Saturday, February 20, 2010

JET interview

I just had my JET interview so I am going to talk about that first. So I drove up to Phoenix and got to the location about 45 mins early. I wanted to get there even earlier but there was an accident on the way over. I came in and was greeted by some former JETs and they talked a little bit and I got to ask them some questions. A Japanese man came in and asked for me and started to talk in Japanese, basically just asking how good my Japanese was. I had no problems talking to him in Japanese for a bit and it turns out that he actually teaches at Pima (my old community college) and knew my Japanese teacher there. The other two interviewers were Americans. They first asked me to talk about myself and why I want to do JET and I gave them my whole rehearsed speech about wanting to use JET as a career move and how I feel grateful to Japan for all that I received last year. I forget the order but the lady there asked if I had any teaching experience and I was able to say that I am gaining some through church and volunteering. Church became a big topic during the interview. I was asked how I would react if someone asked about my religion, which I replied I would be happy to talk about religion and would ask about their religious beliefs while being very careful not to sound pushy or preachy. They asked if being in a small town, far away from a church would be a problem, which I replied that I would be willing to do some traveling to get to church. Also when the question about why I chose urban setting on my application came up I said it was so that I could be closer to a church. They asked a lot about my statement of purpose and I was able to explain how I want to do grad school but I need some time to think about what to study and how JET could help me get a scholarship for grad school. They also asked how I would run a class for middle schoolers, I was a little stumped on how to answer that, but I said I would introduce myself and talk about America for a little bit and then try and get the students to talk by asking open ended questions, the lady there said that it would be middle school students so open ended would be over their head but I responded by saying it would be things like “what is your house like?” or “tell me about your family”. I was hoping for a more specific teaching example, but I think what I said worked. Another question was how I would respond to being a part of clubs or hanging out with the school staff after work and I responded that work isn't just 9-5 there is more that goes with it and I would really enjoy doing those things. This was sort of a trick question, overtime and hanging out with co-workers is the norm in Japan. There was also the strength and weakness question.

All in all my recommendations are, do not be nervous, know your statement of purpose really well (that is why they picked you), and be willing to be flexible about anything.