Don't let the 5 year contract scare you. If you give them 90 days notice you generally can move on to other Ex-Pat contracts if desired or move back to your home country. The street goes 2 ways though if there is a downsizing or furlough they usually give you 90 days notice before being furloughed. The company may blacklist you in Japan, which generally doesn't happen if you leave early but you may have difficulty if you ever tried to secure employment in Japan. Take any ExPat job 6 months at a time as that is the longest you can ever plan for with medicals, sim checks, line checks, personal and family issues all having an effect. Best of Luck.

Be mindful that with CREW, there is a penalty if you leave the contract within the first year.

Go with Parc. That goes for any contract, anywhere. The only 2 agencies I would ever use would be Parc or Wasinc.

What is your reasoning for this, if you don't mind me asking?

I'm with Crew and am extremely happy with them. I have not had ANY problems in over 2 1/2 years of service with them. I'm sure Parc is good as well, but if you are in the U.S. you should really think of Crew first and then Parc.

Nothing wrong with Crew other than the little restrictions they put in the contract like the 1 year penalty. Not sure why being in the US would make you think of Crew first though. You should go with the best available no matter where you are.

I believe it is for the family coverage on medical insurance. Crew would cover your family, while Parc is individual coverage.

At least that is what I recall from reading these forums in the past... I could be wrong.

Yes, that is the reason. The insurance is the best you can get in the US.

I talked to Alen (at Crew) the other day. We went over my app, times and so on. He said he would send my stuff in but my time is on the low side of what he has seen (6500TT, mostly RJ time, almost 1K jet PIC) also, lots of applications are coming in and not many openings. If I get pick I'll get toss in a sim and do a few pattern, if they like what they see they'll do a full interview. Has this changed? I thought it was just a full 2 day interview if you get picked?

Silver,
That's strange. When I talked to Alan, about 3 weeks ago, he told me it would be the whole enchilada in nrt. Nothing about a prelim sim ride. Maybe it has changed since. Also I have a little less time than you, but he said nothing about it... But I do have some heavy intl time.