I keep failing interviews. What am I doing wrong?

19 comments

1. How did you do during the interviews? Were you visibly nervous or very outgoing?

2. Are you a native speaker? Some companies might reject people based on that (if you’re non-native I mean). I’m not sure, just a thought.

3. Did you teach a trial lesson? Or were you not at that stage yet?

   If so, when teaching you need to be outgoing, offer a lot of praise and some correction. If the interviewer gives feedback and tells you to try again, you need to follow that feedback well to show that you can quickly adapt to the teaching style that they are seeking.

4. Honestly, it’s anyone’s guess. It probably can even come down to how the recruiter themselves are feeling at the moment. Personally, I didn’t pass two of my first choices before I eventually made it through with my third choice.

5. As a previous recruiter for companies like this there can be a few things.
   1) They have filled the position and thus rejected you.
   2) Depending on your current visa and location they may have rejected you.
   3) They may feel that you aren’t a fit in the interview. Many places are looking for specific types of people.
   4) Lack of experience. They may specifically want English teaching experience.
   Some advice is in interviews, don’t just talk about your experiences but more of show it by asking questions. Ask about their teaching style and about things they do in the classroom. You want to be energetic but the clown stuff is tiring on the recruiter. Right now experience is a must so don’t limit yourself to just Eikaiwa. Look into ALT as well.

6. Don’t feel bad. I’ve failed aeon, nova too. I think it’s because japan isn’t letting anyone in still. I’d recommend applying for JET while you still can, I got into that after they waitlisted me.

7. Im applying myself. i think they just get a lot of applicants. EG each job i apply for on that pot website says over 70 people have applied for most of these posions. These people most likely all have BAs and i would say 20% are native speakers.

8. What’s your answer for why you want to teach in Japan? (They always ask that.)

9. I can think of a couple of things. Things that are important for them:

   Not talking too much. Ideally you want student:teacher speaking time to be 70:30 or more for the student. You speaking too much won’t go over well.

   Adaptability. If you have strong ideas about teaching, that’s a red flag for them. You need to adapt to their style of teaching, following a pattern which follows their curriculum. Give students a chance to try to make a sentence by themselves first, introduce today’s point, have students try again, then personalize the point so students can talk about themselves.

   Praising students and using their names a lot. Even if the student makes a mistake, they need to be told nice try first. Students also generally like things to be specific to them and not general.

   So, things that can help you pass the interview: being friendly, not strict. Being adaptable, not having pre-conceived notions of what teaching should be like. Being a good listener, not overly talkative. Being focused on the other person, not yourself.

   I don’t know if any of these apply to you or not, just some general advice from my experience.

10. > I’ve heard that you can get rejected if you’re over qualified, but I don’t think that’s the case here.

    If it helps rule that out, I came over with a teaching degree, Australian teacher’s license and a master of education. I could choose just about whatever eikaiwa job I wanted. I’ve also seen teachers with 20+ years of experience get gigs because they want a change for 6-12 months. In general, I don’t believe in the ‘over-qualified’ excuse. Usually when I hear it, it’s coming from people less qualified than me who are a little bit delusional about how special they are.

    Right now, I think everybody’s being rejected due to COVID-19. IMO it’ll probably open up a lot more within 6 months or so. IMO remain positive and keep trying… you and a lot of others will get a chance eventually.

11. DM your resume. I know of some places that are looking for me.

12. Just whip your cock out and do the helicopter

13. Go into an interview with the feeling that if you get the job, great! If you don’t, that’s ok too because I something else will come along. If you go in with that attitude, you will find that you’ll be more relaxed.

14. Are you giving requirements for placement or ages you’ll teach? I feel like that is the #1 disqualifer. Don’t say “only Tokyo” or “only teaching adults” (or whatever). They want someone they can place anywhere who will teach anything. Being particular makes you an easy cut.

15. If you’re getting interviews but not being offered the job at multiple large companies like that, there must be some specific things that they find unpleasant. If you have time to find someone who you know will be honest to you and do a practice interview with them, probably they can identify some sources of concern.

    Without seeing a practice interview there’s really no way for us to know. Perhaps you’re trying too hard? Perhaps you’re using some obviously unprofessional mannerisms or dressing obviously inappropriately? Perhaps you have a very strong accent from a place that’s not famous and they don’t like that?

16. This isn’t meant as an insult directed at you, so please don’t take it that way.

    Some people are awkward. During interviews, they’re nervous and it *shows*. They don’t feel comfortable in their own skin and interviewers pick up on it. It’s off-putting and they don’t want to hire people who they think might crack under a stressful situation in the classroom.

17. Don’t be hard on yourself. You might never reallyKnow why those positions didn’t work out for you, but it’s important to move on and be kind to yourself.

    Being rejected from jobs can take a toll on your mental health. So, you didn’t get accepted, that’s fine, take in some of the great advice here and start new for the next one

    The only thing that I would add is to change your perspective on the job interview process. You are the one looking for a job which is the best for YOU!

    Prepare, research the companies or schools thoroughly, listen carefully and at the end make sure to ask questions that genuinely apply to you.

    Interviewers are just people, not around to make your life miserable, and seeing them as equals in the process might make you feel more relaxed. Your qualifications are important, but the people on the other end of the table are also going to be thinking about if they will feel happy or comfortable working with you every day

18. Tbh I would garner getting an online TEFL certificate would help immensely. You can find some ones you breeze through.

19. Send a video of yourself if you want honest opinion and evaluation. All we have is assumptions.