Interac/JET working visa questions

Hello,
I have been offered a position with Interac but I am still waiting on the results of my interview with my primary choice, the JET Program. Unfortunately, Interac has been pressuring me to leave at the end of the month, before I get to learn whether or not I will get a position with JET. I am wondering if anyone else has had this experience and what they did about it. Is it easy to break a contract with Interac? Is JET ok with you having a new Japanese work visa upon being offered a position?
Please let me know and thank you in advance.

Best,

-Oliver

http://www.japan-guide.com/forum/quereadisplay.html?0+122956

If you have officially said yes to the offer by Interac, they started the application process for Certificate of Eligibility for you, and if they have obtained it already, you'd be in the same situation as the original poster in the above thread.

If JET offers you a position in the end, they will try to start an CoE application process for you. Before that, you will need to talk to the first one to cancel the CoE which you might already have...

One thing: correct me if I am wrong, but didn't JET and some other English language schools apply for different kinds of work visa for their teachers?

AK, yes, JET Visas are Instructor, while Interac and other eikaiwa are Specialist in Humanities. So the visa is different.

I suggest waiting for JET if that is your first choice; you've done your inteview already, right? Then you should have to wait too much longer for the email; I think April/May. Tell Interac that you can start from June or something; you'll know for sure by then whether you've been accepted or not. Make something up if they're pressuring you; a family illness or what have you. If you've been accepted, they should wait for you, and if they don't, the fact that you've been accepted means that even if you drop out, getting another job with another eikaiwa shouldnt' be a problem.

There are a few problems with accepting Interac and going to Japan now, then getting accepted for JET and quitting Interac, visa issues aside. First, JET isn't very flexible when it comes to applicants being in Japan already; you're still required to join in any and all orientations, including the one held by your embassy in the States before leaving. You must be in Tokyo for Tokyo Orientation, and if you've already moved into an apartment somewhere, there's no guarantee (and really, a small chance) that you could continue to stay there, which means in some cases key money and appliances will have to be paid for AGAIN. That's very expensive for getting an extra few months in Japan! If you can afford it fine, but most people can't. I'm not saying JET (actually CLAIR) can't work with you, but it'll be a bit of a headache. Better to go with the rest of the applicants in July/August.

I guess just ask yourself if it is really worth all the hassle just to get to Japan a little earlier. I suggest waiting at least for the interview results. Once you know if you've been shortlisted or alternated or rejected, your decision will be a lot easier then.