Interac Assistant Language Teacher Reviews

Pros

Met passionate and amazing ALTs from surrounding areas. My schools (not the company) allowed me to leave early so I could go to my second job as an after-school English teacher at a different company.

Cons

You are contracted to be paid for 29.5 hours a week, however you are required to stay at the schools from 8-4 pm. If you leave before 4 pm, you will be subjected to disciplinary action if your school reports you to the company about your early leave of absence. Low salary and a lot of zero communication from management about special assignments for summer term. Management will throw you under the bus to save their reputation with the schools and board of education. Management performs teaching evaluations in two ways: 1) individual evaluation from the company’s head teacher in your region who comes to watch your lesson and 2) a group evaluation from all of the teachers in your city who come watch your lesson. These are a waste of time and only serve as a sales gimmick for the board of education.

Pros

Working with students is so fun. The expectations of each school are different but the schools I've worked at have allowed me a lot of freedom to plan the activities and teach the lessons. There are small number of JTEs who want to maintain full control and just use me as a human tape recorder to repeat after, which is boring and demoralizing, but on the flip side I don't need to do any preparation for those classes. Interac is quite well organized with regard to paperwork and administrative stuff.

Cons

I don't interact with other ALTs or the company much. The company focusses on the needs of the schools and BOEs primarily, since they are the paying customers. As such it can feel a little isolating. ALTs still have to go to the school during scheduled times, even if there are no classes that day, which feels like a waste of time and can be discouraging, and days spent sitting in a school's staffroom really drag.

Pros

Will arrange for general necessities such as housing etc. for you. Will provide translation when necessary. Frequent training events (not always a pro, though).

Cons

LOW PAY. No future career aspects. The company expects ALTs to come for a couple of years, then leave. With a high number of bright-eyed recent grads available from abroad, there's not much need to remedy high turnover rates. If they lose a contract, you must either move or find a new job entirely. One more time: LOW PAY.

Pros

The company acts as a support system for you and can work out problems you may have with a school (hopefully you don't have any). They also mostly leave you alone once your training is over and you're at school. You should have plenty of free time outside of teaching classes.

Cons

Just as there's a chance you get to work at a school that is loving with a friendly atmosphere, there is a chance you could be placed in a problematic school with out-of-control classes and teachers who don't care for you. The pay is pretty low, there are rarely opportunities for additional "allowances," but as long as you don't splurge, you should be able to live comfortably on the salary.

Pros

- Professional company with staff that will work hard to help you with almost any of your needs. - Excellent vacation time thanks to summer vacation (some companies force you to desk warm all summer). - Low but sadly comparable pay to similar positions in Japan, for *likely* less work. - Your responsibilities end at the door. Rarely do you have to take your work home with you.

Cons

- Like every job at this company: each school has wildly different expectations and workloads. Ranging from only a couple hours of work to do every day, to so much to do you’ll need to work overtime. This of course, comes with zero pay difference between the two roles. - Many schools will not be equipped with basic resources for you to use like a computer with internet, let alone a computer at all. - Requires filling out of tedious timesheets (as requested by the BoE). - The company doesn’t really have a clue how well or poorly you’re doing at your schools. Most Japanese teachers wouldn’t say anything bad about the worst of people (because of the culture), so hearing nice things about their employees are the norm. This means from a management perspective, all their employees kind of look the same to them.

Pros

・Pays for transportation expenses ・Staff and students at the local schools are nice

Cons

・Pay is extremely low ・No sick days. Only 10 days of paid time off and are required to take one of the days if you are sick. If you run out of days off, you just won't get paid. Interac already decides when you are to take 5 of those 10 days off. You have no control over those days. ・It's difficult to communicate with the teachers if you can't speak Japanese. ・The last weeks of the contract are not paid, so if you choose to renew your contract for the next school year, you can expect to barely have enough to survive bills and expenses in April ・Interac does not pay you back for any expenses on school materials. If you want to buy teaching materials to help increase the quality of your lessons, it must be out of pocket or just whatever is provide for you at your school(s)

Pros

They are good if your not going to be mentally sick dealing with problems from school

Cons

You have be in good mental health even it takes you to dignity your self emotions drastically

Pros

They take care of you from the beginning - find an apartment, set up phone and utilities, etc. Each area has coordinators who will help you with anything work or non-work related stuff. They pay on time and you're good to do whatever you like outside of your working hours. Honestly I had good experience with them. They bumped my pay when I asked for it when my school/student did so well at an English contest. They provide trainings which is good if you're a beginner. There are opportunities to become a head teacher or trainer which is a plus.

Cons

Low pay for Japan especially if you're living in Tokyo.

Pros

- very supportive management (depends on what branchc you are) - my head teacher is the best (again, it's a case to case basis) - pay (at least for me) is enough to pay bills back home and here in Japan, and also travel or do things on the side - in contrary to what I mostly read here, I think there's possible career growth for ALTs - kind and very caring japanese staff - there's trainings online and offline for teachers - long summer and winter vacation (both paid)

Cons

- sudden changes in the schedule due to special assignments or online classes (I experienced having online classes and special assignment in the SAME day) - April and May are pro rated (but it was manageable for me; I was able to enjoy Spring vacation, all bills paid both here and back home) - one time I had to be rushed to the hospital due to vomiting (it started after eating school lunch) in which I had to leave before my official time out (TO is 4:30 and we left the school at 4:15), the next day I received an email from them saying that I will be deducted because I left the school early that day. I was trying to negotiate it with them that it was an emergency but to no success. (I personally believe that's unreasonable) - aside from that, I did not have any issues with them

Pros

- Extensive holidays - Creative freedom - No overtime - They work with lots of schools, so a generally higher chance for a closer placement

Cons

- Relatively low base pay - Schools vary in terms of resources and attitudes toward English education - Prorated pay, meaning some months are paid significantly lower than others