掲示板 Forums - JET...Is it really that hard to get in?

I've looked around some of the older topics in this forum, and I've noticed that we have a few people who are in the JET program which I aspire to get into.

So here's the back story...I have a friend who is majoring in Asian Studies and Minoring in Japanese (They don't offer a Japanese major where she goes, so she has to stick with that). She will be going into a fourth level Japanese class next year, so I always pester her with Japanese related questions. For a while she was aspiring to join the JET after she graduated, but I talked to her recently and she has pretty much ditched the dream, instead now she's going to just apply for a teaching job in Tokyo when she gets out. I pressed her on why and she basically told me that it was nearly impossible to get in, so it wasn't even worth it to do the paperwork.

This is the jist of what I got from what she told me:

They pretty much get people with no real Japanese experience for ATL positions, I.E. they are sort of chosen randomly. Having JLPT certificates would probably hurt your chance at becoming an ATL. And as for CIRs, because there are so few CIR positions, the chances of people knowing more Japanese than you, and having better experience than you probably makes it impossible to land one.

This has kinda struck me as iffy. The CIR thing makes sense to me, but the ATL thing baffles me. I've heard that they send you Japanese language learning materials when you're accepted, but can one learn enough in a few short months to function as an ATL? And even so, why would having a grasp of the Japanese language hurt your chances? That just doesn't make sense to me.

So basically, I would like clarification on this whole matter. I've heard enough "I heard from a friend who knows a guy who knows a guy..." to scramble my brain. I really want to apply for an ATL position when I get out of college (I guess it would be closer to two years since you can apply before you actually have your degree), and I hope to have passed the JLPT 2 by then. Will it really hurt my chances?

Thanks for the reply ^^;, sorry about your session being timed out xD.

So, in your opinion, would it be worth it to have my knowledge of Japanese be known when I apply, or should I just keep it to myself?

I was really hoping Japanese knowledge could be my ace card here, because the qualifications on the JET website are mostly vague: "Be interested in the Japanese educational system "Be interested in Japan" etc. I'm finding it extremely difficult to find out what I should or should not do to improve my chances.

Are you a JET participant yourself? If so, what kind of things would you recommend doing in college to improve my chances? Also, how hard would you say it is to get the 1st notice and the interview? I think if I could just get an interview, I would be able to nail it.

Thanks for all the help :D.

Congrats on 3 years, going on 4 :D. Where are you working at?

I've posted on some other boards about this recently, and all I've heard is more "I heard..." and "Someone told me.." but I did get useful advice. Most people agreed that I should have a knowledge of Japan (Culture and things like that) and I spoke to many people who got an ATL position while having pretty hefty Japanese language knowledge, so that's quelled my fears a little. I've decided that I'll just keep doing what I'm doing, and if they reject me, then I've been pointed to other similar programs I can join. Of course, JET is my first choice ;).

And I agree with you, I really think it will be in my best interests to put whatever Japanese knowledge I have down on the application :D.

Thanks for all the help!

I have a few friends who've applied and been rejected, some of them proficient in Japanese, some of them not. Either way, it really can't hurt to try. It's not like there are huge application fees or anything. Just get together the materials and go for it. I'm in grad school right now, but I'm applying for 2009 for sure. My Japanese is still pretty rudimentary (didn't start til recently), so I hope that DOES give me a better chance! Ha, but I doubt it...

But I will admit that the application process looks pretty intense. I can honestly say that it seems more in-depth than most graduate school applications, and that's saying something. But as far as it being "not worth the paperwork"... that's just silly!

I really don't know how your degrees will factor in. Japanese proficiency aside, it is often said (anecdotal) that holding jlpt 2kyuu is usually what a lot of businesses look for when hiring foreign workers. Now, this isn't JET and CIR positions, but if you were on your way to 2kyuu, that'd be good. I still think you'll have a rough few months getting into the groove of using the Japanese continuously, but it is my uneducated guess that you'd probably be fine soon enough.

Adania,

This was a very helpful post, thank you so much! I won't be applying to JET for around 3 years, but I can already see a downside for myself - that I'd like to bring my husband along, who will have a degree in Japanese, but is a citizen of the UK and it would be very tough for us to afford the flights back and forth for him to apply through his home country. But since he would integrate to the society as well as I would, I wouldn't think it would be as big of a problem as others maybe. That's definitely something to prepare for.


The teaching thing is interesting. I am an opinionated person, and I might feel completely different about how to teach English. I'll have to remember that I'll have to go with the flow and bite my tongue on a lot of issues. Swallowing your pride is always a good lesson in humility anyway ^^

Thank you so much for your response. I will be coming back to these words of advice when I finally apply in a few years.

Are there any other programs similar to JET? I was considering applying for JET but after hearing how some of my friends think of it, I'm not sure I want to be associated with it...

Hey Guys,

I am currently a CIR on Jet who started in 2008, and I can really only speak about the experience applying from the United States, considering the application process for other countries for Jet is radically different. For example the Chinese Jet program is an exchange program between public officials. It would be unheard of for a fresh Chinese graduate to come over here as a CIR.

Getting into Jet isn’t by any stretch of the imagination impossible, but it is difficult, and it is getting more difficult by the year (Although it’s worth it!). As a bit of personal research I have been looking at JET participant numbers over the past 5 years and from 2004 to 2009 the total number of participants has declined 27.4% (6,103->4,436) ALT positions in general declined 27% (5,567->4,063) and CIR positions have declined 29% (512->366) Yeah there are some SEA positions as well but who cares about them. First the good news: The Jet program pays well. I dare you to find a similar job for fresh out of college applicants that pay roughly 38k along with all travel expenses. It is not uncommon for people to save around 10-15k a year if they put their minds to it. Jet also has the best support system of any of the ALT programs that I have seen and offers a vast Alumni Association along with counseling and help getting a job after JET. JET is also a well known program and directly connected with the government, so it definitely looks good on a resume as well.

The bad news ironically also is that... it pays well. Because Jet supports its applicants so well (comparatively) it also costs the government quite a bit to employ Jet participants. And because for a lot of BOEs (boards of education) the only thing that is important for them is to have a white body in the classroom, they end up pay half price for some otaku fresh out of community college who boasts about passing JLPT3(whoopee). As a result the amount of people that Jet can employ is steadily decreasing.

But on the upside there were 2537 American Jets this year so trust me, although there are less positions there are still quite a few. Now not all of those are new Jets by the way, about a third of them are new and the rest are all re-contracters (like myself)

Anyway enough about the numbers and more onto practical advice. If you want to do JET there are definitely a few things you should keep in mind; Although many people view Jet as a way to take a break before grad school, or get out an see the world, the people that are hiring JETs are looking for a serious professional who is willing to dedicate time and energy to their jobs. When applying make sure your application reflects that in yourself.

Some things that could help you get the job

-knowing some Japanese. Contrary to what you might have heard, knowing Japanese is a plus, its makes you easier to communicate with and less of a hassle on your supervisor.
- for CIRs you need a good amount of Japanese. The only qualification I had when I interviewed was JLPT3 from high school, although I got my JLPT1 results (passing!) 2 weeks after ｍy interview had finished. So don’t worry if you don’t actually have paper Japanese qualifications. If you think that your Japanese is good enough to pass JLPT2 then give CIR a shot. I had 2 roommates during Tokyo orientation that had applied as CIRs and then were offered ALT jobs instead of being rejected, so there is a chance to still be a JET even if you don’t get the CIR position. There are about 30 CIRs that come from the US every year. Just as a side note, if you get accepted as a CIR all of your Korean and Chinese CIR coworkers will have passed 1-kyu as a requirement for applying.

-being flexible. Yes we know that you would like to go to Tokyo on Jet. Sadly、no one goes to Tokyo on Jet and almost all of places that people request to go to are centered around huge population centers i.e. Kyoto, Osaka, Tokyo etc. Unfortunately the majority of positions are rural areas (towns with a pop of under 100-50,000) If you choose a lesser know population center (Sendai, kita-kyushu, Fukuoka) you stand a better chance of getting your choice.

-knowing Japanese culture and customs
This one is especially big for CIRs. In the interview I was bitched out by this little angry ol Ba-chan over handing a piece of paper to her the wrong way. Later I found out that this was to see how I reacted to being scolded, not necessarily that I did anything wrong. They want to make sure that you will fit into a Japanese workplace smoothly and part of that is to see if you how you respond to criticism. This being said I have never been scolded like that at my job ever so don’t worry about getting a job where you are yelled at all the time. (ALTs won’t have this kind of interview experience)

-teaching experience, especially ESL

- An honest interest in Japan and other culture. I can’t stress this enough, Jet is looking for people who are honestly interested in exchanging cultures with Japan. Being open to new things is huge

Some things that might cost you the job

-knowing everything about Japan
I don’t care if you passes lvl 1 of the Kanji kentei before applying to Jet, you still should have an openness and humbleness about yourself. Interviewers look for people they want to work with, and if you are asked about your skill and qualifications answer them honestly, but don’t tell that that a Japanese person once said that you know more about Japan that Japanese people do! (Everyone has been told that directly after even slightly mentioning anything about Japanese history. “Wow you know what the Meiji Restoration was! You know more about Japan than Japanese people do!)

-talking about your anime or manga love. There are some who would say only talk about it in this sense and then they will see that…. No. Those people are wrong. Just don’t. Interviewers just don’t care. Other jets don’t care, and most of all Japanese people don’t care about how much you know/like/appreciate manga or anime. If you organized a giant manga club with 50+ people all throughout college, ok that’s worth talking about: organizational skills, people skills are plusses. Extensive knowledge on Naruto mythology is not

-a vague goal, or overall lack of professionalism
Jet wants to know why you want the job. If you miraculously get an interview without a goal, you won’t make it much farther than that. Showing that you are motivated and professional go a long way in any job interview towards persuading the person to hire you.

Damn, ok, this got long,

Hope this helps, and good luck!

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Ah, thanks! All of that really helps a lot. I'm glad to hear that applying as a CIR doesn't necessarily make it impossible to get an ALT job.

And fareastfurfaro, do you have any specific non-JET programs you would recommend? I'd be very willing to go that route if needed (By the way, I'm certainly not limiting myself to teaching jobs. In fact, I would like to stray away from that path if possible, as I'll have a degree in both Business Management and Computer Information Systems):)

piepiepie75,

Sorry, I have no knowledge of anything outside teaching at the moment. I am starting to think about what to do after this contract is up next April and may do something outside of teaching as well. If I find anything good, I will try and let you know on this forum. Teaching is definitely the easiest way to get over here, and like I said, if you are just wanting to get over here as soon as possible, get a teaching gig somewhere. I work for [url=https://www.interacnetwork.com/recruit/]Interac[/url]. Not the greatest company in the world but I've made some great friends from it, the staff has always treated me really nice and I got placed pretty close to Tokyo. The pay isn't great (250,000/month - 2 or 3 weeks between school years with no pay and then 40% cut in summer and 25% in winter). I did get a small raise after asking but it took 1 1/2 years to get that. It's up to you want to really want to do in Japan I think.

Helios,

It's OK. I probably went a bit overboard myself. The only reason I am in my city now is because the BoE decided to ditch JET for my company. Actually before we got here another guy from my company found the blog of one of the teachers that we were taking over for and was complaining how the cheap, crummy teachers were coming in to take over, heh. It's true though, JET has been slowly losing ground due to cheaper companies swooping in from under them. I can't say I love who I work for but they aren't all bad and it got me to Japan so I thank them for that. Anyway, let's agree both our companies have really good and really bad teachers, haha. JET is definitely the most well-known and best paying though, no doubt about that.