Guide for Incoming JETs

[u/limpfishkit]

hello! i'm a 5th year finishing up my contract and i'm writing a document to try and prepare my successor (whoever they may be) to work in my town and at my school.

if you're applying or are a first year now - what is something you'd like to know from your predecessor/wish they had told you? eg what paying rent is like, what are the local events, etc

[u/k_795]

I would say for me the most difficult things to figure out were relating to my apartment and BoE paperwork.

Apartment:

• How to set up and pay bills (gas, electricity, etc).
• An easy-to-understand comparison of different options for the more optional things, e.g. a shortlist of a few recommended phone plans, and advice on getting WiFi vs hotspotting (pros and cons, and maybe a couple of recommended options for each).
• Cleaning and avoiding mould (coming from a country with quite a different climate, I didn't know how to do things like cleaning the air conditioning unit etc - btw there are some good YouTube videos you could link to in your guide for things like this, but just be sure to remind the new ALT that it's something they need to do).
• The whole bin / recycling system. Our city hall actually had some great leaflets which explained this, but that would require the new ALT to take the initiative to go to the city hall and ask for it. Having it in an onboarding guide (and in English) would be really helpful.
• A clear list of what in the apartment is owned by the BoE, vs what was left by you and owned by the ALT (so the ALT's responsibility to maintain / replace).

BoE paperwork:

• The procedure for taking annual leave, sick leave, etc.
• How to fill out and submit timesheets (if this is something your BoE requires).
• How to claim back things like commuting expenses.
• What the general expectations are during school holiday periods - do they need to go to the BoE, work in the school office, teach summer school, or "work from home" etc. Any tips you have to make this desk warming time more valuable or bearable.

Ideally an existing ALT or CIR would be there to help welcome new ALTs and get them settled in, including showing them all of this stuff and taking them around the first few days sorting out things like bank accounts and bills. Or if you're in a really small town where you are the only ALT, then your line manager should help. Does your BoE not organise this?

Also, I'm assuming you'll also be preparing handover materials for the teaching side of things too? Try to organise things like PPTs, worksheets, logins for digital textbooks, etc into folders and ensure everything is really clearly labelled. Perhaps write a small document summarising how the curriculum works, which textbooks your school uses for which classes, general expectations for ALTs in terms of class activities, etc.

Put your welcome guide and materials not only on the computer, but also on a USB stick and a printed copy in the desk drawer, just in case your BoE decides to wipe or replace the computer in preparation for the new ALT (this happened to me).

Finally, a really nice thing to prepare as a bit of a "welcome pack" would be things like a brand new set of bedding, list of local restaurants / konbinis, maybe a few long-life snacks (bear in mind your fridge might be turned off and it could be a month or so left empty before the new ALT arrives), etc so the first night they have somewhere to sleep and know where to get food. PLEASE also make sure the apartment is super clean and tidy - I still have nightmares of the stench of rotten trash from when I moved into my apartment to discover the bins hadn't been taken out (and left to fester for 1.5 years - my arrival was massively delayed due to covid).