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ShefRich
Joined: 28 Jan 2008
Posts: 11
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 Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2008 9:15 am Post subject: Interview plan... |
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I've got a few interviews coming up (Interac, Aeon, Geos), if you guys could breaze over my prep and see if there's anything I've missed. Like-wise other interviewees can use my list as a reference themselves.
Dress - smart, slightly convservative (no fancy ties/shirt). Fresh hair cut, clean shaven.
Attitude - fun, excited, genuinely interested, compliant.
Interview
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Why teach in Japan?
* Enojy and done a lot of traveling, have worked abroad previously, enjoy sharing culture, fascination with japan etc etc.
* Want to learn Japanense... Enojy Japanese language...
* Interest in pursueing teaching as a career
* Have friends who've been ALTs and have enjoyed it...
* Like to present myself with interesting challenges.
What do you know/like about Japan?
* Culture (Language, Cuisine, Anime, Gaming (nintendo), Martial arts, Archetecture, beautiful country.)
* Famous People (Akira Kurosawa, Shigera Miyamoto, Yasuo Fukuda (PM))
* Places (Yakushima, Horyu-Ji, Himeij Castle, National Diet in Tokyo.)
Questions for them....
* What help do I receive in settleing in? Bank? Accom? Language learning? Culture shock (grocery shopping)? etc.
I haven't done much prep with compentency based evidence yet, because I really don't have much teaching experience so it's proving difficult to prepare for that kind of question.
Lesson
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*Use colourful cards, keep it fun/happy/big-stupid-smile, show excitement and spread excitement.
*Stay relaxed, most people seem to *beep* up their lesson and get in anyway.
I know people recommend songs/grammar chants - but I doubt I can bring myself to pull that kind of stuff off authentically.
Cheers
Rich |
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Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
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| Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2008 11:40 am Post subject: Re: Interview plan... |
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| ShefRich wrote: |
| Dress - smart, slightly convservative (no fancy ties/shirt). Fresh hair cut, clean shaven. |
You actually had to put this on a list?
| Quote: |
Interview
-------------
Why teach in Japan?
* Enojy and done a lot of traveling, have worked abroad previously, enjoy sharing culture, fascination with japan etc etc.
* Want to learn Japanense... Enojy Japanese language...
* Interest in pursueing teaching as a career
* Have friends who've been ALTs and have enjoyed it...
* Like to present myself with interesting challenges. |
Expect follow up questions such as...
What does traveling have to do with teaching in Japan?
What exactly is your "fascination" with Japan etc etc?"
What is your "interest" in pursuing teaching as a career, since AEON, GEOS, and Interac don't actually prepare you for that?
What did your ALT friends enjoy that interested you?
Define "interesting challenges" and how you plan to overcome them.
Don't expect a school that offers English conversation to Japanese people to help you learn Japanese. You are here to teach, not learn. Sounds harsh, and yes, some employers will help in that respect, but the less they have to, the easier it is on them.
| Quote: |
What do you know/like about Japan?
* Culture (Language, Cuisine, Anime, Gaming (nintendo), Martial arts, Archetecture, beautiful country.)
* Famous People (Akira Kurosawa, Shigera Miyamoto, Yasuo Fukuda (PM))
* Places (Yakushima, Horyu-Ji, Himeij Castle, National Diet in Tokyo.) |
Leave out the anime and gaming. Like and Know are 2 totally different things. Explain them here as they pertain to your other items, before you do anything in an interview.
| Quote: |
Questions for them....
* What help do I receive in settleing in? Bank? Accom? Language learning? Culture shock (grocery shopping)? etc. |
Expect the employer to set up a bank account for you. Yes, determine what they do for housing (some only help you find it, while others provide it furnished). Don't expect a whit of help in culture shock or (gasp!) grocery shopping! Your interview and resume will help them determine whether you will have much culture shock. Too much, and they will pass. Shopping help??!! See ya later. |
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ShefRich
Joined: 28 Jan 2008
Posts: 11
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| Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2008 11:50 am Post subject: Re: Interview plan... |
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| Glenski wrote: |
| ShefRich wrote: |
| Dress - smart, slightly convservative (no fancy ties/shirt). Fresh hair cut, clean shaven. |
You actually had to put this on a list? |
The idea was to find out if anyone had a different story to tell. Usually I go to interviews in fancy suits because they help you stand out, but the consensus here seems to be that plain suits are better for this purpose....
| Quote: |
Questions for them....
* What help do I receive in settleing in? Bank? Accom? Language learning? Culture shock (grocery shopping)? etc. |
Expect the employer to set up a bank account for you. Yes, determine what they do for housing (some only help you find it, while others provide it furnished). Don't expect a whit of help in culture shock or (gasp!) grocery shopping! Your interview and resume will help them determine whether you will have much culture shock. Too much, and they will pass. Shopping help??!! See ya later.[/quote]
The idea here was if they were to ask me a question this is what I'd ask. I pulled this from a guy's website who claimed to work as an x-JET interviewing wannabe JETs and he gave this as a "good question" to ask.
The truth of it to me doesn't matter, I'm just looking for a useful question to ask for the sake of the reviewer.... Do you have a suggestion?
Thanks for the critique, I'm working on tightening it up now...
Rich |
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Inflames
Joined: 02 Apr 2006
Posts: 486
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| Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2008 2:15 pm Post subject: Re: Interview plan... |
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| ShefRich wrote: |
| Glenski wrote: |
| ShefRich wrote: |
Questions for them....
* What help do I receive in settleing in? Bank? Accom? Language learning? Culture shock (grocery shopping)? etc. |
Expect the employer to set up a bank account for you. Yes, determine what they do for housing (some only help you find it, while others provide it furnished). Don't expect a whit of help in culture shock or (gasp!) grocery shopping! Your interview and resume will help them determine whether you will have much culture shock. Too much, and they will pass. Shopping help??!! See ya later. |
The idea here was if they were to ask me a question this is what I'd ask. I pulled this from a guy's website who claimed to work as an x-JET interviewing wannabe JETs and he gave this as a "good question" to ask.
The truth of it to me doesn't matter, I'm just looking for a useful question to ask for the sake of the reviewer.... Do you have a suggestion?
Rich |
Honestly I would recommend going to the interview, going with the flow there, then asking a question off of that. I think many things are clear from their websites. At my NOVA interview I asked some question about a phone line in the apartment (seems dumb but in Japan a phone line costs 36,000 yen, or you can rent) and the interviewer made clear that he understood why I asked the question (by pointing out the price of the line). In interviews since then I've only asked teaching related questions (even if it was just about their curriculum and their textbooks).
If you need something to ask about, I would ask about support; however, I would phrase it differently. I might say something like "I understand that staff at the school can also provide help for me, such as if I receive a notice and need it translated. However, I am aware that this is not a primary responsibility of the staff and I don't want to impede their ability to preform their primary duties. Realistically speaking, how would a request to translate something, say a notice from my apartment building about something, be taken by the staff?" |
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Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
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| Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2008 8:56 pm Post subject: |
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I would never ask what the school can do for me in terms of daily support (especially that translation thing). They don't expect foreigners to know Japanese, and they are probably experienced in dealing with such requests as the come up in life, but to ask that during the interview shows weakness and dependency. Don't. (Besids, that whole question was so darned long, and the language was too high level for most Japanese business managers.)
Ask what the school provides for housing. Period. Expect them to say you have an apartment furnished X km away, or that they will say they only help you find one and serve as guarantor. Nothing more, but at least you know which one. |
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worldwide_soul
Joined: 12 Nov 2007
Posts: 16
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| Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2008 12:24 pm Post subject: |
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| Just wanted to add in a quick little thing here - I don't have any input on the rest of it, but in terms of the question about what your school can do for you in terms of support, Interac has a stance that you should not be asking your school(s) for any help with translation or daily life situations. Obviously this is open to interpretation, but what you are officially supposed to do is to fax them any items for translation, and ask them for any help you need. I don't know about the other companies though. If you have any Interac-specific questions, let me know. I didn't actually interview with them (I came through a recruiting agency), but I do work for them. Good luck! |
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