Has anyone ever applied and got hired for a job at the Nex? I would just like to know do they really hire as often as they say they do, how long does it take to get a job offer, and are they flexible with hours, or will it be, the last hired gets the crappy shifts? TIA!

No, its nothing like how your thinking the states opperates, they hire Alot because yokouska is huge, so you probably don't even need prior experience and if you do thats a plus, the hours are pretty flexible, im not sure about the pay , and the job offer if you apply they will get back to you within the week you apply most of the times, i even think you can go to USAJOBS.

I heard they only hire dependents with SOFA status. Is that true? I know at least one non-SOFA family member who wants to get a job, but NEX told him don't even apply.

If you are applying as a US hire yes you need to have SOFA and be command sponsored. But if you have a Japanese visa 3 years and above you can be hired and paid with Japanese yen. The local hire ranges from 950 without experience. With a US hired its around $9-11 I think. As I said more years of experience the higher the pay. They usually get back to you depending on how soon they need the worker and when it comes to the time/flexibility it depends on the contract your signing. If you signed to a flexible schedule then they will put you on different time shifts. While if your on a fixed schedule and days you'll have the same day offs and work schedule.

Thaiguy- I am looking at the application, and they dont ask if you are SOFA sponsored, but it does ask if you can legally work in the US... Im not sure if that still applies since we are in Japan.....

I would love to get a fixed schedule, but I was telling my husband that I am prety sure if I do get hired on, being the newbie, I would get the crappy schedule.

They hire regularly. I applied there this summer and was interviewed within the next two weeks and had a job offer made. Unfortunately, I turned it down because I decided to go back to school instead.

I suggest asking about hours and shifts during the interview (What will my hours be? How are the shifts divided? I love to explore Japan in my off time, occasionally I make overnight trips, how is time off handled?). These are all questions I asked in my interview and the supervisor was more than happy to answer all of my questions. To be fair, I had a job at MWR this summer as well where I neglected to ask about the hours and I was working from 5pm - 2am almost every Friday and Saturday night. No thanks.

The job I applied for had three fixed shifts and they explained to me exactly how it worked, who got the full-time hours and where the flex-workers came in to fill the gaps. I'm bummed I had to turn it down because the department I applied for seemed pretty great and I really liked the supervisor who interviewed me.

Thanks for the advice! You're right, I better ask up front about the hours. I want something part-time, but not at the expense of working wierd hours so that I cant spend time exploring or being home when my family is at school and work...that would suck big time. Well, since they were closed yesterday, I am going to head over there in a few....so we shall see!

I just found out, if you dont have your no-fee passport, you cant apply for a job at the Nex..... when I gave the girls my pasport at the NEX human resources office, they were like um, you need to go to PSD to get a SOFA stamp. I was like, yeah, thats what this is, see" Status of FOrces Agreement". She said, well, if you got this at the airport its not SOFA. SO I was like, ok, Im not going to go back and forth with htis lady, afterall, Im trying to get a job....anyway, I go to PSD this morning, and the really nice passport guy helped me A LOT! He tells me that SOFA stamp and the multiple entry stamp (as we all discussed here before) gets easily confused. So he gets on the phone with legal and several other people to clarify that I am basically covered and I dont need a multilple entry stamp on my passport. He furthered checked to make sure that even without the SOFA stamp, my husbands orders, my FEA letter, and my military ID would suffice. So he calls over to human resources with me there in the office. and he talked to whoever is in charge over there and basically the person on the other line said that the reason for the multiple entry stamp is to cut down on spouses that can provide a military ID, but for some reason, her and her husband are not together anymore....well, that reason just didnt sound right to me....if anything that multiple re-entry stamp pretty much would allow a spouse to stay longer if she was to get separted from her husband. My theory was maybe they know that PSD cannot stamp a tourist passport so to ensure everyone is supposed to be her legit, had to get a no fee passport. BUt that doesnt make sense, because as long as you provide your FEA letter, its all good! I know they have their reasons, but they just dont make sense to me...the only thing I can think of is perhaps there have been cases where the FEA letter has been changed from one persons name to anothers ya know? Like a friend gave her letter to another spouse....so if you think about it, its all a pretty good idea to make extra sure everyone is here the legal way.

FWIW, my wife & I don't have "official" passports. Our SOFA stamps are in our tourist passports. Then we both got new passports, and got the SOFA stamp entered into the new ones. So, it's not that PSD "can't" do it; it's just they don't want to or it's not their policy. (we're in Iwakuni)

Everything you said seems to makes sense: FEA, ID card, etc. ought to be enough. Sounds like too many under-employed bureaucrats there making too many rules to justify their jobs.

Agreed! Even the passport guy at PSD had a baffled look on his face for the reasoning behind wanting a re-entry stamp..... its just one of those things where we try to make sense out of somthing that will never make sense....

GM1sHoney... so did you have to get a stamp from PSD?

My wife also went to apply at the NEX and they told her the same thing. She needed a multiple-entry stamp. She has a tourist passport, and also has the no-fee passport (that was stamped when we arrived at Yokota AFB) with the SOFA stamp. She also has her FEA paperwork, copies of my orders, and her dependent ID. What else should they need?

I talked to HRD (Hospital's liason to PSD) and they were confused too. He said it is run by civilians so they have their own rules and requirements.

I just think that it's a little ridiculous to require some stupid stamp when she has all the required documentation saying she is allowed to live and work here. Kind of frustrating jumping through hoops and all the back and forth for a $7-$8/ hour job.

Well, if your wife has the no-fee with the re-entry stamp, she is good. I am assuming that she must have originally given NEX human resources her tourist passport...all she needs to do is give them her No-fee passport. If she didnt get the multiple re-entry stamp at Yokota, she can easily get one at PSD...... my problem is I only have a tourist passport, and they wont give me the re-entry stamp with a tourist passport- it has to be a no-fee passport. So tomorrow I will stop procrastinating and apply for the no-fee one. It is VERY frustrating jumping through all these hoops for such little pay.

Well she has the no-fee passport, which has some special wording about only being valid to live in Japan because she is a dependent of military or whatever.. it was stamped at Yokota (not sure if that means it has the multiple entry stamp)... or if having the no-fee passport means she can exit/re-enter the country... Either way, they aren't real clear why you need this special stamp.

I called PSD @ 243-8466, and he didn't know either but said to bring in her no-fee passport, ID and FEA and copy of orders and they would take care of the stamp.

Just out of curiosity... how did you get to Japan w/o a no-fee passport? Come as a tourist?

Yeah, I came here on a tourist. I couldnt get a no-fee because you have to be command sponsored and have a FEA letter to justify the reason for issuing a no fee passport to you. THey are really understanding, so they say just come over on your tourist and get a no fee once you get here.

So how exactly to apply for a job in the NEX. i have a permanent visa im pretty sure that counts a lot. thanks for the help

Posted By prityinpink77 on 04-09-2012 8:40 PM
So how exactly to apply for a job in the NEX. i have a permanent visa im pretty sure that counts a lot. thanks for the help

Just curious... what's a permanent visa?  Visa to Japan or to the US?  I've never heard of it.  Thanks

If you have a Japanese permanent residency visa all you have to do is either apply on the job vacancies posted at the main gate office bulletin or go to the building right next to Dennys here in yokosuka. They also have the available jobs online at the cfay website either Japanese or us hired. Goodluck.

hello ThaiGuy. although i am a japanese descendant i am holding a filipino passport so still i will need a visa to come and stay here in japan. there are different kinds of visas and fortunately i was given a permanent one which means i can indefinitely stay here in japan wherein i dont have to apply and renew visa all the time and yet still i can go back to the philippines and stay there indefinitely.

Akakmg thank you for the information. i think i will do that