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benjamin2007
Joined: 11 Nov 2007
Posts: 3
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 Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2008 10:02 am Post subject: Preparing for JET application |
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I have no ESL experience, but am considering applying for the JET programme from the UK when applications open in September.
This might be a no-brainer, but I assume it will help me if I get a TEFL qualification before then. Is there any in particular which is favoured by JET?
What about picking up teaching or TEFL experience somewhere else before? I could potentially do a 3 month training/teaching course over the summer if this would help.
My aim here is to give me the best possible chance of getting into JET this year. Any other advice to help me achieve that?
Thanks |
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Never Ceased To Be Amazed
Joined: 22 Oct 2004
Posts: 3500
Location: Shhh...don't talk to me...I'm playin' dead...
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| Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2008 11:00 am Post subject: Re: Preparing for JET application |
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| benjamin2007 wrote: |
I have no ESL experience, but am considering applying for the JET programme from the UK when applications open in September.
This might be a no-brainer, but I assume it will help me if I get a TEFL qualification before then. Is there any in particular which is favoured by JET?
What about picking up teaching or TEFL experience somewhere else before? I could potentially do a 3 month training/teaching course over the summer if this would help.
My aim here is to give me the best possible chance of getting into JET this year. Any other advice to help me achieve that?
Thanks |
 Marry a Japanese person 
NCTBA |
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Lyrajean
Joined: 19 Jul 2006
Posts: 109
Location: going to Okinawa
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| Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2008 11:21 am Post subject: |
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A TEFL qualification can't hurt and it might help, particularly if your background/degree whatever is not in that area, or anything related to Japan.
I applied twice, was flat out rejected the 1st time and accepted the 2nd.
the two major differences in my application aside from rewriting the essays and rethinking my answers to the questions were:
1.an academic record of 10 credits for taking Japanese language classes.
2.a non- credit TEFL certificate course from the same private college.
I was out of school for some time before I applied to JET and non of my previously acquired credentials (M.A. included) were in anything remotely related to Japan or TEFL, so I have to think it helped some.
Good luck! |
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Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
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GambateBingBangBOOM
Joined: 04 Nov 2003
Posts: 2021
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 3:03 am Post subject: |
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| Glenski wrote: |
1) One person was hired solely on the basis of appearance. The western JET interviewer claimed he was ready to reject the candidate, but the Japanese interviewer said, "Oh, he/she is so cute, let's hire him/her."
2) According to our resident JET pundit Chthulhu, about 10-15% of JET ALTs have a fair amount of teaching experience, and JET seems to encourage that.
Then again, you might just end up a human tape recorder in the far-flung reaches of the countryside... |
1) Probably the most common situation. I knew one guy who showed up on JET who had blond hair blue eyes and ultra-body builder physique. He couldn't even correctly identify the capital city of his own country.
2) "JET" may encourage that, but JET is a human resources mechanism for getting mostly young, recent graduates into rural Japan- so by far most are human tape recoders in the far-flung reaches of the countryside, and in fact there's a rumour that if you have high level qualifications in teaching, you will almost definately end up as a human tape recorder in the far flung reaches of the countryside, because what they do not want is for people to show up, get offered a better deal for the start of the work year in April, and just go do something more satisfying. They banish them to the sticks to improve English level at the grassroots level by ensuring that there are very few or no other jobs to pick from, and often treat trained teachers worse than absolute newbies because many Japanese teachers, especially sort of conservative rural ones, can be very intimidated by a city slicker from the other side of the world who knows what they're talking about. But it's all up to the individual interviewers. I've heard that in Vancouver (for example) Asian faces may get cut. In Ottawa (for example, again), almost any single male. Both of these 'facts' are almost definately totally untrue. But when hiring criteria isn't made public and interviewers can cut you based on 'ummmmm... no.' (the interviewer had a bad doughnut and it isn't sitting well), it breads a kind of paranoia. One of my interviewers (the one in charge of questions about teaching experience, a high level linguistics prof at her university) had never even been to Japan, and asked how I would teach aspects related to Inuit culture (this was in southern Canada, so I'd never actually really met an Inuit person) for example the ididarod (sp?) (a dog sled race that takes place in Alaska, USA, not in Canada).
Final word of caution. People post Statements of Purpose and hints for them etc on internet discussion boards like this one, and especially www.bigdaikon.com (the unofficial JET discussion board). On the panel of interviewers and a lot of, if not all, of the paper application readers are former JETs. Anything that may even have been paraphrased from an internet source in the Statement of Purpose will cause the application to get denied. But general advice for a statement of purpose is that you should just treat is as a cover letter. And just as in any cover letter you emphasize what you can do for the company, not what they can do for you. It tells you what they are looking for int he application, and the best way to go about it is to make it easy on the reader- follow the same order that they ask for in the application.
What they (and this means the Japanese government) really want is for people to go to Japan for 1 to 5 years of JET and then go home and say how awesome Japan is, because that will hopefully lead to nice business deals in the future, or at least people spreading the word that Japan is a great country (crazies who show up in Akihabara and drive a truck into people before getting out with a knife and start killing indiscriminately, notwithstanding) . They do not want people to show up and stay. |
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G Cthulhu
Joined: 07 Feb 2003
Posts: 1373
Location: Way, way off course.
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| Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2008 1:23 am Post subject: |
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| GambateBingBangBOOM wrote: |
But general advice for a statement of purpose is that you should just treat is as a cover letter. And just as in any cover letter you emphasize what you can do for the company, not what they can do for you. It tells you what they are looking for int he application, and the best way to go about it is to make it easy on the reader- follow the same order that they ask for in the application.
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You're paraphrasing what I always say! I'm going to sue. And reject your application. 
I'd disagree with the.... tone? of your other comments too. Not sure tone is the right word. I think you're basically right at one level, but I don't think there's any sort of active plan or real intent to send qualified people to the boondocks. The numbers are simply too large, the recruiting process too complicated and time intensive for there to be much in the way of second guessing applicants motives and intents to find other work.
| Quote: |
What they (and this means the Japanese government) really want is for people to go to Japan for 1 to 5 years of JET and then go home and say how awesome Japan is, because that will hopefully lead to nice business deals in the future, or at least people spreading the word that Japan is a great country (crazies who show up in Akihabara and drive a truck into people before getting out with a knife and start killing indiscriminately, notwithstanding) . They do not want people to show up and stay.
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That is very true. JET is not about teaching. It's moving more and more towards it, but it's not there yet and probably won't be (if ever) for a long time. |
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fluffyhamster
Joined: 13 Mar 2005
Posts: 3292
Location: UK > China > Japan > UK again
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