I am currently applying for Altia, and one of their questions is:
‘ 18. Have you ever quit or left a teaching position before the contract term expired? ‘
This is EXACTLY what I did with a previous dispatch company a year ago, when I moved back to the UK with my girlfriend.
Will answering ‘yes’ to this question likely prevent me from getting the job?
If I lie and say no, they can ask my previous employer, and also one of my referees worked at the school where I quit (I could ask for a different referee but this one has already agreed).
My options are:
1 Say yes
2 Lie and say no (would possibly have to change referee, and they have my details for the previous company, although apparently they don’t ask rival companies for references)
Am I overthinking this?
8 comments
Well, you already broke your word with your previous dispatch company, so you may as well try starting off with a new company by lying your way in.
If you wrote on your resume that you worked at another dispatch company and included the dates that you worked there, won’t they know that you broke contact?
If the Ministry of Justice Immigration Police Task Force (IPTF) catches wind of this little escapade of yours from your previous employer, you’re donezo. You abandoned your contracted duty to serve the children of Japan and as a result their education and futures will be directly affected. I wouldn’t be surprised if Interpol is waiting for you to make your next move. Layover in Hong Kong? Say hello to Special Agent Wei Bing Shu. Perhaps you forgot your blood oath you signed and the chants you and your coworkers recited at your Interac training session in the basement boiler room of the APA hotel. In your ALT training manual, on page 57, at the bottom in bold letters: “When you mess with Interac, you mess with Nippon.” Heh, good luck kid.
Curious about why, if you left before, you are coming back. Pay is just as bad at Altia as any other ALT company. The company itself is just as inconvenient to work with. Life doesn’t vary that drastically between ALT companies. Sorry, don’t mean to derail, just currently leaving Altia and don’t know if everyone knows what they’re getting into.
Why do you know so many referees? 😛
1) What was your reason for leaving? Was it just that you wanted to back to the UK with your girlfriend?
2) If the reason is something more… forgivable (family member with COVID – last time to see them alive, etc.), does your **reference** know this reason?
Anyhow, best to be straightforward with it. It may just be something that they ask you about in the interview, or it may be something that strikes you out right off the bat.
It is highly likely they will hold that against you, yes. ALT dispatch companies treat their employees like shit, but they expect loyalty from those employees anyway. This is because ALTs are a dime a dozen and it’s not very hard for them to replace you. At the same time, however, if you quit mid-contract without much notice, it’s hard for them to find a replacement without an interruption in service, and that could hurt their relationship with the client. See, they want you to be a slave to them, but they don’t want to give anything back. That’s the deal.
You really can’t lie because it’s easy for them to find out you lied. So answer honestly, and if you get an interview, explain what happened.
But if I were you, I’d not put all my eggs in one basket, and also try applying elsewhere.
But why anyone would want to work for such a shitty black company in a shitty low paying job, I have no idea. All I can say is, what else did you expect?
Why don’t you try an Eikaiwa?
You have to do what any responsible grown man has to do in our current society: lie and change referee.