I am almost done with my second year at ALTIA CENTRAL. Since there isn’t a lot of information on this rather awesome ALT company, I thought I’d write about a little about my experience.
Me at work
My Background
So why did I end up becoming an ALT?
Well, that’s kind of a long story. I’ll try to keep this short.
I have a Bachelor’s degree in Media Arts and Animation and worked as a 3D animator for five years. I was working in Houston, so a large portion of the animation work was for the oil and gas industry. As some of y’all know, gas prices plummeted in 2015. Awesome! Unless you work in oil and gas.
For a year, I watched engineers and other artists get laid off from the company. For that year, I applied for other animation work because I knew my time would come; if engineers, the bread and butter of the company, were getting laid off, I knew a mere animator didn’t stand a chance. However, layoffs were not happening at just my company, but throughout Houston. There was a flood of people looking for employment. If I wanted to work as an animator, I’d have to move.
Rewind a bit.
When I was younger, I wanted to either be an animator or live in Japan. I read many cool JET blogs in middle and high school and thought it sounded awesome, but as a teenager the idea of moving to a foreign country alone was daunting. So I became an animator.
At the time of these layoffs, I was 28 years old. I had graduated college, worked professionally for a multinational corporation, and lived on my own. I had confidence. AND I still wanted to experience living in Japan.
The Interview
In November, 2015, I applied for a job at ALTIA CENTRAL and I was interviewed by a man named Graham. They don’t interview in every city, but I got lucky. We met in the lobby of a hotel near Bush Intercontinental Airport after I was done with work. The topics for the interview were mostly about why I wanted to go to Japan and why I wanted to teach. He was really nice and easy to chat with. Apparently he thought the same of me, because I was cleared for the Japanese interview.
If you interview for ALTIA in Japan, the English and Japanese interview are done at the same time. If you’re interviewing overseas, the Japanese interview will be on Skype.
The Skype interview was a mess. We got disconnected a few times, there was weird lag and we had to repeat ourselves, but it went well. It’s short and you don’t need to have perfect Japanese. You give a quick self introduction in Japanese and answer a few questions. After this stage, ALTIA contacted me on Christmas eve to inform me they were starting the visa application process. At this point, there was still a small chance I could be turned down, so I continued applying for animation and graphic design work in and out of Houston.
Fateful January
The new year rolled around. Little did I know, 2016 would be a roller coaster.
Shortly after returning to work, I got called into an upstairs office at work. Company people told me about my severance package and I had to sign papers. I was laid off.
I went home in a bit of a daze. Sure, I knew it was coming, but it’s still a shock to suddenly be walked out of the office. I couldn’t even say bye or return to my desk for my things. Coworkers packed everything up for me and I got it all in the lobby the next day. My boss was really nice and treated me to a lunch afterwards. It wasn’t anyone in the office’s fault.
Business is business.
I got really busy applying for unemployment and doing job applications and doing training on Pluralsight’s Digital Tutors to brush up my skills.
About a week later, I heard from ALTIA. They were working on my COE and I was told to get my airplane ticket. I was hired! OMFG I was hired! I was going to have income again!!!
I continued to do what was necessary for my unemployment because I wouldn’t start work until March. Slowly, I sold stuff, boxed up what I was keeping, and moved back into my parents’ house for a couple of weeks before I flew off to Japan.
Nagoya Castle
ALTIA New Hire Training
I arrived at Chubu Centrair Airport in Nagoya the Saturday before Monday training to get over jet lag and also so I could do a little sightseeing. The hotel was in Kanayama. I don’t remember much of my trip from the airport to the hotel other than that I was tired, my bags were heavy, and the path to the hotel was a little confusing.
The next day, I explored a bit. I met a few other new hires and we visited Nagoya Castle. It was fun meeting new people in the same boat as me.
Monday started five days of training. I later learned this is unusual. Most ALT dispatch companies have a day or two of training, if any. ALTIA really does its best to prepare its new ALTs before sending them off into the wild.
This training covered a lot of ground. It was sometimes boring, but I was pretty nervous about the new job and I really appreciate it. We covered self introduction lesson practice, how to put together a basic lesson, review of ALTIA teaching materials, living in Japan, setting up our apartments, and more. It was a lot of information.
Train in Japan
After Training
We received our apartment information and got sent off into the wild with our info packets, keys, and supervisor’s cell phone numbers. One thing I can say is that ALTIA supervisors are very supportive. They were all once ALTs themselves and understand what it’s like to try to settle into your new life and new job in Japan. Don’t abuse their phone numbers, but if you’re in a pinch and don’t understand something, do call.
A Few Notes about ALTIA
- You must buy your own plane ticket to Japan. Outside the JET Program, companies that buy your ticket for you are very rare, so this isn’t anything special.
- Have at least 200,000円 when you come to Japan. You’ll receive your paycheck for April on May 20th, so you’re going to have to live without a paycheck for a while.
- If you’re a driving ALT, ALTIA will provide you with a car. There are two company car plans: Work and Work Plus. The Work plan is very strict. You can only drive on a set course and you can only use the car for work purposes. The company pays for EVERYTHING car related via reimbursement and it is free. If you pick the Work Plus plan, you can use your car as much as you want within a 200km radius around your home. The company takes 8,000円 from your paycheck to help cover insurance and you’re responsible for buying your own gas, but the company will reimburse you for all other expenses.
- If you’re non-driving and take mass transit to work, ALTIA will reimburse you for your commute.
- If you’re a driving ALT, you must get a Japanese drivers’ license within the first year of work. Your international drivers’ license is only good for one year. ALTIA provides a lot of support and will send someone out to help interpret at the DMV.
- Depending on your contract, your summers will be fully paid or 60% pay. In my first city, it was 60% pay, but the company contacted me with money money opportunities in the area. I worked about a week’s worth of days during summer and mostly made up that 40%. Under my current contract, I’m fully paid. The only downside is that I have significantly fewer days off compared to some other cities’ ALTs.
- You have 5 sick days off. These are specifically for sick days, so don’t waste them. Children are cute, but they’re very germy. We get over a month of paid time off during school breaks, so try to use that time for traveling and fun.
My Thoughts Now
After two years and working kindergarten, elementary, and middle school, I think I’m with one of the best ALT companies in Japan.
Unlike some other ALT companies, ALTIA prioritizes quality over quantity. They put a lot of effort into placing ALTs where they want to be (within their range) and provide a lot of training and support. The salary is also higher than many other dispatch companies.
I plan on sticking with ALTIA for the near future. I might begin taking up more art related freelance work on the side in the near future, but ALTIA provides a stable income and 95% of the time my work is done at 4:30. There are long breaks during summer, winter, and spring where I can do extra work or relax. It’s a pretty easy job and I enjoy chatting with everyone at my schools.
If you have any thoughts and questions, please feel free to comment below.
Hi! Just wanted to leave a thanks for your blog post!
Strangely enough I feel our backgrounds are a little similar in the sense that I’m nearing 30, living independently but still wanting to experience living and working in Japan. I’ve also just come out of my graphic design job (although I voluntarily left due to the work environment).
I’ve got my first interview this Saturday and I’m really not sure what to expect. I was rejected from JET twice but after having looked at ALTIA Central I feel it looks to be a company that actually sees you as a person rather than a replaceable asset.
Trying to find blog posts and accounts about AC, especially from 2016 onwards, have been a bit difficult since there doesn’t seem to be a lot so I’m really happy to have found your blog post! Thank you again!
I’m glad you like the post! I noticed that there aren’t many reviews of it back when I applied, so I decided to write this.
ALTIA is a pretty small company. They only hire a few hundred employees a year, so you certainly get more attention. I also like that you get 5 days of new hire training and, though a lot of colleagues hate it, annual professional development in the fall. They seem to really want the ALTs to improve and be good employees.
Good luck at your interview!
Thanks very much! I’ve got my test lesson plan ready!
I think for me I’d really like the new hire training! I’ve got a TEFL qualification but I’d absolutely love to get more training. (I’d have to pass the interviews first… ;))
If you don’t mind, would you be able to share the kinds of questions you were asked in your interview? Did you end up as a driving ALT?
Just got home from work and wrote this super quickly, so sorry if it’s a little rambley.
If you have a TEFL qualification, you have a better starting point than I did.
You’ll look over your lesson plan with the interviewer and they’ll ask you questions about how you’ll explain the activity to the class and such. This part of my interview was a disaster. I had no classroom teaching experience but this isn’t the only thing they’re looking for. That’s what they teach at training.
More emphasis is placed on why you want to go to Japan. Sure, if you go and just stay for one year it’s fine, but they do try to keep turnover low. To do this, they usually look for people who have a real interest in Japan. In my case, I do iaido and already had connections here in Japan. I’ve also traveled here in the past and had an idea of what to expect. Don’t be shy about sharing any hobbies and what you’re looking forward to doing here in Japan.
Other than that, it was standard interview stuff. They asked about my previous work experience, skills, etc. I was also asked about where I’d like to be placed in Japan and whether I wanted to work elementary or junior high school.
Yes, I did get a driving position. You don’t have to drive to be hired, but you do have many more options for placement. 👍
Thanks very much for your reply! I really appreciate your help!
Did you get a position in the place you wanted to be, and the age range you wanted to teach? Did you find it hard to get used to driving in Japan?
Apologies for all the questions!
Don’t worry. I remember what it was like before I made the jump to Japan.
I wanted to be near Seki in Gifu Prefecture and I got placed just south of there in Kakamigahara. Seki doesn’t have a contract with ALTIA.
I wasn’t sure what I wanted to teach and told them anything was good, maybe a little bit of both. I got a position working middle, elementary, and also kindergarten. The latter was only once or twice a month. It was fun. On my current contract, though, I work only middle school, which is now my preferred level if I have to only pick one.
The driving part was easy to get used to; what really tripped me up was the blinker and windshield wiper levers being switched. Using the blinker is reflexive, so this took a good 6 months before I stopped occasionally turning my wipers on instead of signaling. Now I only do it when I’m zombie-level tired and have recently been asked to talk at length about driving in the US.
How are you able to do side work
I started working a part time English-related job one night a week back in 2016. At the time, I had to take some paperwork from the part time job to the visa office and have it the job added to my work visa.
Now I’m married to a Japanese national and don’t have to go through those hoops. ⭐️
What was the Japanese interview like?
Much simpler than I was expecting. They’re not looking for perfect fluency, just that you know some Japanese.
I remember being so nervous about that Skype interview, then finding all that stress unnecessary when I was finished.
Hello, I read your post and was wondering if you ever had to do a demo lesson for them? I made it passed the initial interview and the Japanese one. After those they asked for a demo lesson about myself and it had to be 5 minutes long. I was wondering if you had any tips from your experience doing yours)if you did.)
Hello!
I was told to prepare a self intro demo lesson for the 5 day training session right after coming to Japan. Is that what it’s for? They actually teach you how to do a basic one there, so don’t stress too much.
There are a lot of ways to do one, but to keep it basic:
Make sure you have photos of things you like, your home country/state/city/etc, hobbies, etc. Everyone enjoys seeing pictures and they’re easy to understand. When you present them, sometimes ask “What’s this?” Instead of just telling them.
It’s also a good idea to have some sort of activity planned. This can be a karuta game, or in my case as a JHS teacher, I have a matching quiz sheet for students to do in groups.
I think they’ve changed it. Now they ask for the demo to be filmed and sent to them before/during the application process.
Thank you for your reply!
Ok. In that case have the photos. They should be at least letter/A4 sized and hold them so your face and the picture is visible.
You’ll probably feel silly, but pretend like there are students and instead of just saying “This is~,” ask your fake audience “What is this? That’s right! It’s ___” and stuff. It’s good to make it a little interactive instead of just reciting it.
Hi! I really need your advice on this. I am scheduled to have an interview with ALTIA soon. But I am worried about the Japanese interview because I have VERY basic knowledge about the language. I am studying now and trying to prepare my introduction as well. But can you please give me more details on the interview? Like what questions they might ask? What other preparations should I do? Any things I need to familiarize myself with?
Thank you so much for your reply. Your blog is actually aHUGE HELP for me. Would love to hear from you soon! 🙂
Hello!
I took it a while ago, but it’s just to check that you understand basic Japanese. I came over here with a JLPT N5 certificate and cleared.
At least be able to talk about yourself. Be able to talk about your birthday, where you live, hour hobbies, etc. I studied using the Japanese for Busy People and if you have a basic grasp of the grammar book one you should be fine.
There’re plenty of people who barely speak Japanese in the company, so try to relax.
Hi again!
Thank you so so so much for your reply! I will definitely try to check the book you recommended. I am so nervous because I don’t know what to expect and if I will be able to answer the questions correctly. But, yeah, will do what I can. 🙂 Thanks again!
Hello! I know it was years ago when you applied for Altia, but would you know when they send out the final offers to the job applicants? Thank you!!!
Hi!
I’m looking at Altia Central as an ALT option and it’s been so hard to find any reviews or posts (Thank you so much for this post!)
I understand that this is by no means a job where “your hand is held all the time”, but how does the company help first-time independents? (Do they help in getting the health check/health insurance and bank account set up? Residence Card? Do they support first school visits?)
When I started in 2016, I had to get my initial health check done before going to Japan. As for health insurance, they send you your card.
When I set up my bank account, I mostly did it myself, but I called the company and had them talk to the bank lady a minute one the phone and then tell me what was up when I was confused
As for the Residence Card and pension, my city hall has interpreters for foreigners, so I didn’t contact the company about that.
First school visits depend completely on the city your working in. I’ve had contracts where we only meet the principles of all the schools on the city at a big meeting, then we go to the school for the first time alone. I’ve had cities where my supervisor and I went and visited the school together. It varies.
I hope this helped a little.