JET is tough. It's competitive, merciless, and sometimes unfair. Now before you go thinking "this is a crazy person who's just bitter about not being accepted," let me tell you the facts. I had experience living abroad, I spoke elementary Japanese, and I graduated from a top-tier university. I was accepted to the program after a short deferment. I chose to decline the position because, frankly, the JET program really left me with a bad taste in my mouth. The inflexibility, the lack of support, and the general we-don't-give-a-crap-about-you attitude of the program coordinators made me feel uneasy and unwelcome. If they were that unhelpful before they hired me, how much could I really depend on them once I arrived in Japan?
In any case, I wish everyone applying for the program the best of luck, and I hope this information helps.
JET INTERVIEW
I was living in Baltimore at the time, so the D.C. embassy was easy for me to get to. I arrived an hour early because I'd heard that getting there early gave you points. They walked me in, took me through an x-ray/metal detector set-up, and led me to the coatroom. Then I was taken to a desk, where they asked for my interview voucher and I.D.
***DO NOT FORGET THE VOUCHER AND YOUR I.D. If you are missing one, game over!
The check-in woman gave me a packet with photos and short biographies of the interviewers. In retrospect, I should have studied their names a little harder. Then I was taken to a waiting room filled with chairs and a table with water and chocolates. A large old television played a cheesy old video about being a JET. There were about ten other people in there, all dressed in suits. I was the only person wearing a skirt and blouse, and while it looked professional, I probably should have worn a proper suit.
The woman from the check-in desk came in briefly to ask if we had any questions. I learned the following things from her:
- Costco delivers in Japan
- most cars are automatic (phew)
- yes, cheese and peanut butter and other foreign foods are available, but they're expensive
Around 1pm (after their lunch, I guess) the interviewers started coming into the room to fetch people. My appointment was at 1:30, but I got called in around 1:15. My interviewer was Paige, around 35, very nice and friendly. She led me to a room and made small talk on the way. Inside was a single chair in the middle of the room, and three chairs behind a table. There was another female former JET, younger than Paige, and a Japanese man in his 30’s. They shook my hand and told me their names, and introduced themselves with a short bio (basically what the papers had said). Then the questioning began. What follows is essentially a transcript of their questions and my answers.
Why teach? Why Japan?
Because I want to be a professor, and teaching is an important skill. I’ve also wanted to do JET since I was in the 8th grade and found a JET’s blog. Japanese food is also a big deal for me, and I want to learn as much as I can about their cooking. I am a big sushi fan and make my own sushi regularly, and I want to learn more. [They were very impressed by the sushi-making.]
What makes you think you are qualified to teach English?
I’m not trying to brag, but in the interest of making myself look good, I scored in the 98th percentile on the GRE verbal reasoning section. And I go to Johns Hopkins. I’m not terribly concerned with my English ability being a problem.
How will you deal with being in a new place, where you don’t speak the language?
I lived in Australia for 6 months and Bonaire for 4 months. In Bonaire the official language is Papiamentu [they were very interested in this] and I was lucky enough to take a short course, so between that and my Spanish I was able to communicate easily. As for Japan, I speak enough of the language to get by. I can say the most important phrases, “Where is the toilet” and “Please call a doctor” and such.
What problems do you anticipate having?
Food. I really like food, and eating a lot, so this could be a problem if I can’t read the labels. In Bonaire, the food was very expensive, and there were no fresh vegetables, fruits, or dairy. I lost a lot of weight there. But Bonaire is second-world and Japan is definitely first-world, so I don’t anticipate it being as big a problem. A lot of people suffer from homesickness, but honestly, Skype has allowed me to see and talk with my family--and even my cat--whenever I want, so I haven’t had a problem with it yet.
You might be placed in a rural area. How do you feel about that?
Great! I don’t really care for cities. Even Baltimore was a little large for my liking. I’m a hiking, swimming, exploring kind of girl, so I’m hoping for a more rural area. Some place with a lot of wilderness to explore!
You listed Atami as your first choice for placement. Why?
There's a few reasons, mostly that it's a diving destination (I’m a diver), a tourist town (I’ve had good luck in tourist towns, usually there’s a lot to do), near the ocean, fairly rural, and it has hot springs. But I wouldn’t be heartbroken if I didn’t get placed there. [I only picked Atami because I felt like I needed to pick a place. They seemed satisfied with my answer.]
You may receive a lot of attention from the Japanese, especially from older people. Some JETs have reported that the attention is flattering at first but quickly becomes annoying. How will you deal with this?
I made a good-humored joke out of this one, laughing and saying that a lot of attention based on my looks wasn’t something I was used to. I said that I had heard that a lot of people would want to touch my hair, and that was fine because I love having my hair played with. And even if it was annoying, I would never let them know because A) I am a very polite person, and B) I’m supposed to be representing America and showing how friendly and nice Americans are, which means no rudeness unless absolutely necessary.
After these questions, the Japanese man surprised me by asking me several questions in Japanese. The first one was easy: “What is your name?” The second one I asked him to repeat, and figured out that it was something about the date, but I got flustered and couldn’t remember how to answer and said “Wakarimasen, sumimasen.” The third question I screwed up: I knew he asked me how many years I had studied Japanese, and I meant to say “three years” (“san-nen”) but I accidentally said “three people” (“san-nin”). (Unfortunately I didn’t realize this mistake until several hours later.) The next question was, “Shumi wa nan desu ka?” I didn’t have a clue what “shumi” meant, but fortunately Paige saved me by telling me it meant “hobby” and telling the Japanese man that many American students learned a different word. I was able to tell him that my hobby was scuba diving. Lastly, he asked me how many kanji I knew. Instead of making up a number, I said I had forgotten them all. This seemed to amuse them, and they seemed pleased that I had an answer that wasn’t “I don’t know.”
Finally, they asked me if I had any questions for them. I had three. First, I asked what form of English I would be expected to teach--British or American? The answer was “whatever form you are most familiar with.” They seemed to like this question.
Next I asked whether JET had emergency plans in the event of a serious disaster. They said that every school and area had its own emergency plans, and that I would be briefed on those plans. Additionally, schools in Japan apparently hold lots of practice drills for earthquakes.
My last question was more lighthearted: I said that I had heard that I’d have a hard time finding clothes in Japan because I would be considered a 'larger person,' was that true? They all laughed and said yes, it was true, I would be considered fat in Japan. (I'm usually a small or medium in American sizes. Yikes!)
Because I want to be a professor, and teaching is an important skill. I’ve also wanted to do JET since I was in the 8th grade and found a JET’s blog. Japanese food is also a big deal for me, and I want to learn as much as I can about their cooking. I am a big sushi fan and make my own sushi regularly, and I want to learn more. [They were very impressed by the sushi-making.]
What makes you think you are qualified to teach English?
I’m not trying to brag, but in the interest of making myself look good, I scored in the 98th percentile on the GRE verbal reasoning section. And I go to Johns Hopkins. I’m not terribly concerned with my English ability being a problem.
How will you deal with being in a new place, where you don’t speak the language?
I lived in Australia for 6 months and Bonaire for 4 months. In Bonaire the official language is Papiamentu [they were very interested in this] and I was lucky enough to take a short course, so between that and my Spanish I was able to communicate easily. As for Japan, I speak enough of the language to get by. I can say the most important phrases, “Where is the toilet” and “Please call a doctor” and such.
What problems do you anticipate having?
Food. I really like food, and eating a lot, so this could be a problem if I can’t read the labels. In Bonaire, the food was very expensive, and there were no fresh vegetables, fruits, or dairy. I lost a lot of weight there. But Bonaire is second-world and Japan is definitely first-world, so I don’t anticipate it being as big a problem. A lot of people suffer from homesickness, but honestly, Skype has allowed me to see and talk with my family--and even my cat--whenever I want, so I haven’t had a problem with it yet.
You might be placed in a rural area. How do you feel about that?
Great! I don’t really care for cities. Even Baltimore was a little large for my liking. I’m a hiking, swimming, exploring kind of girl, so I’m hoping for a more rural area. Some place with a lot of wilderness to explore!
You listed Atami as your first choice for placement. Why?
There's a few reasons, mostly that it's a diving destination (I’m a diver), a tourist town (I’ve had good luck in tourist towns, usually there’s a lot to do), near the ocean, fairly rural, and it has hot springs. But I wouldn’t be heartbroken if I didn’t get placed there. [I only picked Atami because I felt like I needed to pick a place. They seemed satisfied with my answer.]
You may receive a lot of attention from the Japanese, especially from older people. Some JETs have reported that the attention is flattering at first but quickly becomes annoying. How will you deal with this?
I made a good-humored joke out of this one, laughing and saying that a lot of attention based on my looks wasn’t something I was used to. I said that I had heard that a lot of people would want to touch my hair, and that was fine because I love having my hair played with. And even if it was annoying, I would never let them know because A) I am a very polite person, and B) I’m supposed to be representing America and showing how friendly and nice Americans are, which means no rudeness unless absolutely necessary.
After these questions, the Japanese man surprised me by asking me several questions in Japanese. The first one was easy: “What is your name?” The second one I asked him to repeat, and figured out that it was something about the date, but I got flustered and couldn’t remember how to answer and said “Wakarimasen, sumimasen.” The third question I screwed up: I knew he asked me how many years I had studied Japanese, and I meant to say “three years” (“san-nen”) but I accidentally said “three people” (“san-nin”). (Unfortunately I didn’t realize this mistake until several hours later.) The next question was, “Shumi wa nan desu ka?” I didn’t have a clue what “shumi” meant, but fortunately Paige saved me by telling me it meant “hobby” and telling the Japanese man that many American students learned a different word. I was able to tell him that my hobby was scuba diving. Lastly, he asked me how many kanji I knew. Instead of making up a number, I said I had forgotten them all. This seemed to amuse them, and they seemed pleased that I had an answer that wasn’t “I don’t know.”
Finally, they asked me if I had any questions for them. I had three. First, I asked what form of English I would be expected to teach--British or American? The answer was “whatever form you are most familiar with.” They seemed to like this question.
Next I asked whether JET had emergency plans in the event of a serious disaster. They said that every school and area had its own emergency plans, and that I would be briefed on those plans. Additionally, schools in Japan apparently hold lots of practice drills for earthquakes.
My last question was more lighthearted: I said that I had heard that I’d have a hard time finding clothes in Japan because I would be considered a 'larger person,' was that true? They all laughed and said yes, it was true, I would be considered fat in Japan. (I'm usually a small or medium in American sizes. Yikes!)
Overall I thought the interview went quite well. If I ever did it again, I'd do a few things differently:
1) Wear a proper suit. My skirt-and-blouse looked nice but not as fancy as everyone else's suits.
2) Bring something interesting to do. I brought my chemistry homework and ended up watching the cheesy 'Being a JET' video about eight times. Ugh.
3) Learn the names of the interviewers. There's only about 20 of them. Do it.
4) Refresh my Japanese. It had been a few years since I'd spoken any Japanese, and I was rustier than I thought. I should have practiced simple things like numbers and days of the week. Do NOT lie about your Japanese language level, because they will ask you to demonstrate your abilities.
After my less than positive experience with the JET program, I doubt that I'll be applying again. They were unhelpful, uncaring, and sometimes unknowledgeable about their own program. If I do decide to teach in Japan, I'll probably do what I did for Korea: find a private school on my own and contact them directly. More dangerous? Maybe. But definitely less stressful. And so far, it's been working out wonderfully here in Korea!
I hope this information helps you, JET applicants. Good luck!
-Ashton
Really excellent advice and couldn't agree more, Ashton. I'd received this same impression from JET upon my interview but EPIK was wonderful and my life in Korea was great. In fact,interviewing in a few hours to return. Thanks for sharing!
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