Can you name some decent ALT dispatch (or direct hire) companies other than Borderlink, Interac and Altia Central?

I am a Bachelor in Business Administration graduate with a TEFL certificate specializing in the Young Learners program and am looking forward to starting my career abroad in Japan as an Assistant Language Teacher. I am a Non-Native speaker but the mode of instruction throughout my school and College life has been in the English Language, Could you please name me some ALT dispatch companies or international schools where I can apply?

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P.S. – I applied for Borderlink almost a week ago and I am yet to hear a reply from them.

8 comments
  1. There’s no such thing as a decent dispatch company.

    Also, a few things to burst your bubble: well, you should actually be fine as a non-native, assuming you have at least 12 years of education in English. But more to the point… being an ALT is NOT a career- it’s decent experience at best.

    As for anything international… well, my understanding is that you’d need an actual teaching license from your home country to be even be considered. I’ll just say that I’m one of those crazy ones who has no interest in international or even university teaching, preferring to stay at the JHS/SHS level (despite everything you might hear about that).

    So… if you’re aiming for a dispatch company, you named all the usual ones (Heart is a nightmare, and Joytalk is probably similar)- Altia rarely hires from out-of-country, and Interac is very middle-of-the-road… Borderlink is also shitty. If you can get in via dispatch company, stay for a year and use that time to scout out other possibilities while in Japan. And know Japanese will also help you.

  2. What kind of TEFL certification do you have? If all you have is a beginning level cert, e.g., 120 hours, it’s not really going to make much of a difference. ALT work is all basically entry-level, and considered unskilled in terms of qualifications and experience level. That is, you don’t even really need any kind of certification to be an ALT, since it’s an assistant, not a teaching, position. And without higher education at the BA/MA level, you can’t advance or move up and out of that job.

    That is why most of these ALT jobs are dispatch/temp work, have low pay, and the companies treat the employees like, well, temporary employees that they do not want to invest much in.

    In other words, none of the dispatch companies are good to work for, since none of them really invest in their workforce as they expect very high turnover. So take your pick – they are all basically the same.

    These companies all get a ton of applications, and they hire on their own timeline – in other words, you will hear back from them when you hear back from them.

    You’d do well to keep in mind that this is not a professional context, so you really can’t expect to be treated like a professional nor should you expect them to act professionally.

  3. Hi. Berkley House is a smaller company that does dispatch. There are other smaller companies like Educational Network that advertise jobs with better wages and more responsibility than the average ALT job. They can also sometimes lead to being directly hired. The recruitment process is a little more involved too. Good luck OP

    Edit: don’t listen to the negative Nellies on this thread. Dispatch companies can be terrible but it’s not all of them all of the time. My DMs are open. Feel free to hit me up

  4. Listen to the people in the thread here – dispatch should be your last option. It’s going to wear you out and the commute is not enjoyable in the various extreme weather conditions we get out here, the crowded trains, etc. It gets old fast.

    If I were you, try to lock in a position at a permanent school

  5. A to Z are okay if you wanna live in Nagano. Its an absolutely tiny operation though. I had an interview with them when I was moving back to Japan and they seemed really nice but I couldn’t/didn’t really want to move outside of Kanto.

    The thing is if you don’t speak Japanese or have experience living in Japan, its gonna be a nightmare dealing with these small(er) dispatch places. As much as the big dispatch companies suck, they do have a community of people you can access if you have problems with anything.

    >I am a Non-Native speaker but the mode of instruction throughout my school and College life has been in the English Language

    You won’t get hired as a non-native unless you already have permission to work in Japan.

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