Hey all,
I’m currently an ALT working for a dispatch company. A few weeks ago, they told us they’re not re-contracting with our company next school year. I’ve been very stressed the past 3 weeks. I’ve been job hunting but to no avail. I had an interview with a company I really like but they decided to hire someone else. Maybe because I live too far? It would be an hour and a half commute. I’ve had a few interview requests from other companies but they have poor reviews. Should I just go ahead and interview with them. I currently live in Tokyo and pay almost ¥100,000 in rent a month. I can’t afford to get laid off without a job. What should I do? There’s always BorderLink but I’d rather not work for them. I’m a native English speaker btw. Any advice would help.
29 comments
My sympathies in this difficult time. I really feel that many dispatch did their people dirty this year. Usually people are informed in early December or even late November that they will not be recontracted, leaving them the peak job-hunting season of December for applications, January for interviewing.
I suggest registering with EVERY dispatch agency: Sagen, Borderlink, Cosmo, Interac, DIC, Iware, and more. Tell them you are open to part-time, full-time, substitute positions (with full-time being your preference). Throw the resume out to some Eikaiwa like Shane, and smaller indie ones. Register with agencies such as OBC-Glova that do business English lesson teacher placement. Basically just to get something going on – even if it’s only 100,000 a month – you can build from that.
Suck in your pride and work for Borderlink until something better comes along. Or see it as an opportunity to go home and get some skills and come back in 2-5 years.
If you’re limiting yourself to finding jobs in Tokyo, you have to bite the bullet and be willing to move to a different prefecture. Long-distance relationships suck but being unemployed sucks more. Also, paying that much in rent on a Borderlink salary is constant dread and depression. I’m sure Altia is still hiring, but you’ll likely need to move to somewhere near Aichi
What kind of advice are you expecting? Beggars can’t be choosers. If you can’t afford to get laid off without a job then you should be applying to every company, including the ones you don’t like.
Network and check sites other than gaijinpot.
Carpet bomb your resume to every dispatch agency, sign up on all the foreigner targeted hiring websites (e.g., gaijin pot), and start making trips to any smaller eikaiwa you know about and hand in your resume in person.
Unfortunately you won’t be able to get any high paying positions this late in the game. Scouting for those positions finished and they are about to start working March 1st or April 1st. But there should still be plenty of starter positions available since the borders have been closed for so long. Just get your name out to every single person you can and someone is bound to call back. Don’t limit yourself. And if need be, look for work outside of your area. Plenty of places are hiring just outside of Tokyo. So moving to a cheaper place and getting a new job isn’t too bad of a deal.
Which would you rather, working for BorderLink or being homeless?
At any rate, you’re also going to have to open yourself up to potentially moving. If you can’t, you’d better hope you’re appealing enough that the employer will choose you over all those who WILL move.
Just go for it. You can just leave if it sucks.
There is a company i know that would hire you.
I am however reluctant to write it here because ppl quit on a weekly basis. My friend used to work there. Starting wage is 260,000.
If you want the name you can DM
Sounds like the great Interac massacre of 2022.
Take Borderlink and don’t stop looking for work. You can give two weeks notice at any time.
Work for another company or go home. Those are your only two options.
Yaruki Switch Group is hiring.
Can I ask you something? How much do you know about the yearly cycle of when BOEs hire directly? I mean BOEs not using dispatch ALTs.
Anyway, from your dispatch employer, you get notified if you have an interest to stay or not. But remember it’s also around that time you should explore other rare BOEs that are hiring. Same with private schools.
Sorry, I know with dispatch when something happens, it’s around this month.
Already late, but next time you may…:
https://www.reddit.com/r/ALTinginJapan/comments/qlnhq6/group_3_direct_hire_kanto/
That’s tough… been in your shoes for about 3 weeks. Thankfully my principal was able to negotiate with my renewal contract with the BOE. Was really nervewracking…
> I’ve had a few interview requests from other companies but they have poor reviews. Should I just go ahead and interview with them.
Literally all eikaiwas and dispatch companies have bad reviews because people get worn out and cynical after 6-12 month & dump on them. Staff who’ve enjoyed the experience are less likely to lurk around online, searching for a place to make comments about an old employer (the aggrieved are always the loudest).
End of the day a job’s a job! You can go home if you’re sick of it but if you wanna stay, you’re gonna need to find a job. Approach all interviews with an open mind.
You pay 100k yen for rent and you work for a dispatch ALT LOL. No wonder you can’t afford to get laid off. That’s like half your salary for most people working at interac.
There is a myriad of ALTs waiting to come in. The time to jump into a dispatch ALT gig is over. Consider yourself lucky. Wages are only heading down.
Don’t know if it’s an option and I know you didn’t ask but living somewhere cheaper might be a good idea.
Wow. 100k rent on an alt dispatch salary…
Yeah just apply for every and anything. That’s all you can do
If you have a masters you can probably find a job on jrecin
https://jrecin.jst.go.jp/seek/SeekTop?ln=1
100,000? Mate, I was pulling 5.4m a year at one point in time and I was still only paying 74,000 a month in rent.
Either move or learn a new skill. At most your ALT salary is eating into 50% of your rent.
Do you have a stable visa or do you also need a company to sponsor you? I work for a pretty good online company atm with pretty good pay & no restrictions on picking up outside work like private lessons or whatever, but unfortunately they don’t sponsor visa renewals because it’s freelance contractor work. But if you have your visa through a spouse or PR or something then they’re really great and very flexible.
I’ve read all the replies here, and your post history. Commuting to a job doesn’t work here like it does in the US or Canada. It’s pretty much an unspoken requirement that you live in the general area that you’re teaching. Unless you miraculously get a job that pays you 40 man a month where you’re living now, you WILL have to move. Period. So I strongly suggest you start downsizing and packing. I hope you don’t have much. Getting a moving company will be hard. I’m really sorry your company didn’t let you know sooner that you were being let go. Your company wouldn’t even consider relocating you?
100,000 yen a month in rent for a single person on an ALT salary? You should probably move somewhere cheaper. I pay 80,000 in Central Tokyo for a 1LDK, but you could probably get even cheaper for more out of the way/smaller. As for jobs, try kindergartens. They usually pay 250-300,000 a month and there seem to be a lot of jobs.
I work for them it’s 11 to 8 most of the time
I believe my mother in law’s comoaby can hire. Check international language house yokohama. Have dispatch too
Well there’s always Eikaiwa and the dispatch companies if you’re threatened with destitution
H*art is hiring. People here love to shit on them(and every other dispatch) but I had a good experience for a few years before leaving for a job in a different sector. If you need a contact person send me a dm
Not sure where the bad rep for Borderlink comes from. I am a Borderlink employee and I have had a good experience. They are honest about the pay and the expectations at the interview. we are getting social insurance in October which I’m happy about. The pay isn’t great but it is about the same as Interac. It’s not a career but the job is stress free and pays the bills. Plus they have a lot of positions in Tokyo and now Kawasaki. I would recommend them.