This screenshot is from the registration form that you fill in. The only requirements that Interac have is that you have a degree (or are expected to achieve one very soon) and that you have been taught English for 12 years. That means that if you have gone to school in an English speaking country, or gone to an international school which teaches you in English for 12 years then you qualify. This includes primary school, high school, and university. You don't need anything like a TEFL qualification or any teaching experience, though I'm sure it helps.
After this part, you will fill in a detailed application form which asks you to write a personal statement and provide two references, your educational history, your ability with languages, any certificates you may have such as TEFL, work experience, preferences for location and level of school you would like to teach at, and background checks. You must tick boxes stating that you are happy to undergo a drug test, that you have no criminal convictions in the last ten years and that you are aware that some medicines that are legal in the UK/US etc are not legal in Japan.
Please, please do your research if you take any medicine! People have been arrested and deported from Japan because they tried to take adderall and drugs like that into Japan. It does not matter if you are prescribed it in your home country, you will get in a lot of trouble if you take it to Japan. Even pseudoephedrine which is in many cold and flu medicines is not allowed in Japan. Do not take any chances, do your research!
Two days after I submitted this form, I received an email from Interac inviting me to a phone interview. For me this was via Skype, four days after I received the email, but I think some people get a regular phone call. I really don't like phone calls so for me, this was really stressful, but in the end it wasn't too bad. They don't ask you any hard questions, mostly just what you already wrote in your application form. Before this interview, you should read the FAQ on the Interac website and make sure you can sit somewhere quiet and with good reception/wifi so that you can do your best in the phone interview. It should be someone from your local regional office who calls you, so time differences shouldn't be a problem.
Another ten days after my phone interview, I was invited to a face-to-face seminar! I was emailed a list of locations and dates that my regional office will travel to and was able to choose which was best for me. I am in the UK, and the possible locations I was offered were London, York, Leeds, Edinburgh, Preston and Cardiff. I picked a date about 12 days after my seminar invitation email arrived.
Now this is probably the most daunting part of the application and it definitely requires quite a lot of preparation. You must prepare a demo lesson that you will perform on camera. The only person watching for me was the interviewer who gave no feedback at all, so I had to pretend that kids were asking me questions and stuff. I had to state my name and location, read from a short paragraph in English to show my pronunciation was good, then a basic warm up lesson for Primary school children. I read flash cards that said things like 'dog' and woofed, or 'run' whilst running on the spot. It was very embarrassing! Then I had to do a directions lesson aimed at Junior High School kids. I messed up a bit so the interviewer let me do it again. So don't worry too much about getting it perfect. This video will be sent to the head office who make the final decision on whether or not you have been successful.
Other than the demo lesson, the face-to-face seminar is pretty relaxed. You do need to turn up in smart clothes, and I would recommend using the kind of suit you might wear in Japan to show you have done your research. Take out any visible piercings you may have because they will not be allowed in Japan as far as I have been told. Two other people were interviewed at the same seminar as me in Edinburgh, and we all had a chat with the interviewer about Japanese culture. The interviewer told us what to expect and got us to fill out a questionnaire which was part grammar test, part personality test I guess. It asked things like what we would do if there was a family emergency back home, would we leave our job etc. It wasn't very hard. You will be sent an email with more details about what to do during this seminar so don't worry about the preparation until then. There is also a short individual interview. The recruiter I met was very friendly and the whole process was relaxed. It wasn't like they were trying to scare us or make it hard.
At this point you will also have to provide documents for Interac such as your degree certificate, proof of graduation, passport photos, a detailed resume, a criminal background check (Disclosure Scotland for me), and a copy of your driving license if applicable. I do not drive, it is not necessary for working for Interac, though preferred. This is all required in order for your Certificate of Eligibility to be sent to you, so the sooner you sort it, the sooner you can get to the next stage of the process.
Another 12 days passed and I received an email with my Offer of Employment. As you can see, this whole process is pretty quick, especially considering Interac employs so many people from so many different countries. I applied in October, which is a good time to apply if you want to go to Japan the following spring. However, they do accept applications all year round.
I signed the Offer of Employment document and that was me, officially going to Japan to teach English. You have 5 days to decide if you want to accept.
The next part is painfully slow! My offer came in November, and it wasn't until mid January that it was confirmed that I would arrive in Japan in March. Then nearly another month passed until I was told where my placement was, another week to learn what date I should arrive in Japan. I was invited to a facebook group where everyone can talk about various Interac related things and try to find other people placed near them.
In February I was given log-in details for online training, which consists of watching videos, reading documents and answering multiple choice questionnaires. Pretty easy stuff. And finally, my Certificate of Eligibility which allowed me to apply for a visa was sent out via FedEx in mid February, with my arrival date the 22nd March.
Applying for a visa is pretty easy, you just take the CoE to your local consulate with an application form and passport sized photos and they will take your passport and stick the visa onto a page in it. This does take a few days, and you can either come back for it or you can have it posted to you if you live far away. Some places also require a small fee for the visa. For me this was £20.
And now it's 9 days until I get on a plane to go to Japan.
Hello, can you explain the demo lesson a bit more? Is it that you were pretending to carry out a classroom lesson or did you actually have a class of students?
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