So I just finished my interact interview.  I have to say for a company that seems to have a bad rep online, the interview was pretty amazing.  I had a great time but I will get to that later.

 First I was later than I wanted to be, I was still on time mind you but I was the last one there. (Damn New Jersey Parking).  We were all let in shortly after I arrived.  Seven people in total, one complete no show. 

First order of business was to talk about our previous trips to Japan, if we had any.  I was surprised that a few of the others had been in Japan for long periods of time.  It ranged from 9 years to one week.  (I was the one who had only been to Japan for one week.  After that we had to take our grammar and personality tests.  The interviewer claimed the personality test held no weight.  The grammar test was basic grammar, easy stuff although I may of misspelled some words.  Nothing to be too considered with though, it wasn’t tough.  Personality test was just weird.   After that we had the presentation which was another waste of time.  However our interviewer was very good and did her best to keep us interested.  It is all stuff you should already know about the company.

After that we went onto the demo lessons.  They were all really good.  The interviewer helped us with the time and everyone did well.  It was fun and we worked great as a group.  I give interact a lot of credit for a fun, well-paced interview.  After the demo lessons we had the q and a portion.  This was not bad however I was under the impression that the instructor did not want us to ask questions.  Big mistake, my q and a was much shorter than everyone else’s.

Overall it was a great experience.  I highly doubt I will make the cut due to my lack of questions and arriving last.  However it was a good time and I highly recommend looking into interac if you want to work in Japan.  Seems like a good company.  Of course I am only speaking on the surface.

Dont worry - generally in japan arrive too early is just as bad as arriving late - mainly because if you arrive too early it makes the other person feel bad for making you wait - so arrive 5mins before the agreed time is fine...

as for having limited questions - as long as you look interested, are listening and making valid contribrutions you will be fine - as you put before...the presentation was a waste of time because it was stuff you should already know... i can guarantee that people would have been asking questions that they should already know because its on the website or these are questions that would normally come later once you get offered the job - some people will ask (when is the start date? how much will i get paid? how do i get my visa? etc)

as for the demo - this is one of the key points because it is used to make the decision back in japan - a group of people will watch it to determine if your teaching style is suitable or adaptable.

I remember at my interview many people were no shows and there was me and one other person - that other person hadnt read the email properly so hadnt prepared a lesson

so im sure you did fine - its actually hard to say whether you'll get the job because interac can sometimes be random...some schools and areas are picky and will have set ideas of the kind of people they want - some schools are racist and only want a white person - some times only white people from america... some schools what you to know some japanese, especially at elementary school because it helps but generally japanese is not needed.

I got the job and i knew no japanese, had never been to asia before and i studied film and TV (but i knew several japanese films not popular outside of japan, i have traveled to other countries alone before, i had some teaching experience at my previous museum job and i volunteered at a youth group) - you have to know how to sell yourself even when you have little to boast about :S

good luck though

Glad to hear you got a good buzz from the interview! I also was in the same boat (currently having a job offer lined up with Interac)...that is, wondering about their 'bad rep' online and such. Oh, well, and I was actually a bit late...like, literally right on time. I was told by one of the other guys that if it wasn't for my aura of mystery when I entered the room, things may have been very different. .........yeah.

In my case, the mistake I thought I made was that I brought up their supposed bad reputation when having a one-on-one with the interviewer. She was pretty cool and almost grateful I told her that there were sites saying things like that. My guess is that Interac may not have been as great before it got financial backing, but again I am no expert. All I know is that I got really good vibes off the interview, and one of the interviewers said to me that she wouldn't be working for Interac if she thought it would be something that'd be unsafe for her children. I thought that was sincere enough (open to skepticism sure, but still...)

Otherwise I found the interview to be enjoyable as well - the other 3 guys I met were really nice and we all went out for a drink afterwards. Never had that happen in other interviews. 

All the best, do let us know how you get on! Like Paul said (and I've since learnt to defer to Paul's authority since he's helped me so much), it seems they can be a bit random, but I'm sure you should be fine!

Thanks I haven't heard back yet due to a issue with my passport photos.  I do hope they accept me.  I had a few other interviews but have not heard a final answer from any company yet.  The waiting game is killing me.

Oh right - well that still does sound somewhat positive, if the only issue thus far is with your passport photos? Yeah, I totally understand what you mean...waiting around here to hear back from short term jobs to give me much needed money for Japan is killing me too...just job waiting and hunting in general can be a real soul destroying process :( but hang in there! 

  Thanks, they finally accepted my pictures so now it's the three week wait to hear back from them ;/.  I should hear back from another school next week and have a few upcoming interviews.  The waiting game sucks so much.  Where were you placed?

That all sounds pretty positive! Minus the waiting game, which does indeed suck. Are the interviews for private schools or with companies?

I haven't been placed yet...I won't get placed/know where I'm going to get placed at least a month before I actually get placed. It will be February since I plan on going in March but if the money situation is really that bad, I may have to delay until August (and I have to decide if I want to delay by the end of this month). Why can't things just be simple in life sometimes?!

Yeah, they are private schools.  Yeah that is a tough decision.  How long did it take them to inform you that you were accepted?

Oh that's pretty cool. Was it hard to get in touch with the private schools and sort out interviews and everything? It took about a couple of weeks for them to get back to me, since I think they had to send off your video to Japan and get them to approve it). But it wasn't much longer than two weeks for me, really. Did they specifically say 3 weeks to you? Hopefully it may be quicker!

Well they said up to three weeks so I was hoping it would be a lot faster.

I contact private schools directly after browsing sites like eslcafe and eslteachersboard

with regards to interac having a bad rep - i would say this is the same with all companies - ive wrote about this before but it really depends what you expect...

some people coming thinking its a working holiday...other treat interac as an agency - the fact is they are a company and their aim is to make money...they do help you out a lot...a lot more than other companies - they are always trying to make things better...they have faults but my pay has always been on time, if there was any problem with pay it was sorted out quickly, communication could be better but this is mostly down to the language barrier, you have to remember that most of the people in the office are not native speakers etc...also you have to remember that japan does things differently to other countries, so sometimes its not the fault of the company.

be prepared to do a lot of waiting - everything in japan is done by paperwork and than computer, meaning it takes twice as long

its better to have more money then not enough, at the same time interac do offer a loan that covers you rent, key money and deposit!

as for them telling you placements - they aim to tell you before you come but that can change when you get here due to contracts with the schools changing

also, if they offer you a place for march and at the last minute you back out, it can damage your chances becuase they put a lot of effort into all the paperwork etc

Yeah, I mean, I'm not buying into the whole bad rep thing. Guessing a few individuals have had bad experiences with them - especially before they went bust and got financial backing as most of the posts date pre-2011. 

I think you're right about how people treat it. Me, I'm trying to treat it as a job and think that is how I will treat it. I take teaching seriously and don't want to be a teacher just to go travelling and exploring (though it is also important for me). They've been pretty good with me so far - giving me rough ideas for when paperwork will come through (already have my CRB which is really useful and should get my CoE in January). I don't mind the waiting really, since I'm taking them for their word that it will get done and it is a while.

I'm not planning on backing out the last minute. I've asked them when the last chance is for me to feasibly decide when to leave - March or August - and that will be in December. Didn't realise that placements can change when you're there, though. Will they change from anywhere to anywhere else or will it be somewhere fairly nearby? Assuming it's completely random though.

I'm glad they offer a loan which covers those things, but I guess I didn't realise that it didn't cover everything for the first two months and you'd need to bring a fair bit of your own money. Probably a mistake on my part since I remembered the interview wrong or misunderstood, and nothing I'm blaming the company for. It just means that it's a lot more pressure to get a short term and fairly well paid job here to help me pay for it. I don't fancy taking out another loan elsewhere to cover expenses else I may be in a bit of a tight spot. How much did you take with you to get by and did you go for the loan as well? Just exploring all my options at the moment.  

Oh, Ohayosensei.com is another great site for finding schools.  They do a newsletter every two weeks and they have job openings across Japan.  I cannot believe how competitve getting a TEFL job in Japan is opposed to places like China.  It really is a frustating prospect but if it works out, I feel it would be an amazing experience.  

Well I just received a offer from Interac.  I am extremely excited and shocked by the speed in which it came.  I am curious though, can I still be made a alternate or denied after this stage? I did not see anything in the letter saying it could happen, but I am a eternal pessimist,

if they have offered you a job it is not guaranteed - it is all down to whether you get paperwork in on time etc. Such as the visa, CRB check etc.

Also in january/february you will be offered a position in a set location, you can turn it down but the more you do this the less chance you will have of securing a job - i accepted my second position because my first was with elementary and i would have hated that - for me i like high school or junior high.

once you have accepted a position its then down to you to get to training in japan - it is at training that you sign the contract - so it is possible the location can change last minute, although this is rare...

just remember that this is an offer and not a contract binding decision - youve still got a way to go yet!

Well, true, but at the moment all the paperwork is on their end as I have done all that I can do now. And, of course, I will get it done on my end absolutely fine. So if they don't offer me a job because of errors on their end (which I doubt will happen as it goes), I will definitely resort to slandering them on the internet, because that is just not on....

Luckily, I already have the CRB done and they've been good at keeping us updated on the CoE. I will e-mail them to check that it is all going to plan, as I think it pays to have e-mail records of things like that.

I asked for high school/junior high too...I think I'd try to take my first or second choice (third at a push) but no more than that since that'd be messing them around.

Oh, okay I know it's not one hundred percent yet but I feel really good about being accepted.  Now I just need to make sure my paper work has no errors.  My main issue is I am going to be living my current job soon so I hope all works out here as I want to leave my current job by December 26.  Paper work is a little confusing but I don't think I will have any major issues.  I informed them I want to accept their offer but did not get a reply email, is that normal?

I wouldn't worry too much...interac have a lot of people changing position, some renewing, some leaving, some are new starters... It's the busiest time of the year until the new contracts start in march/April... 

School contracts are not confirmed until beginning of march for most areas...this is nothing to do with interac, it's to do with the schools and board of educations... Some are quick and some are slow... So no matter what company you go with they cannot guarantee a placement - more or less they offer you a job (at this stage you could be anywhere I might not even get your requested area or even school level)... In January/February they will offer a location - usually this offer is based on the presumption they will get the contract for that area (if they haven't already done so - as I said some areas are quick others are slow to confirm)...it's at this point that you could turn up at training in Japan to find out that you are going to another area, usually this is because of contract problems, school problems etc... You will still have a job, it might be in a different location to what you want (they won't send you home)

Even with errors, they will try and resolve the problem quickly... The only time it can cause problems is your CRB or even VISA. They are not as strict as JET

Ok, thanks for that.  So I guess as long as I get my paperwork in on time I am all set.  I did not put down a prefence of level/area as I was afraid that may hurt my chances of getting a job.

you should be fine...dont worry...

they may ask you about your preference... it might be good to give them some indication of what you want though because it shows you have an interest in the company and teaching rather than just wanting to get to japan - even just to state that you dont have a preference, you work well with all children and all locations have their own benefits...

So, another quick question.  How long did this process take for you guys?  They recevied my documents around two weeks, butt I have yet to hear anything back since than.  I was told they would contact me if they needed any further questions answered or more information.  So I am waiting but of course getting nervous.  Is it normal to wait this long and hear absloutely nothing back?  I don't want to keep pestering them but I need to make sure this works out. 

In early december they ask current teachers to give their managing branch an idea if they will leave, renew in the same location or renew but transfer to a new location...this is to give the company an idea of how many new teachers they will need.

In January they try to get a more definate answer from current teacher - the problem is every branch works on a slightly different time scale due to board of educations making last minute decisions, schools wanting teachers to start later, teachers waiting to hear if they have a transfer before declining their current positions - its basically a very busy time of the year...In February i was still waiting to see if i would get a transfer aproved for Nagoya - problem was Nagoya were still waiting to hear from the Board of Education about contract...then my branch said they needed the answer no later than March 4th...so because i hadnt heard from Nagoya in time i kept my job on - Nagoya contacted me 1 week before I started teaching to say they had confirmed contracts and wanted to offer me a position...

Basically there is a lot of factors to take into consideration...they will know most of the positions around February, which is when you will probably be told - occassionally they will tell you a location before they have contracts confirmed - which is they lose the contract when you get to japan they will say you are going else where...they will try to give you an option but its not always possible...they will also try to contact you in advance if possible.

The same is happening this year - i'm wanting to try for Osaka area again - chances are slim so i'm also holding on to my current position...otherwise i could risk losing on both sides making me unemployed...

so, you should hear something soon - dont worry!

Thanks for the response.  As of now I am still waiting but I am more patient now, so thank you for that. I do hope I get my prefence for being in the south and working with young learners.  Only time will tell.

Hello! I had an interview with Interac as well and just got my placement. Looks like it is going to be Kamisu City in the Ibaraki prefecture. Have you heard yet on your placement?