So, I interviewed last week and got an email the next day saying I was successful. However, they did not offer me a contract because I do not have a place in the new city yet. He asked me during the interview if I wanted part-time or full-time. I said part-time because I’m on a working holiday visa.
I still haven’t seen any contract, part-time or full-time. He said in the email after the interview, let us know when you get there and we’ll be in touch “once a placement is identified.” I’m young and naive, but “trust me bro” isn’t quite sufficient given I’m moving cities for a job I applied for and “accepted”. What’s to stop them changing their minds after I get there?
He seemed to think I wanted to stay in my current city, yet the job listing was for the city I’m relocating to specifically, and I made it clear in the interview that I was interested in a placement for *that* city. When I emailed back, asking for contract details and pay etc. the recruiter responded with all sorts of numbers and incentives, for full-time, but no actual contract even to look at, let alone sign.
I saved up enough money to last me my stay, so I don’t need the job. A little extra cash never hurts. But this is already exhausting and all I’ve done is accept the job. Is this just how it is or am I right to be sceptical?
14 comments
Ye, dont move unless you have the contract.
There are too many of these jobs available to play stupid games like this. Say no and look elsewhere
It seems to me that scummy companies do this kind of thing. I had a company ask me to sign a contract before even telling me where it was going to be.
Fuck that. I was not desperate, and since I already lived in Japan I needed to know exactly where they wanted me. But that’s what they rely on, desperate people.
Don’t give in and inform them that you cannot relocate until something is given in writing, and a contract stating your place of work, is given to you.
Don’t do it. I have seen topics where people moved and then the contract never came.
The nerve of these companies….never ceases to amaze me.
“Hey, pack your bags and move to this city and we MAY offer you a contract”.
Wild
Please PM me the name of the company so I can avoid it.
Not even one of those signed “intention to hire” papers? Yikes.
Looks like Nova (we know it’s the Nova HR a-holes) are looking for a benchwarmer. When one of the drones suddenly quits in that particular area, they have fresh meat available in the form of the OP. If nobody quits for a while, the OP will be stuffed and Nova will ghost them.
If you have enough money for your stay and you want to move to that city anyway, what do you have to lose?
>He seemed to think I wanted to stay in my current city, yet the job listing was for the city I’m relocating to specifically, and I made it clear in the interview that I was interested in a placement for that city.
From your post, it seems that *you* want to move, and have been looking for a job in the new city.
If I was the recruiter, I’d tell you exactly the same thing. Let me know when you get here, and we’ll find a placement for you. I won’t hold a place just for you to come in and fill up – if someone else from that area becomes available immediately, and you’re not here yet, I’m filling that space with his warm body. After all, there is no guarantee when you’ll get here, or if you’ll ever get here at all.
If it was the opposite; where they need a person in that city, and are asking you to move to fill it, then it’s contract (and possibly financial support for relocation) before moving.
A number of these companies keep a list of “successful” applicants, but they generally perform “just in time” hiring. Only when someone quits, and they have a spot opening up, do they reach out to the next person on their list to fill it. If you aren’t even in the vicinity, I can only guess you’d be right at the bottom of that list.
Ultimately, this is how their revolving door works. If you were already in the new city, they’d tell you the exact same thing. You’re successful, we’ll get in touch when a placement opens up, and you’re added to their list of “successful” candidates, who just sit and wait for someone to quit (or get fired).
Be direct, and let him know that you won’t be committing to a move until the contract is signed. They have nothing to lose – if you don’t move, they can simply hire someone else. But if they don’t come through with the job, you’re stuck in a city where you don’t have a job.
Ask for a contract which stipulates you are contracted to work under the condition that you relocate to wherever by a certain date. If they don’t want to provide that, they are being dicks.
Companies often use something called a ‘memorandum of understanding’ or something like.
It may be the old bait-and-switch. “Now that you’re here, here’s the contract, but we had to change the wage due to *circumstances*. That shouldn’t be a problem, right?”
japanese eikaiwa’s are generally horrible to work at and ran by shady people.
someone expecting you to relocate before you’ve been formally offered a job and contract is insane. you’re wise not to just jump into it. there could be a lot of reasons they’re doing it this way, but one possibility is that they’re going to offer you less money than you’re expecting/they’ve previously said, and they want you to be in a position where you’ve already committed to the job mentally and spent resources/effort/time moving (thus possibly needing the job more desperately) before they hit you with the bad news.