The application steps of JET

Ok, so to start with, I'll go through the steps required to get in to the program.

1. Assuming you already know about the program, the first thing you have to do is fill out the application. It's incredibly long and asks insanely detailed questions about stuff you haven't thought about in years. For example, I had to find my old passport in order to fill in the international experience section because they wanted every place you had been to from birth. I even had my mother looking up dates from home with no idea why I was asking her these silly questions. In addition, you're going to have to dupe 2 people into writing you letters of reference, preferably someone who has been in a position of authority relative to you. In my case, I went with a former manager and my sensei from Aikido.

2. Once you've got the application filled out, it's time to write your statement of purpose. 2 pages long, with 12 point font, double spaced, and 1 inch margins. And if you screw up the formatting, it won't matter how stellar your essay is; you've got to learn to follow rules if you want to live in Japan :) The statement of purpose should include reference to your qualifications, your interest in the program, and why you want to go to Japan. I hadn't written an essay in years, and I put off writing that stupid statement right up to the last minute. It was almost as difficult as writing the essay that got me in to grad school. Mostly I played up that I had traveled extensively thanks to my airline-brat upbringing, had been to Japan, do a lot of volunteer work, and that I was a TA in grad school. Also, I made a big point of stating what I wanted to get out of the program and what I wanted to bring to the kids over there - mostly cultural exchange type stuff.

3. The next step is to pester your reference-writers, get all your transcripts together in time, photo copy your diploma(s), put everything in the correct order, and ship that puppy out before the early December deadline. In typical Jen fashion, I shipped mine overnight mail on Dec 4, just in time to make the Dec 5 cut off :D

4. Now you wait. For 2 months you wait. You get a taste of it in the beginning, before they *actually* post the application on the web in November, several weeks after they say they will, but it is nothing in comparison to this. Once you get the notification that they have received your application, you hear nothing. Merry Christmas.

5. Near the end of January, when you've somewhat forgotten that you had applied, you will find out if you have passed the first round. They send you a number when they notify you they have received your application, and this they will post in an enormous spreadsheet on the internet. There you must search for it, either with the people who passed or those who didn't. I, obviously, was in the group who passed. From what I could tell, it appeared about half of the people who applied made it past this step.

6. Next you will be contacted by your local consulate congratulating you on making it thus far, then you will wait again to find out when the interviews will take place. And you will wait for about a month. In my case, there was a very good chance that I was supposed to be traveling for work when the interviews were to happen, and this was quite stressful for me given that there are 2 days, and 2 days only, when these interviews would happen. And if you could not make it to one of those dates you were dropped from the list. Fortunately for me, it worked out that I didn't have to go anywhere and the consulate was kind enough to give me some advanced warning of the interview timing.

7. Interview prep. This is probably the most difficult part of the entire process - you will be assigned a date and time for your interview, which is non-negotiable. Mine was the second-to-last interview with "Group A", on day number 2 of interviews. I neglected to request a day or time when we signed up for the interviews. I saw it as a crap-shoot - either you go first and they are eager and hit you with horrible questions, or you go second and they're tired of doing interviews and you get horrible questions. In order to prepare for the myriad of questions they were most likely going to ask me, I practiced lists of questions from people who had already gone through the process, posted on the internet. Lists and lists and lists of questions, compiled over years of interviews. Only one of which I was actually asked. Typical.

8. The interview. On your assigned day, you should arrive 30 minutes early for your interview. From what I had gathered, there would be a receptionist there to greet you and sign you in, and he/she would take note of when you arrived. I worked in the morning, dressed in interview clothes (feeling totally obvious in the business-casual atmosphere of my office). Well, I wouldn't say I actually got any work done, but I showed up at least. I arrived for my interview 30 minutes early, as prescribed in my instructions. Not too early, not too late. Followed the signs for the "JET Interviews", and I found a line of people waiting in a hallway that was under construction >.< We were told by a man hurriedly exiting the room at the end of the hallway that they were running behind and to just wait in the room until we were called. There were 4 different groups of interviewers - A, B, C, and D. I was in group A. No receptionist, no other instructions than that. Just wait. We sat in the waiting room, nervously chatting, until one by one, people were called into their interviews.

After a small gaffe involving the girl ahead of me in group A and I interrupting another interview, I was finally called in. Because of the construction, my interview was actually on another floor. Way up at the top of the building. So I was escorted up the elevator to a large room with a splendid view of Denver and the mountains by one of my 3 interviewers. The man who came to get me appeared very tired and seemed somewhat stressed, so I tried my best to alleviate the tension by chatting virtually non-stop on the ride up. I was really worried about being asked questions I had no idea how to answer, but as it turned out they were all really interested in me and were so eager to ask me questions about myself that they int erupted each other. And I began the interview by cracking jokes and asking them questions, which seemed to disarm them well as the most difficult question I had involved being served whale at a party. In fact, it was probably the most pleasant interview I've ever been on, and I left feeling awesome and I just knew that I was in.

9. Once the interview is over, the interviewers will send their recommendations on and you will again wait. Until some time in April. I was notified on April 3 that I had been accepted, although they won't give you a placement until after you formally accept. They send you a packet of forms you will need to complete and send back before a deadline near the end of the month. It included my response (yes or no), a very quick medical exam that for some reason includes a chest x-ray (for TB I know, but they didn't request anything else like blood work or vaccination history or anything), pictures (because everybody in Japan has to include a [passport-sized] photo of themselves with their applications), and an FBI background check. This was the first year they have done the background check, so there were plenty of snags associate with that. But what is life without a little drama, eh?

10. After sending in your response in April, you must once again, yes, wait to find out your placement. They say you will be notified in May, so I was on the lookout, quite foolishly, from May 1 on. As it turned out, I found out May 21. And I was in Utah for work so had virtually no opportunity to research my new home.

11. At this point, June 4, I have received notification of where I am going, but have not actually made contact with the local Board of Education (BOE) where I will be teaching. They are supposed to get in touch with me, "soon", but we all know what that means ;) Hopefully I will also be able to get in touch with my predecessor to find out about housing and what will be left for me and what I will have to purchase once I get there.

12. At some point I will have to begin packing, my American-ness in 2 (maybe 3 if I'm willing to pay extra), suitcases checked on the plane. There will be a mandatory, pre-departure orientation on July 27, and then I head out to Japan on July 28, arriving in Tokyo on July 29 for 3 days of orientation before being shipped out to Takayama. Of course, I have not heard yet anything other than we are leaving on July 28; no info on airline, flight number, or time. But then again if I've learned anything through this process it's that not-knowing is just another part of the JET experience :)