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Job Opportunities for girlfriend (If I get on Jet)

Dad749

Registered
16 Dec 2015
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Hi there, brand new to the forum. My name is Dallas, I am Canadian, and I have applied for the Jet program for 2016.
A little about me:
-25 years old
-Graduating this spring with a double major-bachelor in applied linguistics/TEFL/TESL

Now this is extremely circumstantial and I am thinking ahead here but..

If I am accepted to participate in the jet programme for 2016, my girlfriend of nearly 5 years will be accompanying me.
She is also Canadian and will be graduating with a bachelors of psychology and a minor in business entrepreneurship, but not until the Fall. For this reason, she was not able to apply for the Jet programme.
She had had not really considered teaching English upon graduation but is certainly willing to if that is her only immediate option. She eventually would like to get into HR/recruiting of some sort, but currently speaks (no) Japanese so she understands that it may not be a realistic option in Japan.

So, I have a few questions: If I am accepted, and we arrive in Japan in August, this means she will not technically have a physical degree until roughly Sept-Oct. She will however, have the ability to obtain some kind of proof of graduation or official transcripts. She plans on applying for a working holiday visa and finding a full-time employer that will sponsor a full work visa.
-How difficult/easy will it be for her to find employment?
-Will she have the option to work part/full time (english cafe/eikaiwa) before actually receiving her degree?

note: none of these factors are really (make it or break it) for her or me. She has substantial savings, so if her only option is to sit around and study Japanese until her degree shows up than so be it.

Just trying to get a feel for what she/us should expect.

Thanks all.
 
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How difficult, you ask. How long is a piece of string? Look, no degree means she is forced to go the WHV route as you said. No spoken Japanese indeed handicaps her further. Can we assume no written or reading ability, too?

She's really only got 3 shots.

1. Use the WHV to get teaching work. Could be FT or PT. if it's in an eikaiwa like most of her odds give, you two will rarely see each other because of conflicting non-overlapping schedules. She'll work till 9pm then spend train time getting home.
2. Use the WHV to work for a rare foreign branch that doesn't require Japanese at all. Very rare.
3. Come on a student visa after getting accepted to a language school.

Confirm JET's willingness to let you two live together.
 
Maybe an internship at a Canadian company or government institution in Japan can be arranged? While maybe not paying, it will at least upgrade her CV :)
 
So, is the general concurrences that It would be a better option for her to find employment once she has her degree and just explore study in the mean time? Are there no worthwhile options for her to work casually/part time in the mean time?

I mean, were only talking a month or two... So nothing long term.
 
Look, we can't make it clearer. No degree means WHV or student visa only (plus a shot at the internship like cocoichi suggested). Period. Even if the two of you were to get married, she'd only be able to work part-time on a dependent visa. Being separated long distance is painful, but having the degree is so key, that I strongly advise waiting for it.

If you/she must, then you've got the options available. Immigration is pretty clear on what it takes to be able to work legally. Besides, from now to fall is almost a year, and that gives plenty of time to begin studying Japanese.

BTW, in your initial post you wrote "currently speaks (no) Japanese". What was the point of parentheses?
 
Makes sense. Like i said, if it all works out and we arrive in August. That only leaves her with a month or two to wait for her degree. Its not at all crucial that she would need to work during that time.
Because we are not married, the whv is the only viable option for her anyway, as it allows for her to later convert to a working visa.
An intership is also something she had considered.

Thanks for the advice.
 
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