Job Discussion Forums

[april]

One of my friends worked at a Consulate of Japan in USA for 3 years. Part of her job was to interview applicants for the JET program. I asked her what do they look for in an applicant. She explained, first of all, that each consulate has a different idea of the type of person they want in the JET program. She often travelled to different consulates to help out during the recruitment process and it frustrated her that there was no overall unity between the consulates. Some took their role very seriously and were very stringent in who they sent over, taking a very long time to make a decision. Others couldn�t be bothered and accepted people simply because they liked them. She gave me an exaggerated example of how they might have chosen one candidate �Oh she is bubbly and cute! Let�s accept her!�

One of the managers she met was very racist against Asian-Americans and only wanted to send over recent college graduates who were obvious-looking Caucasian people. He also never even considered anyway aged over 25. Fortunately, she said, herself and her colleagues were able to over-ride his decisions (went behind his back actually!!) and accepted all applications equally. This man was an exception to the rule and was not a manager for very long and moved back to Japan

At her particular consulate, they did take their recruitment role seriously what they looked for in applicants was mostly an adaptable personal characteristic to see if the person would cope being placed in a small rural area. That was the number one selection criteria. She then explained that in another consulate who also took their role seriously, looked for applicants with a strong interest in teaching English as a second language.

Experience in teaching or TESOL qualification, in her particular consulate, was neither an advantage or a disadvantage. But sometimes having too much teaching experience was a disadvantage because such people might not accept their role as being only a teacher�s assistant. They still considered such applicants though if during their interview their personality revealed they would be willing to ...(I finished her sentence) �if they didn�t mind being a human tape recorder.� �Yes! Exactly! Some people, whether they are qualified teachers or not, don�t like not being in charge and aren�t happy taking a back-seat in their job. So it doesn�t matter what they did in their previous job, so long as they realise that when they get to Japan things will be very different to what they are used to.�

She gave me an example of one her memorable interviews with an applicant:
Q. How do you feel about being a minority in Japan?
A. Well there are lots of minorities living in my area, lots of Hispanics. I like minorities. I don�t think they�re any different to me. I talk to them and stuff.
Q. No, I mean, how do *you* feel about being a minority? You will be the minority...how do you think you will cope in Japan?
A. I really respect Japanese people. I don�t have any racist feelings towards them. I like Japanese culture, like manga and stuff.
Q. (confused because she thought perhaps her English wasn�t clear enough) No, what I mean to say is that in Japan, you will be the only white person in your town. Everybody else will be Japanese. You will be the minority. People may stare at you. How do you feel about that?
A. It�s not right to stare at minorities. I mean, like, there�s lot of minorities around so there�s no big deal about it anyway.

Flabbergasted she gave up trying to make him realise what she meant. Of course, he did not get the job!

She strongly emphasised all the time of how the selection criteria for candidates varied greatly from one consulate to the next. She joked that perhaps the guy she interviewed above might have got through at another consulate �they might say �ha ha! He makes some funny jokes! Let�s have some fun and recommend him to be placed in the middle of Hokkaido!!�

Well anyway, I thought I might share with you what she said to me.

[Dr.J]

Seeing the people here, and from my interview, that's hardly a revelation. It's pretty standard of the whole program actually. Grr.

[fat_chris]

Just curious,

were you a JET setter Dr.J?

[april]

I agree that it does just confirm what everyone suspected.

[Brooks]

years ago, my brother went to a meeting about JET at a university in New York state.
He noticed that after the meeting was over that the person with blond hair got an unreasonable amount of attention, more than the other people there, who had brown and black hair. A Jewish student and an African-American attended the meeting.
I guess the person with blond hair had the "right" hair and skin color.
This was about ten years ago, but JET has changed and has diversity in its English teachers.

Read the JET book to find out more: Importing Diversity (from the University of California Press, I think).

[sutekigaijin]

I think we should all ask Glenski about this topic. He knows best for sure. Hey Glenski, whee are you when we need you man?

[cangel]

I was a JET from 2000-2003. I interviewed at the Embassy of Japan in Washington DC, if it matters... I saw all types of people interviewing in DC and at the subsequent pre-JET get-togethers. The only common denominator was that the vast majority were probably under 25. As for diversity, it was great. I saw all races represented. There didn't seem to be any favoritism going on, at least in DC. During my tenure as a JET in Fukuoka-shi, most races were represented, to include black South Africans and the first ever Jamaican JETs. I was 28 when I started JET and I had a good friend who was 40. While it is true that most JETs are younger, I don't necessarily believe it's due to a hiring preference so much as older potential applicants not wanting to give up their careers for a fling in Japan. However, ESID.

[Lynn]

I interviewed at the Honolulu Consulate in 1996. I was asked how Hawaii is different than Alaska. I told them that the 2 places are not so different. In both, you take off your shoes at the door. They laughed so hard, and I laughed too, although I wasn't sure what was so funny. I was also interviewed in Japanese to test my level and asked if I could read a Japanese newspaper.

I got the job. There were many Asian-Americans who also got the job. There was even a woman over the age limit. I asked her how she got in and she said that she just went for it anyhow.

At the BOE where I worked in Japan, they showed me my interview results from the Honolulu Consulate. It said something like, "likes sports, Japanese level excellent"

BTW I have long black hair.

[april]

The racist manager that I mentioned is an example of only one person in the hundreds and hundreds of people in the whole organisation. Even then he was over-ridden by his subordinates and people of all different ethnicity were interviewed and considered. Appearance was not a factor...except of course if a candidate walked in wearing jeans and a singlet! So the stories that you guys mention about only noticing white under 25�s at the interview would not have occurred in this particular consulate.

The reason why I shared what she said with you guys was because I thought it was interesting to hear her opinion, and it wasn't my intention to make a blanket statement about the entire JET program. Just want to make that clear if it isn�t already.

Oh yeah, my friend also praised companies like Nova (!) for their efficient hiring systems. I thought that was a first!

Hey - doesn't anyone think the interview about minorities is hilarious?? Had me rolling around on the floor.

(And what's with all this talk about hair colour??)