Job Discussion Forums

[ohahakehte]

according to JET's website their applicaiton deadline was in november but a friend told me that JET has really expanded over the past few years and that they might do more than one application session per year. is that true? it kinda sucks that ill hafta wait until next fall to apply to JET!

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

Yes, it definately DOES suck to have to wait until the following year, especially when the application due date just past so recently.

However, JET is great (I'm on it! woo wooo!! ) but it is not the only way to get to Japan, nor is it the only way to get to Japan as an ALT in high schools and elementary schools.

That said, there are definate advantages to being on JET over being a private ALT (with ther possible exception of being a sister city ALT, but as far as I know there are no sister cities with Waterloo, Canada and Japan). The biggest is the job stability. It's only a three (normally) or four or five (for Prefectural Advisors and occasionally for people who will do elementary only for the entire year- which would be exhausting!!!!) year job at most, but once you are in JET, your position is much more stable than a private ALT's because private ALTs often work for the ALT dispatch company and not for the local government. There needs to be a really good reason to get rid of a JET ALT. This is important because replacing non-Japanese staff on a whim (often based on things like the physical appearance of the ALT ex.: being told "we Japanese think all Americans have blond hair", or gender or even nationality- most Japanese people have a really hard time telling the difference between American speakers of English and British speakers of English, but will tell you that they only like American- and not Canadian- varieties of English. The fact that native speakers can almost always tell the difference between British English varieties and North American varieties of English but often cannot tell the difference between Canadian varieties of English and northern US varieties of English does not matter. This is a flag waving country- stripes are pretty!- and American culture is popular) is not uncommon.

It is not easy to get into JET. Get a copy of the application that just passed due date (It may still be on the Embassy of Japan web site) to see what they want and spend the year trying to upgrade your experience in these areas (especially in Japanese language, if you don't speak it- learn Hiragana, katakana, some basic greetings and maybe "excuse me? Where is X?" -"Sumimasen, X wa doko des' ka?" type things- get a phrase book) .

There is only one intake for JET each year. The application comes out late September and is due early or mid November. Try to get some experience teaching ESL and working with Japanese people before next year.

[craven]

Yeah, JET is definately the way to go over private ALT companies. If you do happen to go the other route though, check the company first. Many companies keep their employees a shade under full time hours so that they can drop their salary from the mandatory Y250000 for foreign teachers down to to Y220000. A friend of mine in Saitama is working under these conditions at the moment, and with commuting time, his week is more like 60 hours.
Tips for the JET interview: they want people who are interested in japan, but NOT people who intend to stay in Japan (god forbid you might-shudder-marry a Japanese national and decide to stay on). Find a way to emphasize this in the interview. They will also ask you questions about Japanese society and sometimes politics too (easy questions...in my interview they asked who the prime minister of Japan was).

[Tremac]

What do you mean they don't want people to stay in the country? Does it cause them problems?

And are the odds of being selected very low?

[PAULH]

[Tremac]

wow.. you read my other posts. i'm happy ^_^

I graduated 2 years ago, but I did a grade 13 last year and this exchange. I was selected for this exchange because Rotary thought I was a person who would introduce my own culture, be a cultural diplomat who speaks English and knows about western culture.

Can you answer my question about the TEFL certificate? I saw on a website that I just need to be qualified to teach in Kindergarten. What do I need for that?

[PAULH]

[Tremac]

well that's a disappointment... But thanks anyways, eh?

Cheers