Finding work on a spousal visa?

[bee_york]

Hi everyone, I have a situation that's troubling me greatly. I was accepted for an interview with JET but my husband was rejected. If I make it through and get accepted to JET, I know my husband can come with me on a spousal visa, but how easy/realistic would it be for him to find work? He doesn't speak any Japanese. Is anyone in a similar

Comments

[chocolate_chip]

This is only my anecdata, and I'm definitely no expert on the subject, but for both JETs that I personally know who brought their SO with them, neither SO was able to find full-time work, and this was in a major city. I don't think that should discourage you from taking the interview, though. Get the acceptance first, and then take a good look at the numbers and think about whether or not you'll be able to get by on only your JET income. However, the interviewers will probably ask what you'll do if your husband can't find a job, so you should have an answer ready for that.

[bee_york]

Ooh, I didn't realize they'd ask about that! Thank you very much for the heads-up! :)

[reppu]

I also didn't know anyone who found a full time job, but there are plenty of part time gigs to supplement your income. I had one friend whose wife did work at an English hairdresser, and another who taught kindergarten English classes. If your SO is okay with that setup, it could be fine. I was also in a major city; I can't imagine what the situation would be like in smaller cities, other than getting your own clients for weekly English chats.

[bee_york]

An English hairdresser? Wow, I didn't even know those existed. So cool! Thanks very much for your response.

[starpounce]

I'm in a.. errrr I'm not sure, not inaka, but not urban, city... and I know a few different married couples whose spouses were able to find work. A bunch work for this one preschool, another got a job with a hotel here. It's definitely possible, it just depends a lot on where you are placed.

[bee_york]

The person who worked in the hotel, were they able to speak Japanese? Because my husband unfortunately cannot (though he is working on it, of course).
Thanks very much for the reply.

[starpounce]

Actually.. well, I know she knows basic Japanese, but beyond that I'm not sure, she might know a bit more -- but either way I think(?) she was mainly hired for her English/Spanish skills. (The city in general has a high foreign exchange student population, so the hotel sees a lot of foreign visitors.)

[jupiter_star]

I live near a bit city, but in the inaka, and there are multiple married JETs out here. One who lives in the city (not a huge one but the capitol of the prefecture) had her husband find a full-time job pretty quickly, and they're currently on their second year here so it was pretty recent; the ones in the inaka, including my town, mostly found part-time stuff. However, the one in my town managed to supplement her part-time work at the elementary juku with eikaiwa students and I think at one point a second PT job working for a kindergarten (until family issues meant she had to take a ton of time off). So...based off the other posts here it seems like full-time work is tricky, even though I know of one case where it worked, but part-time appears to be pretty much no problem!

[bee_york]

Part-time is certainly better than nothing, and I'm sure that part-time combined with my full-time salary (assuming I get accepted, of course!) should be enough for both of us (I hope!). Either way, that sounds somewhat more promising. Thank you for the info!

[rainy_day]

I knew a couple in this situation, they ended up staying for more than one year, and the SO made it onto the program in the second ear - a pain since you have to fly home to interview, but it worked for them.

I also knew someone whose husband was able to telecommute/work at home for a company in their home country, which he said was lucrative if a bit lonely.

[bee_york]

Yeah, that certainly sounds lonely. :( My husband is a contract worker here and suggested him staying here but going back and forth between Canada and Japan, but no way could I live like that. :(