JET advice needed

[sharpinthefang]

Hi all, i need a bit of advice here.
Heres the sit:

I am currently an alternate for JET, and my referees have been contacted for Interac (so im going to take that as a yes). Thinking positive and that im going to be upgraded for JET leaves me in a dilemma.

My OH (of 5 years) is doing a round the world climbing tour, starting in Aug and finishing in March. He was offered a job in a geological engineering field (which his degree is in) but turned it down to do the tour, and the manager of the company said he would keep my OH in mind for next year but no promises. The long term plan for the pair of us is to emigrate out of the UK. We are used to living apart (our uni's are 200 miles apart) so that not the issue.

JET contract ends in March, if i go home when he finishes, there is every chance that we could both be out of a job. But the pay and reputation are better.

Interac ends when i want it to (to some extent), so come March i could sign up for longer. If he finds a job, i would move back with him to the UK, or if he doesnt, he will join me in Japan and we can look for jobs in Japan/HK/AUS/NZ that much easier. Downside of Interac, less pay (by about £2k) and worse reputation.

What would you guys do? And if i have got any information wrong please let me know!

[Ini]

Jet contract is August to July isn't it?

[jacklostinred]

Jet Contracts are exactly 12 months. If your contract starts on August 4th it will end on August 4th.

Regarding which to go through consider some of the other options. Interac gives you days off at reduced pay when there are no classes whereas with JET you generally need to use vacation days. The wage is lower with interac and you also only work 29.5 hours allowing Interac to avoid paying their half of your government benefits (health care/pension). As an alternate there isn't a guarantee that you will even get upgraded. Have you looked into when Interac would be sending you, will it be this summer/fall or next spring? This is stuff you can and should look into before making a decision.

[sharpinthefang]

Jet Contracts are exactly 12 months. If your contract starts on August 4th it will end on August 4th.

Regarding which to go through consider some of the other options. Interac gives you days off at reduced pay when there are no classes whereas with JET you generally need to use vacation days. The wage is lower with interac and you also only work 29.5 hours allowing Interac to avoid paying their half of your government benefits (health care/pension). As an alternate there isn't a guarantee that you will even get upgraded. Have you looked into when Interac would be sending you, will it be this summer/fall or next spring? This is stuff you can and should look into before making a decision.

Do you know how many hours a week JET's work then? And with Interac, i would be in the August intake. Interac allows me to work a side job, whereas JET don't like you doing that so much. How much extra government benefits would i have to pay with interac?

[Ini]

You don't have to pay anything extra with interac if you don't want to, of course you won't have health care so be careful!
the hours are irrelevant. Your school will expect you to be at work from 8:30-4 everyday, it's just with interac you will get some "breaks" when you are technically not getting paid so it works out at 29.5 hours a week.

[jacklostinred]

Thanks for clearing that up Ini.

Ini is also correct about the hours being irrelevant but for the sake of hours a Jet's contract says 35 hours a week and their employer pays for half of the healthcare. Jet's can't work side jobs unless they are approved, there are exceptions where people inherit an Eikiawa gig and get paid from that but don't expect it.

[mrcharisma]

Assuming you're an alternate who hasn't yet been upgraded, if you get into Jet I'm almost 100% certain your contract won't be ending in March next year. It will be July.

[sharpinthefang]

Assuming you're an alternate who hasn't yet been upgraded, if you get into Jet I'm almost 100% certain your contract won't be ending in March next year. It will be July.

Thank you for confirming the date (you as well Ini), i have not been able to find that out anywhere, not even when i rang the JET UK desk.

[Ini]

Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme UK - Pay and Conditions

[yingyangryder]

Thank you for confirming the date (you as well Ini), i have not been able to find that out anywhere, not even when i rang the JET UK desk.

Seriously? I thought it was common knowledge that the contract starts and ends in August... Well, on paper it ends in August, some people take paid vacation and leave earlier. With regards to hours, it depends on what level you teach. I am contracted 8 - 4, however I arrive at about 7:40 and don`t leave until 5 or 6pm.

[sharpinthefang]

Seriously? I thought it was common knowledge that the contract starts and ends in August... Well, on paper it ends in August, some people take paid vacation and leave earlier. With regards to hours, it depends on what level you teach. I am contracted 8 - 4, however I arrive at about 7:40 and don`t leave until 5 or 6pm.

Ok, thank you.

Another note, is TEFL worth it? I was thinking of applying through this company Accreditation
and doing both the standard and advanced classes in the classroom setting.

[yingyangryder]

I`ve never done a TEFL so idk if it`s worth it but if you get upgraded and come to Japan with JET then you can get a discount on a TEFL I think.

[Page]

I don't think it's worth it to do it in hopes of getting a job but if you get upgraded on JET you can get a voucher (I think it's like $100 something? $120?) to cover part of your costs. The sense I've gotten (I took one because I got the grant but I already have an academic background in teaching) is that it's a good intro to ideas but the online courses (except for the Cambridge one) are a joke in the professional world. Good to have on your resume if you're planning to hop around on programs like Interac/Heart/JET/what-have-you but not worth the money for a maybe, imo.

[greyjoy]

There was one on Groupon a while back that I think I paid $60 for or something like that for a 120 hour online course. The course was normally like $700, which would be a complete waste. I don't think it was too bad of a deal for what I paid, and it might have made the difference in me getting an interview this year. If you get upgraded, though, I wouldn't bother. Everything I've read about the online courses agrees with Page, and even the classroom training offered by that company look like they'll be about equivalent to the Tokyo Orientation if you get in anyway.

[SomePeopleJustSaySnow]

I did a Cambridge month-long intensive (most probably because I lived right next to the centre) and it was... good. It was pretty good. In fact, it was great. It looks nice on a CV, especially if you have some other incidental experience to back it up, and I was taught some pretty interesting things over the course of it, and still keep in contact with some of the other teachers I met on it... plus I was then hired by the language school I took the course at and they provided me with a year and half of pretty solid work, information on the best ways to get local private students and a whole host of other monetary/info-based benefits.

BUT

having worked my way up the company ladder (it was a pretty small company) to the level where I wasn't shooed out of the room at meetings between the owner and the local managers, I managed to glean that because of TEFL courses suddenly becoming a 'cool' thing to do for a recent graduate a number of years ago they now (for my old company at least) barely registered as an impetus for hiring. They were much more interested in actual experience rather than :meta-experience:, and would happily fund people they thought would be great teachers to do such courses in order for them to get the qualifications needed to move up the ladder. If you're going to take the time to take a course, do one that will actually teach you something useful rather than present you with a bit of paper saying 'this guy dun can teach' and then be proactive about building on that experience.

That was a bit more serious than my usual posts and, of course, this is barely relevant to JET... but it should be food for thought. JET doesn't last forever.

[Kdes23]

Wait until the deadline for acceptance forms. If you haven't been upgraded by then, go down the interac route.

Don't give into all the hate and stories that people get with interac. It's largely because they don't baby people like JET does. If you're independent, you do well on your own, you can deal with unexpected situations, you'll be fine.

[Gizmotech]

Wait until the deadline for acceptance forms. If you haven't been upgraded by then, go down the interac route.

Don't give into all the hate and stories that people get with interac. It's largely because they don't baby people like JET does. If you're independent, you do well on your own, you can deal with unexpected situations, you'll be fine.

Word. I've met some VERY happy people on interac during my travels in Japan. I'm actually VERY jealous of their transfer system which I would've gladly taken advantage of ages ago if I worked for them. Many of the "lifers" I've met in Japan have been on interac because seniority matters a bit in that company (unlike jet)

[sharpinthefang]

Thanks for the advice everyone. The poll shows 6 to JET and 2 to Interac. I think i'm going to go with whoever phones me first! I looked at the money side of things, and although Interac pay less and you pay for your flights, the other things about health care and location and longevity make up for it.

Reputation? I have worked for some of the worst companies in the UK, but have always found good people on the local scale.

[SticksPrime]

I looked at the money side of things, and although Interac pay less and you pay for your flights, the other things about health care and location and longevity make up for it.

I was declined at the last stage for JET, then applied for Interac two days later. Just tonight I sent my acceptance to their Offer of Employment for starting in late June/early July. In regards to pay, Interac does pay less on the minimum guaranteed salary but you are also "working" less hours per week. Does anybody know their higher-end of the salary? In regards to the flight, Interac pays "all Interac-related travel costs will be reimbursed". I have confirmed through e-mail that this includes airfare.
As for my two cents, do what suits your situation. If the deadline comes and still no word from JET, then go with Interac if it's still something you want to pursue

[Corvus]

Interac does pay less on the minimum guaranteed salary but you are also "working" less hours per week. Does anybody know their higher-end of the salary? In regards to the flight, Interac pays "all Interac-related travel costs will be reimbursed". I have confirmed through e-mail that this includes airfare.

Really? Unless something has changed, they've never paid for airfare.
Rising Daikon: JET vs Interac: An Objective Comparison

For what its worth, the claims on that link about BOEs being overly controlling seem to be contradicted by several testimonials here.

Edit: An interesting thing I read on the collaborative review's page is that third year+ renewals are supposed to be significantly more difficult on JET; curious to hear testimonials about this.

Statistically speaking, there is a big drop in ALTs after the 2nd year, but that could just as easily be due to the expat tax breaks.