Interac ALT

@nico-chan
I'm bring ...around $4500 I don't know if I will bring all of it with me or leave some behind in the bank and take it out. I just don't feel that comfortable bringing that kind of cash with me.
While I have a date, I still have not heard about housing options and it is making me a bit nervous.

I think Interac recommends travellers check, because it's virtually safe, and redeemable abroad.

Just got my acceptance through today! Barring any unforeseen circumstances, I will be heading to Japan in August! Don't know if I'll get the chance to meet any of you, but best of luck to all of you!

Anyone else still have no placement? I was told to buy my ticket for the 23rd, but I'm pretty wary. I was in this exact same situation with NOVA right before they went under. Had no placement but bought my ticket and then ended up getting totally screwed. I'm not worried about bankruptcy with Interac, but am worried about being stuck as an alternative.

Also still haven't received by Certificate of Eligibility. Anybody know if I can leave without the work visa and have it sent to Japan later?

I'm arriving on the 19th, but havn't received my placement either....but I have applied for my visa (I just have to pick it up tomorrow).

As far as I know, you can still go to Japan without the visa. Interac will help you with that when you get there. Meanwhile you'll be considered a tourist.

I'm just worried about my placement b/c I don't want to be an alternate. Does anyone have experience being an alternate and can say what to expect?

I just bought my ticket for Japan. I am arriving March 19th, but I still do not have my placement yet. I want to know what an alternative is? It seems a couple of people are in the same boat as me. Any feedback on alternatives would be great

Hey, I am an alternate too. It is the only thing that worries me as I don't want to be stuck in the arse-end of nowhere! My plan is to keep on top of Interac so that when somewhere comes up they think of me! I am sending them a revised list of places I'd like to be so they have some more options.

My CofE arrived - just need to get to the Embassy now.

Re: currency, that's a bit of a worry with the exchange rate and all. I am wondering whether to get their 250k yen loan, just to safeguard my English cash against the crappy exchange rate... I will probably take 500 squids worth of travellers cheques just in case though.

I got assigned to work in Tone, Ibaraki and I'm arriving at Narita on March 27 for their training in Tokyo. Does anyone know what the training will cover exactly? It's only four days long, which worries me.

Also, do they help you get from the training to the apartment and help you with the process of renting out an apartment or do they do nothing? I've asked Interac and they said they'd find a place and tell me where that place is during training. I'm not sure if that's as far as they'll go with helping with set-up.

Haha My last post was on page 2! It's been interesting reading, and I'm glad that folk are finding the info they need.

@Blake - Your first pay comes after your second month of working. But It is only equivalent to the first months pay. So your pay at the end of May will be for your work in April. Your pay at the end of June will be for your work in May etc. (They will explain more in your training).

@Jimmy - I can see your point that rural ALTs having to use a car is unfair because we (I have one too) to pay more, but Interac will help you with the costs making it well worth it. If you don't have a car, your on the public transport. Although great, it does hinder your traveling especially when business closes for the day. But it also means you can't get pissed, so there's many factors :)

If you are in a rural area, far from your schools or the public transport is not so great (they canceled the train in my area and the bus is every hour), Interac will set you up with a car rental. This is for my area (Miyagi-ken). If you are in a new area (no previous Interac ALT) then you will get a new sleek black Suzuki WagonR (automatic I'm afraid) to use. If you are replacing an Interac ALT, you will get their sleek black Suzuki WagonR (~2years old) and your name will be put on the original lease.

Again for my area and my contract (not sure if I'm allowed to say but what the hell) you will pay about 30,000yen a month for the car. Interac will refund you about 15,000yen a month plus your fuel allowance to and from your school/s.

That's a fair deal because although you might be able to pick up a cheaper second hand car, with the lease you get insurance, regular services, tire changes, and shaken.

Some ALTs I know found a cheaper deal, but I'm happy with what I've got.

@nico-chan - If you get a car lease though Interac, you don't pay for the first month because Interac haven't paid you yet. You will pay for your second month lease at the end of the second month plus a percentage of the first month lease (33.33%)etc.

@ill l09ic - What's an alternate ALT? Is that just someone without a placement yet? I don't think Interac isn't going under because I got my contract renewal and my local government has issued plans to get an ALT teaching in every elementary school at least once a week. But who knows. Really bad luck with NOVA. I was lucky enough picking Interac over them when they offered.

@schalaislost - I had no teaching experience at all, so I was crapping about only having 4 days training. But don't worry. They will give you lots of advice and let you try to teach some classes or topics to the other trainees. You will be given booklets with pre-set lesson plans. You will hear lots of stories etc. etc. But most of it is contract related. What not to do, company policy etc.

Basically you wont come out of training feeling like a teacher. You will learn through trial and error at your school/s. My advice for training is just to relax and enjoy it. Try to meet lots of folk in your training group. Chances are that most of you will be in the same prefecture. And listen to what everyone has to say.

Transport. Interac put me on a bus from training (with all other ALTs) and then drove me to my area. You will then meet an IC (a local person that is hired part-time by Interac). They will take you everywhere that you need to go that day. They will set up your housing,bank accounts, help you with shopping, drive you to meet your new school and introduce you. They are there to help you fit in. But they are not your doormat. If you need something (at a later date), you phone Interac first and they will organise things.


Also, for all the folk without placements. You have a placement but they don't know where yet. I wasn't told my placement until my third day of training. Interac said that they wanted to see how everyone was like at training first. My branch supplies to elementary, junior and senior high schools, so they said they would place you where they thought best. So, get really involved with training and get involved.

Also, some prefecture governments choose what company get the contracts at the last minute, so some placements aren't known yet. Also there are ALTs that are looking for transfers within the company as well. There's a lot to tackle.

All of my answers are based on my branch and my contract, so they may have changed for new ALTs. Please don't say at your training "Adam said so." :)

Hope this helps, and I'm happy to help out more.

(Apologies for spelling mistakes that you noticed :) )

Hey guys. Its been both exhilarating and comforting reading all your posts. Exhilarating since i am not the only one thats sometimes clueless and comforting to know that some of my doubts have been thwarted for example whether interac was legit or not. This said:
1: Is the COE emailed to everyone and what does it entail?
2: I was told to contact the Interac office (via email i presume) after May 1 to reconfirm my intent to accept their employment offer which was sent to me via email in early march. Does this sound familiar?
I would really appreciate your answers thank you

The job of an ALT is a good one if your outgoing and make yourself easy to get on with. The kids (mainly JHS at Interac) will generally be happy to see you if you show your happy (even pretending) to see them.
Job wise its not difficult and actual hours worked are far better than language schools, maybe 3 or 4 lessons a day average compared with 8 a day at nova (my exp). Get on well with your schools and your contact with the company can be minimal (no bad thing communication is def a weak point for them.)

Also paid summer hols (hence 60percent in august), xmas (hence cut in dec), and spring. As well as a raft of other public holidays.

It seems peole recruited overseas get a different pay deal to those already here, some people may get the 100,000yen bonus and first year some dont.

It is a bit iffy on the basis that they have to win the contract first on a yearly basis to supply ALTs, this year 4 companies were advertising for ALTs but only one company could get the contract and this wasnt finalised until 5 days before the start of the new school year.

So Interac, pays ok but can be topped up with privates and the hours are better than some other ALT companies that I know about but its changing as the market gets saturated with companies vying for the contract.

As for countryside or city, depends on you totally, where-ever you are public transport shuts down just after midnight anyway. so may find yourself having a night in the park next to a drunk naked member of SMAP!!!

Hi,

I'm from New Zealand and have an interview with Interac this week for a 6 month teaching position in Japan.

I have a few questions if people could please shed some light on the $ vs living situation.

Experienced ALTs: What is the average cost of living vs what you get paid each month? Is there a chance to save any money?

With the airfares, set up costs with apartments, key money, furnishings, possible car to buy... How much does this set you back and how much of it can you get back by selling your car,furniture etc at the end of your contract.

I'm hesitant to choose Japan as my first teaching destination because of the large set up costs Interac has made me aware of. I'm also keen to pay back the money spent so I'm square or in profit on my return to New Zealand. is this possible?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers,

Tash

hi. is anyone else waiting for their august placement? i was told a while ago that i had the job and have checked in a few times, but i still have no idea where i am going. i am even more concerned that i haven't received any visa papers yet.

I am also going in august. I just received the application and offer of employment that they need to start my Visa process.

Go to Dave's ESL cafe, Japan forum. There are others who are heading off to Japan for the August 2009 start date =)

Hey, this is for anyone worried about ending up as an alternate.

I came to Japan as an alternate with Interac in october last year, and I was a bit dubious about the whole situation. But as time went on I realised that you get a good deal being an alternate, perhaps even I better one. I didn't get placed untill January, and in that time I basically had 2 months paid holiday! This meant I had a lot more time to get used to living in Japan before I started working, I also got more training and some Japanese lesson while I was waiting. Sometimes they may ask you to cover a sick day for a teacher, or to do ANA testing (where you test the english of ANA flight attendants over the phone) but that didn't happen very often. Also, being an alternate, you sometimes get shorter placements which means you get to experience more of the country and if you get a shitty one you're not stuck in it for a year.

Saying this, although I didn't get placed for 2 months, some people in my group got placed a lot quicker.

Hope this helps!

My son went out in March and didn't receive his placement till he'd been in Narita a couple of weeks and completed training, so you're not in an unusual situation - don't worry.
There's a Facebook site (Interac 2009) where you can "chat" with others in the August intake and share mutual concerns. Other members of the group went to Japan in March - you might be posted to an area near some of them, so it's a useful way of getting to know people before you're posted.

I just had an interview this past weekend with Interac and having read all of your responses has been immensely helpful. The interview went great and the recruiter said my chances were pretty good, so hopefully I'll get an offer in three weeks!
I'm from Florida (US) so I'm hoping for placement anywhere that has four seasons and cold weather for a change. Anyone else interviewing for a March 2010 start date?
Anyone already over there renewing contracts for another year?
Thanks so much for all of the info--I think one of the things I'm looking forward to most is meeting ALTs from all over the world, and you guys have all seemed so friendly that I don't think it'll be hard in my group either!

Hello! I have also applied for a position starting in March 2010, and recently had gone through the interviewing process. My recruiter was amazing! It was definitely a positive experience. I was referred to as a "new Interac ALT" during my personal interview, so I'm quite sure that meant I passed. : D

I had made a request for a place in the Kanto area of Japan. I really hope I can get placed there. I was wondering how many people were given their preference, or if they were given a location relatively close to their request.

Good luck to all of the 2010 Interac hopefuls!

I've worked with Interac/Maxceed for 3 years now. As with any company there is good and bad. I have been fortunate to have many good experiences with the company.
Word of warning though. Watch out for those prorated months April/August/DEC?Jan?
Best wishes to you.