Back in Japan - PART TWO - Applying to Interac

So after a few years neither here nor there, muddling through various jobs and playing a lot of FIFA, I finally made it to Japan! In this post I'll go through what it was like to apply to Interac.

Let's jump right in!

I'll format this post as a hypothetical Q&A session - hopefully it's easy to consume :)

Q1 - Why didn't you apply to JET?

Many people hoping to move to Japan are not necessarily going with a specific career in mind. Therefore, it is logical to look for the path of least resistance. One of the easiest ways to get into Japan (if you have a university degree) is to become an English teacher.

We can break down being an English teacher into 3 main categories: ALTs, eikaiwa teachers, and private school teachers, which may include international schools and universities. I think the vast majority of people fit into the first two categories. We'll focus on ALT roles here, with JET the most well-known. JET stands for "Japan Exchange and Teaching" and it's a program run by the Japanese government to supply ALTs (assistant language teachers) to public schools across Japan. From what I've heard, JET used to be relatively easy to get into a while back but as Japan's popularity exploded ten or so years ago, competition for places has increased and it isn't necessarily as easy to get in now.

If you get into JET it can be awesome. The main benefits are that:

• the pay is much better than other ALT jobs
• your pay actually goes up the longer you stay there (up to 5 years max)
• you get your flight reimbursed 
• the local education authority (BoE - Board of Education) will subsidise your housing. 

BUT not only is JET pretty competitive, the application process is fairly long-winded. It'll go roughly like this:

• October to December - Apply online/by mail and send in your supporting documents before the deadline
• January - Get informed that you've made it to interview
• February - Interview at your nearest embassy/consulate
• Late March - Results announced - you find out if you made it or not
• May to July - Placements - you find out where you're being sent to in Japan
• June to July - Pre-Flight Orientation - you need to go back to the embassy for training
• August - you finally fly out to Japan

Obviously, as mentioned above, the benefits are pretty neat if you do get picked, but it also means your life will kinda be in limbo for 6 to 9 months. 

Q2 - What about Interac then?

So with Interac, there isn't so much that cut-off point in December. They accept applications pretty much all-year round because naturally teachers come and go mid-contract for a variety of reasons and have to be replaced. 

So to contrast with JET, here's how my application process went:

• August 16th, 2017: Completed the Interac online application

Pretty straightforward stuff. Took me a day or so just to get everything lined up to type in. You basically need to enter your CV details into their system rather than uploading your own CV. 

• August 21st, 2017: Received email inviting me to interview

They said I passed screening, gave me a link to complete a questionnaire (including a little box to say why I wanted to teach in Japan) and provided me with 6 interview dates to choose from. 

• September 17th, 2017: Attended Interac interview

I spent forever looking online to see what questions might be asked and what pitfalls I should avoid, but in the end it was a very easy interview. The interview was me and another guy along with the interviewer - a really nice British lady. The guy seemed very unprepared and he seemed to struggle even with the stupidly easy grammar test they gave us - I don't know if he passed but I hope not, wouldn't wish that on any school!

The interview itself consisted of a 10 minute slideshow presentation (as in the interviewer had physical A4 sheets of paper and talked about Interac) and then she took us off to one side individually to have a chat. Basically to understand our backgrounds and to double check that we weren't axe-murderers. 

In my case I already indicated that I have a decent level of Japanese and that I'd lived in Japan in the past, so the interviewer rather indiscreetly told me that I'd pretty much passed although she could not give me official confirmation just yet. 

• November 20th, 2017: Receive an offer of employment from Interac

In my case I had some issues with actually getting my referees to respond to requests for references, so it took longer than I had hoped, but finally Interac told me that I got the job and that I should expect to fly out to Japan in mid-March. Compared to JET, it was a very quick turnaround albeit a little bit of radio silence between the interview and the offer, which gave me a slight scare. 

• Mid-December, 2017: Received Offer of Employment letter

I found out I was being sent to Interac Kansai & South Central, which meant I could be sent to Shiga, Kyoto or Shizuoka. I signed the letter and returned it along with a Criminal Background Check. 

• Mid-January, 2018: Visa Application

They gave me a list of items I needed to send to them before they could get my visa documentation in order:

1. two identical ID photos
2. Photocopy of my passport page
3. Updated resume
4. Photocopy of my university diploma
5. Original copy of my university diploma
6. Completed CoE (will explain below) application form

I had already provided most of the above earlier in the process but the CoE (Certificate of Eligibility) is the most important document of all. 

The CoE is basically a document which Interac applies for on your behalf to say "We want to bring this person to Japan as our employee, we vouch for them and we sponsor them". Once you receive your CoE, it's basically a voucher that you take to the Japan Embassy with your passport and they will stick a visa in your passport and then you are officially eligible to work in Japan!

It seemed to take forever for Interac to send the CoE to me, without which I couldn't apply for my visa. I actually had an email from Interac saying that I needed to be in Hamamatsu no later than March 19th 2018, but at that point I hadn't received my CoE so I didn't want to book my flight in case something went wrong at the last minute. After applying for the visa it takes 5 working days so I was definitely sh*tting it.

Eventually I realised that I would have to take a leap of faith and book my flight, because prices started to increase (and Interac doesn't pay for flights). Finally I got my CoE and got my visa about 2 weeks before I was due to fly out.

Q3 - What are your impressions on the application process?

If we're talking about the selection and acceptance process alone, I would say Interac was great. The turnaround felt very fast. Comparing it with JET, it was slightly faster (by a month, maybe?) but the main difference is that you can apply any-time.

As I mentioned, the delay with the visa stuff was a bit of a pain, but that could have happened with JET, too. All in all, relatively smooth and I got my visa before flying out (yes, there are some dodgy companies that will screw you over - Interac isn't one of them).

Q4 - Would you recommend Interac to me?

I'll get into this in another post, but generally - YES! Interac is nowhere near as bad as some people might have you believe.

Q5 - Would you recommend JET over Interac?

You're probably expecting me to say "Obviously yes" but it might not be that clear cut. I personally haven't been on the JET program but I can give you an idea of how it might differ from Interac:

With JET, you are employed directly by the BoEs (Board of Education), which is basically a Japanese education office, responsible for the schools in their jurisdiction. Depending on where you're placed, the BoE staff may not speak very good English, and you may not speak very good Japanese (or any Japanese in many cases). That's obviously a recipe for misunderstanding, confusion and conflict. If someone at the BoE doesn't like you, they could make your life in Japan unpleasant.

With Interac, there is a whole team of Japanese staff (with fantastic English) whose sole role is to facilitate you being able to do a good job. There are also ICs (independent contractors) who are usually older Japanese ladies (also with great English) who are paid by Interac to help you with setting up your housing, utilities, tax stuff, visa stuff, health insurance stuff, and general paperwork at the local city office (Japan loves paperwork for the sake of paperwork).

In my case I could've done it all on my own, but knowing there was an IC only 20 minutes away from me helped me to feel at ease. If anything went wrong, Interac would be on it and the IC could come to the rescue.

Obviously from a financial perspective, JET is far superior to Interac, but money isn't everything! Your sanity is worth something, right? :)