My Interview Adventure

      Upon hearing that I got the interview, I was, of course, very excited. I was also worried about how I was going to get there and back, what hotel I was going to stay in, etc. etc.....

     I live in western West Virginia, a good 5 hours away from Washington, DC, and I don't drive. Thankfully, my friends, Justin and Jackson, agreed to drive me there (for which I cannot thank them enough), therefore I didn't have to worry about taking the train or plane, which would have cost me a pretty penny. We also made a fun weekend trip of it (but that's a whole other story haha).

     We arrived in DC around midnight the night before my interview, very tired and disoriented. We stayed at the Courtyard Marriott on Connecticut Ave. NW, which is conveniently located about 10 minutes walking distance from the Embassy of Japan (where the interviews are held). On weekends, which includes Thursday night to Sunday night, it costs $120 a night. That is pretty cheap in comparison to other area hotels, not to mention it's a really nice hotel! I definitely recommend it.

     No matter how hard I tried, I just could not sleep very well because I was so nervous. My interview time was at 10:35AM. I got up around 8AM, took a shower, ate some breakfast with my friends, then walked to the Embassy. I ended up getting there around 9:50AM, which was earlier than I had planned on arriving, but I decided to go ahead and walk in anyway. A guard checked my ID, then opened a gate to let me in. Then, I went through a metal detector, and met with a woman and showed my ID again. She signed me in and showed me to the waiting room, where there was a video playing and a JET alum, who was answering people's questions.

     I was glad to have arrived as early as I did, because once I walked into the waiting room, it seemed like time just FLEW by. I watched parts of the video, while chatting with a few of the other JET hopefuls and asked the alum a couple of questions. Before I knew it, a guy called my name and I followed him out of the room. He introduced himself as we walked back to the interview room, which was around the corner and down a long, very narrow hallway. I found out he was a JET alum and that he would be one of the people on my interview panel. He commented that I didn't look nervous, which made me laugh, because I was feeling quite the opposite.

     As I walked in the interview room, the two other people on my interview panel stood up to welcome me. I walked over to them, and we shook hands as we introduced ourselves to one another. (I've heard other JETs mention that some interview panel people don't want to shake hands, or they tell you to be seated as you walk in, therefore there is no chance for hand shaking. I say, go with the flow. Just do whatever seems natural at the time.) After introductions, they told me to have a seat and then we got started with the questions immediately.

Here are the questions I was asked:

1) What age group would you most like to teach?

2) How would you deal with homesickness?

3) How do you think Japan views the US, positively and negatively?

4) What would you say if a student asked, "Does everybody in the US have a gun?"

5) What extra-curricular/community related things would you like to get involved in?

6) What difficulties do you anticipate having adjusting to Japanese culture?

7) What qualities make up a good teacher and what qualities make a bad teacher?

8) Have you been keeping up with any current Japanese news?

9) How does JET relate to your future goals?

10) We saw in your essay that you've studied music and have had some experience in music education. Say your supervisor asked you to teach a music related lesson in class. What songs would you teach? How would you turn those songs into a lesson?

11) On your application, you answered that you have some experience with the Japanese language. Could you answer a few questions in Japanese for us? This won't effect whether or not you are hired, but we just want to gauge your ability. (I talked for about 3-4 minutes in Japanese with the native Japanese guy on my interview panel. He started basic, and gradually got more difficult. If I said I didn't understand, he would rephrase the question for me, then I would understand enough to come up with a decent answer)

12) Do you have any questions for us?

....and that was pretty much it! I felt like some of my answers were stupid, but I just kept a smile on my face and did my best to look confident and speak loudly and clearly at all times. I wore a solid black sleeveless dress with a dark gray blazer and black mary-jane-like flats and nude colored pantyhose.

Here is some general advice I have when preparing for your JET Program interview:

1) Give yourself PLENTY of time to get to your interview. Google maps may say that it's a 20 minute drive from your house to your interview, but you could easily run into traffic, turning that 20 minute drive into an hour long drive. Just don't risk it. Be prepared for anything inconvenient that could possibily happen to happen on that day.

2) If you are walking to the interview site, keep an umbrella in your bag. It might also be a good idea to have a water bottle (many tend to get dry mouth when nervous) and, for ladies, an extra pair of hose/tights.

3) Make ABSOLUTELY SURE that you have all the materials that are required. You'll need to bring a form of photo ID (passport or drivers license) and your interview voucher, which is form that will be attached to an email you recieve from your consulate that you'll need to fill out and attach a recent passport sized photo onto. You will not be allowed to enter without these two things.

4) Wear something professional and modest. Ladies, if we can see your cleavage when you bend over, don't wear it. Avoid bold, bright, distracting prints.

5) Smile :)

My next post will be: "You've been accepted into the JET Program!....Now what?" :-P