TEACH ENGLISH IN JAPAN
Interac
Interac, founded in 1972, is Japan’s largest private provider of professional foreign teachers to the Japanese government. They provide teachers for commercial institutions and official government organizations from a variety of countries, including those from the English speaking Caribbean.
As the most popular alternative to JET, Interac offers you the freedom and growth you’re looking for!
Recruitment for Jamaica
Reviews
I spent three years working with Interac, and overall the experience was pretty decent. You’ll notice from other reviews online that it is not the greatest company, I can see that.
Interac is more a gateway to life in Japan. Having weekends off and Public holidays off gives you the opportunity to travel, relax and even do other part-time jobs when you’re ready to hustle. I’d recommend it for anyone that just wants to get their foot in the door.
Jessica
Started with Interac in the Kanto North region in spring of 2018 working in 3 elementary schools. So far the experience is fine as Japan is an interesting country.
I’m currently assigned to the Tokyo branch and they are pretty great with communication and helping out if needed. Work conditions in my case are pretty light (3 classes per day on average). I’d definitely recommend Interac because they make it easy for you to get into Japan and you can find another job if you want to. I wouldn’t say though , that they are the best company salary and benefits wise but you aren’t banned from doing other work. The salary is decent if you have no responsibilities/debts back home. Also upward mobility is limited at least not without knowing the Japanese language which I believe is fair.
Monique
My experience with Interac has been one that’s bittersweet. While residing in Jamaica, I was knowledgeable about two companies that did outsourcing for ALTs in Japan, JET and Interac. I decided to apply for a job with Interac later that year and I was successful.
Upon my arrival in Japan, the bittersweet started. I was excited to start my new journey however I didn’t think my company would expect their employees to be as self-sufficient as I had to be upon arrival. I had to travel from the airport by myself to my final destination with only the guide of a map. This wouldn’t have been an issue under any other circumstance, however as a foreigner travelling to a country for the first time and having two suitcases and a carry-on bag this was the most frustrating thing one could experience. For example, I became lost a few times under the subway and had to climb one flight of stairs multiple times because I couldn’t manage all the suitcases at once.
In April of the following year, I had to relocate because the BOE did not renew their contract with Interac. This process also taught me a lot about how to be self-sufficient and research information independently. My company had offered to “assist” to find housing once more and they wanted me to pay an exorbitant amount of money for housing. For example, they wanted me to pay over 200,000.00 yen to rent an apartment with the company I already had a contract with. I immediately started searching for housing without their help. Therefore I cut out the middle man (Interac) and signed a rental agreement which required approximately 80,000 yen upfront. The irony is, this room was on the same apartment complex my company wanted to “help” me to get. The housing company had a triple zero promotion on their website (the first month was free, no key money or thank you money was necessary). However, my company added all these fees in their calculation. One would think they were just scammers in business suits.
I also became knowledgeable of the fact that the salary offered by the company could have been much better when compared with other outsourcing companies in Japan. However, when you compare the pay grade scale to my country of birth, there’s no denial that Interac is better.
Overall, I haven’t had the worst experience with Interac when compared with other ALTs experiences. However, growth, change and development is definitely needed to classify Interac as one of the best outsourcing companies in comparison to the others.
Manda
目指すべき所に、近道は存在しない。
(Mezasubeki tokoro ni, chikamichi wa sonzai shinai)
There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.
– Beverly Sills