Current CIR here. For former CIRs who went on to get another job (non-teaching like J-E translation or other) in Japan afterwards, how is your work-life balance (hours at work, WFH time, pay, vacation, etc.)? Better or worse than while on JET?
I heard a lot of CIRs also tend to go back to their home countries after a few years of other work in Japan due to the realities of Japanese work culture beyond the JET Program? Has anyone found a cushier/more comfortable job in Japan post-CIR?
3 comments
I wasn’t a CIR but I transitioned into the Tokyo corporate world and was rocking 60-70 hour weeks until I bugged out. I was at Rakuten. My wife was at a US pharma company and was working the same hours, so no difference in culture between a foreign and Japanese company. At least from our point of view.
Pay was great though.
I was half CIR half AET so the comparison might be a bit lacking but my work life balance is ages better than it was on JET.
I’m in a job that helps other companies change their way of working, sometimes including reworking work-life imbalances.
I got a job at a very traditional manufacture in Japan. I was averaging over 100 hours a month on overtime so needed to make a change.
Found a position through a foreign firm and jumped ship. Now I get off on time with almost zero OT and double my previous salary.
Other benefits include 5 weeks of PTO, full WFH, amongst other various benefits.
It’s a high-stress job while I’m on the clock, and there are the occasional emergency where I’m pulling longer hours (once or twice a year). I probably wouldn’t be able to manage the stress-tolerance at my current job if I didn’t learn how to grind through my previous job, so I’m thankful I had that experience.
In short, it went from WORSE to WAY better in the span of a couple years post-CIR job. YMMV because I have fantastic management and a small, yet productive, team where we coordinate tasks and time off efficiently.