JLPT N4 good enough for temp dispatch/Haken?

Hello everyone,

Little about me:
I recently moved to japan this year. My current Japanese level is N4 (maybe a bit above. Missed the chance to sign up for the N3 this fall but still studying for it regardless). I have a spouse/child of national visa so no work restrictions.

While waiting for a stable job to come thru, I've been looking at temp jobs on sites such at Japan work, town, and baitou. I know some Japanese use these temp haken agencies to make quick cash in a pinch. I have at least 5 Japanese friends and family who have done this.

Now some of these sites list having N4 as the minimum level to have, but I'm wondering if that is really enough? I applied at one haken only to receive an email which had kanji and vocabulary beyond N4 level (i was able to get the gist of it though and my jisho helped). I also received a phone call which was far more difficult than i expected as it was in "business" Japanese, again something that is beyond N4 (the JLPT not having a spoken component doesn't help either). Yet the Job ads specifically say "Gaijin ok" "only basic or N4 Japanese required". These jobs are light labor based (sorting boxes, breaking down stage equipment, stocking shelves overnight) so I assume the actual work doesn't require a high level.

I set up an appoint to register with one (done all thru emails), but I'm worried I won't be able to follow everything during the orientation and registration, let only actual interviews.

Has anyone worked with a temp haken before (not counting english schools)? What level of Japanese do you really need to have in order to work comfortably? Are there english speaking hakens?

Appreciate any feedback.

With N4, I don't think it's enough to work where Japanese is required.

Hove you checked these sites?
https://jobsinjapan.com/
https://gaijinpot.com/

I think one of the core items you've identified is that the JLPT is pretty useless at grading spoken language (IMO) and it is probably in the adverts simply to weed out people that really have no or very low level ability (for example, those that can't read very well).
You might find a company that will take someone on with basic language skills, but most companies will expect you to be able to read/write/speak Japanese even if they have a low formal test result as a filter (and not everyone bothers to sit JLPT tests).

With N4, I don't think it's enough to work where Japanese is required.

Hove you checked these sites?
https://jobsinjapan.com/
https://gaijinpot.com/

The job that called me up was found on jobsinjapan. I have yet to get a single reply on Gaijinpot for any job i've applied for.

On a side night i was able to go to hello work and sign up at my local branch (where no one speaks english) and didn't have any problems. Just had to ask some of the staff to slow down lol. Was harder explaining myself than understanding them to be honest.