If not ALTIA, who?

9 comments

1. All suck bro. But any job us what you make it.

   I work for NOVA. They’re hurting so bad for qualified staff I’m only a couple months into the job and do whatever I want. Completwlt ignore the lesson plans. I’m the only person at my branches most days.

   Pay is shit unless you land a unicorn of an eikaiwa job or get brought into the JET program. ALT pays decent but as dispatch your company takes a cut. ALT through the local BOE for best pay.

   You don’t make a career outta teaching English in Japan. You just use it as a cover to acclimate, learn Japanese, and network. At an eikaiwa 50% of clients are older folks just wanting to socialize and maintain their English. Good chance to learn more about Japan and work on cultural skills.

   After a year at an eikaiwa you need to move on to a better job, get married to someone Japanese, or return home.

2. Borderlink and Interac will not make you rich, and there will be annoying things about working with them, but if you brace yourself for some of that and get decent coordinators and a decent placement you can still have a great experience. There are really a lot of variables that affect your experience working with dispatch companies. The more self sufficient you can be, both with Japanese and with teaching, the better your experience will be.

3. JET programme is by far the best.

   Altia is the least rotten of rotten ALT companies- short version is, don’t stay for more than a couple years under a dispatch company.

   It’s hard as hell, but the best use of being with any company is to survive whatever shit they throw at you, level up your own personal skills (whether Japanese skills, get an MA is teaching, or some other form of self-improvement), and try to network… and this is assuming you want to be here for more than a few years. If not, then just come for a year, and enjoy the country while playing kinda nice with whatever company you’re employed by.

4. Get a teaching license and work at an international school

5. Great responses on here, makes me less afraid to branch out and apply to other companies. If anyone has any personal recommendations with good experiences LMK! I honestly couldn’t care less about the pay, I’m doing this for my own self growth and experiences whilst younger and I’m not that used to paying loads for expensive brands or foods etc. anyways.

6. Why not come over and work for a hotel or something instead? Even housekeeping is more glamorous and useful than English teaching.

   There’s places like Niseko in Hokkaido that hire hotel employees from overseas and pay around 4m a year with bonuses and full benefits.

7. S-Tier: Direct hire BOE / JET = Highest pay ranging from 300,000 up. Get paid on time and all year, but you might have less days off compared to other companies.

   A-Tier: Altia / Interac = your probably starting at 240,000 – 270,000, staff is chill and if you get a good placement you’ll have a good time, but you will get prorated on certain months (Interac). You will have summer and winter off.

   B-Tier: Border link = your starting salary will vary between 180,000 – 270,000 depending on your previous employer salary. Their staff is not helpful and if I remember they dont pay summer or winter.

   C-Tier: All other ALT dispatch = race to the bottom, enter at your own sanity.

   Your experience may vary, but this is so far what I have observed. Hope this helps and best of luck on your adventures in Japan.

8. There is nothing left. This is the end times of teaching English in Japan. The wage has hit lows never seen before. Coming here to teach from a first world country is downright dumb.

   JET is probably the last hold out but even then it tip toes with poverty.

9. If you have to come here even if you don’t get on JET, it’s all the same BS. Come here, grind it out for a year while working on making yourself marketable somewhere else, get out.