I was not granted an interview for the JET program, which means I’m done, over, finito. If anything I’m overqualified for the job, but for some reason I was turned away. Maybe a form was missing, maybe the application reviewers got scared at my history of depression/anxiety… who knows. All I do know is my ego just got body-slammed by a large, smelly man named Hank. Dont ask why Hank.
Oh, JET stands for Japan Exchange Teacher program. I speak conversational+ Japanese and wanted to go there to teach English. I still can, but it’s going to be at least 10x more difficult now, and I dont know where to start. I know some friends to ask though… it’ll be ok. It’ll be fucking ok, fucking cocksucker asshat.asdf;laskdjf. Ok…
I feel better now. I need a new stapler, but I feel better.
If it makes you feel any better, I applied for JET twice and got rejected at the first stage both times. I then had to keep hearing from people “Oh, you’ll definitely get in! Nobody from this school has ever been rejected!”
So I picked up a book (this was in the pre-web era) titled “Jobs in Japan”, which had a few hundred private English schools listed in the back. I wrote letters and sent resumes to a semi-random selection of about 50. Half ignored me, most of the others said they only hire locally, and two called me back. I ended up going with one of them about a year after finishing college. I also spent a year working part-time, taking a night course in Japanese (didn’t help with getting a job, but made the move easier), and volunteer teaching ESL classes in Chinatown (again, it didn’t help in getting the job, but was useful in getting used to standing in front of a class).
I always thought it was really easy to get a job teaching English in Japan. I thought you didn’t even need to know how to speak Japanese! If I’m ever single, I might consider doing it myself - I’d be in heaven.
I didn’t get an interview the first time around, and got waitlisted the second. I can understand if you were super psyched to come to Japan as soon as you finished school, but as someone else mentioned, it’s not the only way over here (I came across several other foundations doing almost the exact same thing as JET, only not quite as well-funded unfortunately), and barring that, working for a year in the states isn’t horrible. While I’m sure it’s not what you want to hear, I actually felt like I learned a lot from my time working in corporate America, and I definitely don’t want to do it-- teaching all the way for me. From what I understand, they have so many JET applicants that they just can’t give everyone consideration. Because of that, I believe that if you’ve applied before, you have a much better chance of getting in the next time around.
It’s a bummer, but I heard (it’s kind of funny how there are all these rumors about the program, but not much really confirmed) that they’re almost less willing to take someone who knows Japanese (except for the CIR position, of course) because they want someone who is totally new to everything here. Did you stress how much you want to be a “cultural ambassador?” Did you talk about how adaptable you are in new situations? Some of that should be reserved for the interview, but just saying over and over again about how you want to learn about Japanese culture while being a representative of your own is a large part of what they look for.
Anyway, you should consider what you want, because if you find another way over here that’s not your ideal, the JET program won’t take you (I believe you have to have not lived in Japan for like 7 years before applying). So you might consider working in America for a year. It really sucks, and I’m really sorry, but it’s not the end of the world. Hell, entering the workforce is quite a break from college: “You mean I do something from 9-5 which doesn’t leave me mentally and physically drained, and I don’t have any homework? I get to come home and drink a beer and do things that interest me, and the only obligation I have to you is to show up at 9AM the next day?” Believe me, after 4 years with your ass to the grindstone, it’s a welcome change for a bit.
A couple of years later, my buddy and I got tourist visas and flew east. We ended up in Korea, not Japan, as was the original plan (due to having a Korean friend who said “screw Japan, come here!”). Once there, we walked around and talked to the Academic Directors of some schools and left resumes.
I ended up staying in Seoul teaching for almost a decade.
The deadline is Feb 28th, so you might have to rush to get it in if you want to do it this year. If not, this and JET are always a possibility next year.
Man, I had no idea it was so tough. My condolences. At least you have a university degree, though (don’t you?); they won’t even look at someone with a lowly three-year college diploma. There went my bright idea for getting over there.
Didn’t some huge chain of ESL schools suddenly go under in Japan recently, like a couple of months ago, and dump about 5000 teachers onto the job market? That might be part of it.
Yeah, Nova…I wonder if a lot of people were on Nova decided to apply to JET. I wonder if you’d have to come back to the States, or if you could apply there. Hm.
Auto, I forgot to mention that if you ever see me on messanger, feel free to hit me up to chat. I haven’t gotten around to it because this quarter at school is making me feel unsociable and braindead -_-; but if you ever see me on, feel free.
Sorry dude, that sucks. I know you’ve been hoping to do this for some time now. Here is the only real condolence I can offer.
What she said too, my AIM is in my profile. Wait, I think you have my phone # too. I have a mailing address as well but am always leary of opening letters (I have months and months worth).
Nova, although JET only hires from overseas and (as mentioned above) requires that you weren’t in Japan recently. Still people who were been thinking about Nova or other private schools may have applied to JET instead.
