I know that at the end of my last post I said that I would begin talking specifically about the application process, but, considering there is PLENTY of time for all that, I thought it would be important to first talk about how to build up your resume before you actually dive into it.
When I say 'build up your resume', I don't mean it literally. You will not have to make a typical business resume for this job like you would most other jobs. However, you will be required to fill out an online application form, on which there will be places to list your past experiences and such. This being said, you should be using this time to do things that would strengthen your application. It would kind of suck to go to fill out your application and have to leave a whole bunch of blanks, right?
So what kind of experiences does JET consider valuable? Here is a list of things that pop up on the application that you should consider:
1) Extracurricular activites: This includes any club or organization you were in/are in at anytime during college. I would try to have at least one thing I could list in this category, because it shows that you are outgoing and like getting involved in something you are passionate about. On my application, I listed University Chorus, a music education organization, and Japanese club.
2) Leadership experience: Have you held a position in any other the clubs you've been in? There is a place specifically for it on the application. I'm sure that not putting anything here wouldn't make or break you getting the interview, but it would probably help in showing them that your peers trust you (and like you) enough to vote you in charge.
3) Teaching background: This section asks for any classroom or tutoring experience you may have. I believe this also extends to any work you've done with children, including camp counseling or volunteer work. Also, you can include any education/teacher training classes you happened to take in college. On my application, the only thing I had to put here was a child and adolescent development course I took. In other words, don't freak out if you've had no teaching experience. If you can, try to get some during the summer. If not, that's okay too. Even with my almost non-existant teaching background, I still got an interview.
4) International/Intercultural experience: This is where you can list any event/activity/volunteering work that you've done either with multicultural students in your home country (intercultural) or that took place in another country (international). Ideas for things to include in this section: helping at multicultural festivals, charity events, school trips, study abroad, or housing foreign exhange students.On my application, I mentioned that I helped organize an Art for Japan charity event on my college campus, as I worked with the Japanese students and teachers at my school to make that possible. Of course, anything you can put in this section would be a big plus. It shows that you've been exposed to other cultures, which means you are probably open-minded and interested in the world around you. Study abroad especially looks good, because that means you've probably had to deal with homesickness at some point, and that you now know how to get through it.
5) Employment history: Of all the sections on the application, this should be the least of your worries. I say that, because most people who apply for JET are those who are either still in college or just graduated, therefore they are people who still have crappy minimum wage jobs. All you do is list the job(s) you've had, how long you had them, and what your position is/what you do.As long as you haven't been fired a whole bunch, or anything like that, you have nothing to fear. If you have had any leadership experience within your job, even if it's just working at a fast food restaurant, it would be nice to include. Other than that, don't fret about it.
6) Japan related study: Any class you've taken in college that has anything to do with Japan can go here. Courses pertaining to Japanese religion, culture, film, politics, language, etc. is a nice touch to your application. I think this section really helps in proving that you're genuinely interested in Japan. Sure, you don't have to be a Japanese major or minor for the job, but a desire to learn more about the country is essential. If you are still currently in college and have yet to take any Japanese/Asian studies courses, I highly suggest you do so now.
7) Japanese language ability: You will be asked to rank your proficiency in the Japanese language. Do not stress out about this. Many people who are hired by JET have zero experience in Japanese, so just be honest. This is just to help them to figure out the best area to place you in if you are hired. Some schools request an ALT with at least a basic knowledge of Japanese, some don't. Either way, this will not effect whether or not you are hired. If you have prior experience, brush up on your Japanese and try to decide where you'd rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 5 in the categories of speaking, listening, reading, and writing. If not, learning how to say simple things like "Good morning!" (ohayou gozaimasu!) or "Thank you!" (arigatou) wouldn't hurt. **Keep in mind that if you say you have any knowledge of Japanese, you will be asked about it during your interview. About 3-4 minutes of my interview was in Japanese and I put 2 (intermediate rating).**
Now that I've thrown this huge chunk of information at you...you should take note of what relevent experiences you've had so far that could be useful and then take a look at what experiences are available to you in the near future that you could add to it. Especially if you're reading these blogs as I am writing them, you have plenty of time to do things to beef up your application.
On my next blog, I will write about the first thing you should get started on for your application: the Statement of Purpose essay.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Is the JET Program for me?
Well, the first thing you should do is read about the purpose of JET and the jobs that this program offers. Here is their official website: http://www.jetprogramme.org/e/aspiring/countries.html
JET Program stands for Japan Exchange and Teaching Program. You will also see the British spelling of it often -- JET Programme.
All you have to do is click on the country you reside in, and it will take you to JET's homepage for that country. The position I'm going to be primarily talking about on this blog is ALT, or Assistant Language Teacher, which is a job teaching English to native Japanese people, elementary to high school. The ALT position is the most popular, as the most slots are available for it each year, and no Japanese language skills are required. The other positions with the JET Program are CIR and SEA, which you can read about more on the website if you're interested. Keep in mind that the CIR position does require you to be proficient in Japanese. Japanese skills aren't required for the SEA position, however, very few positions are available. They usually only hire 1-2 SEAs from each participating country a year.
One thing you may notice while looking through the website is that there is a rather strict application timeline. Also, the application process takes almost a year to go through. You'll want to start collecting items for the application around September. The main application will become available in either October or November, then you submit the application at the end of November/early December. Interviews are held at the end of January - February, you find out if you got the job in April, you send even more documents, then you attend a predeparture orientation and leave for Japan end of July/early August. In other words, if you wanted to apply to teach in 2012, you're already too late. The process begins this fall for jobs starting August 2013. Yeah. Lots of waiting. (Edit: There is the option of applying for early departure, in which you could possibly start the job in April. You have to submit certain documents earlier than you normally would, so read more about it on the website if you're interested. I applied for normal departure, so I don't know all the details about this option.)
If the waiting is something you are willing to endure, you should check out the requirements to apply. You absolutely must have a bachelor's degree for any position with the JET Program. It can be in any subject; your degree does not have to be related to Japanese or teaching. This means that if you're planning to begin the application process this fall (2012), you must have your Bachelor's degree by Spring 2013 (before you would move to Japan in July/August 2013). I graduated May 2011 and am applying for this year, so I haven't had to worry about this aspect myself. There is more info about this on the website.
Also, you should read on the website about other qualifications before deciding to apply. On the USA website (and I believe the other countries' websites are set up similarly), if you click on the ALT tab off to the side, it lists the duties of the job, as well as the eligibility criteria. You must be adaptable, genuinely interested in Japan, be physically and mentally healthy, be a citizen of the country you are applying from, and be able to speak English loudly and clearly. Once again, Japanese skills are not required, but you must have a willingness to learn at least the basics of the language while living/working in Japan.
I would also suggest that you take a look at the Terms and Conditions. Keep in mind that all jobs with the JET Program are for a minimum of one year. If you leave before your contract is up, they will not pay for your way back home. If you're doing the job well, they may allow you to renew your contract for up to 5 years. The job typically consists of 8:30am - 5:15pm workdays, Monday through Friday, but, as you'll see A LOT as you continue to research about JET, every situation is different. Some days, you may need to stick around for extra-curricular activites or additional paperwork. Pretty much what they are saying is -- be flexible.
The salary has recently gone down, however it is still good enough pay to support yourself, and perhaps a spouse, while living in Japan. It is currently ¥3,360,000 a year for first year JETs (before taxes), and you get a little bit of a raise if you stay for additional year. 3,360,000 yen is equivalent to about $41,660. Keep in mind that cost of living could be expensive in Japan if you are placed in an urban area, or depending on how many luxuries you decide to indulge in, such as cell phones, internet, cable, etc. I've heard having a cell phone in Japan can be quite expensive.
If you've read all this and you're still interested, congratulations! You're a brave soul! Haha. Seriously, though, it's not a scary as many people make it out to be :)
In the next post, I will talk specifically about how to go about beginning the application process.
JET Program stands for Japan Exchange and Teaching Program. You will also see the British spelling of it often -- JET Programme.
All you have to do is click on the country you reside in, and it will take you to JET's homepage for that country. The position I'm going to be primarily talking about on this blog is ALT, or Assistant Language Teacher, which is a job teaching English to native Japanese people, elementary to high school. The ALT position is the most popular, as the most slots are available for it each year, and no Japanese language skills are required. The other positions with the JET Program are CIR and SEA, which you can read about more on the website if you're interested. Keep in mind that the CIR position does require you to be proficient in Japanese. Japanese skills aren't required for the SEA position, however, very few positions are available. They usually only hire 1-2 SEAs from each participating country a year.
One thing you may notice while looking through the website is that there is a rather strict application timeline. Also, the application process takes almost a year to go through. You'll want to start collecting items for the application around September. The main application will become available in either October or November, then you submit the application at the end of November/early December. Interviews are held at the end of January - February, you find out if you got the job in April, you send even more documents, then you attend a predeparture orientation and leave for Japan end of July/early August. In other words, if you wanted to apply to teach in 2012, you're already too late. The process begins this fall for jobs starting August 2013. Yeah. Lots of waiting. (Edit: There is the option of applying for early departure, in which you could possibly start the job in April. You have to submit certain documents earlier than you normally would, so read more about it on the website if you're interested. I applied for normal departure, so I don't know all the details about this option.)
If the waiting is something you are willing to endure, you should check out the requirements to apply. You absolutely must have a bachelor's degree for any position with the JET Program. It can be in any subject; your degree does not have to be related to Japanese or teaching. This means that if you're planning to begin the application process this fall (2012), you must have your Bachelor's degree by Spring 2013 (before you would move to Japan in July/August 2013). I graduated May 2011 and am applying for this year, so I haven't had to worry about this aspect myself. There is more info about this on the website.
Also, you should read on the website about other qualifications before deciding to apply. On the USA website (and I believe the other countries' websites are set up similarly), if you click on the ALT tab off to the side, it lists the duties of the job, as well as the eligibility criteria. You must be adaptable, genuinely interested in Japan, be physically and mentally healthy, be a citizen of the country you are applying from, and be able to speak English loudly and clearly. Once again, Japanese skills are not required, but you must have a willingness to learn at least the basics of the language while living/working in Japan.
I would also suggest that you take a look at the Terms and Conditions. Keep in mind that all jobs with the JET Program are for a minimum of one year. If you leave before your contract is up, they will not pay for your way back home. If you're doing the job well, they may allow you to renew your contract for up to 5 years. The job typically consists of 8:30am - 5:15pm workdays, Monday through Friday, but, as you'll see A LOT as you continue to research about JET, every situation is different. Some days, you may need to stick around for extra-curricular activites or additional paperwork. Pretty much what they are saying is -- be flexible.
The salary has recently gone down, however it is still good enough pay to support yourself, and perhaps a spouse, while living in Japan. It is currently ¥3,360,000 a year for first year JETs (before taxes), and you get a little bit of a raise if you stay for additional year. 3,360,000 yen is equivalent to about $41,660. Keep in mind that cost of living could be expensive in Japan if you are placed in an urban area, or depending on how many luxuries you decide to indulge in, such as cell phones, internet, cable, etc. I've heard having a cell phone in Japan can be quite expensive.
If you've read all this and you're still interested, congratulations! You're a brave soul! Haha. Seriously, though, it's not a scary as many people make it out to be :)
In the next post, I will talk specifically about how to go about beginning the application process.
Monday, February 27, 2012
So I created a blog...why?
Hello, this is Kayla. I'm starting this blog to specifically talk about my experiences with applying for the JET Program. I haven't been accepted for the job -- I just interviewed a few days ago and am now waiting for the results to be released. It looks like it will be sometime in April.
In order to try and keep myself sane, and also to help those of you who are considering applying to the JET Program in the future, I have created this blog. If anybody has any questions about any aspect of the application, just let me know. Otherwise, I will be going step-by-step on how to apply, and tips for how to survive the waiting process. After all, the hardest part of applying for JET is the waiting and there certainly is A LOT of it.
If I get the job, I will continue to post on here, hopefully with some helpful tips about how to survive living and working in Japan. If not, this blog may or may not continue, depending on if I decided to reapply for 2013. Regardless, I hope these posts will be helpful to the other JET hopefuls out there :) ganbarre!
In order to try and keep myself sane, and also to help those of you who are considering applying to the JET Program in the future, I have created this blog. If anybody has any questions about any aspect of the application, just let me know. Otherwise, I will be going step-by-step on how to apply, and tips for how to survive the waiting process. After all, the hardest part of applying for JET is the waiting and there certainly is A LOT of it.
If I get the job, I will continue to post on here, hopefully with some helpful tips about how to survive living and working in Japan. If not, this blog may or may not continue, depending on if I decided to reapply for 2013. Regardless, I hope these posts will be helpful to the other JET hopefuls out there :) ganbarre!
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