re okay with staying in a dorm setting for a bit, there are sharehouses and hostels where you can hunker down until your money gets to where it needs to be. Craigslist is good for roommate things too. I dunno what the terms of paying back your startup costs are, but if they’ll probs just deduct it from your paycheck (hopefully you don’t owe more than you’ll be paid).