Hi, I am an aspiring JET programme participant! I’ve known JET since 2018, but I haven’t had the courage to apply until this year (hopefully).
I want to know the highlights of your application story, what made you decide to apply? Do you have any setbacks? How did you overcome anxiety and other negative feelings? What are the things that you wish you could’ve done better during the process? Anything that you would like to share to motivate aspirants like me.
I am also aware that the program is not as perfect as it seems, so any feedback and comments about what to expect are also welcome.
Thank you in advance, and take care wherever you are!
7 comments
I am also an aspiring JET currently awaiting the results of my interview. I have known about it since 2016 when my best friend was accepted into the programme (1 person every 3 years from my island). I actually never thought I would apply myself but during 2021 I started studying a few languages over the year to keep sane. I then started seriously considering the programme since I knew a lot about the good and bad of it, I was not (still am not) happy with my current job and the more interested I got, the more my interest in Japan grew. I have now been studying the language for 6 and a half months and I am thoroughly enjoying it. Praying that I get to share my culture with Japan and learn directly about the Japanese culture by living and working there.
I told it already [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/JETProgramme/comments/tx5zlv/alternates_who_got_upgraded_what_is_your_story/i3okzz8/).
To add context to bombing the interview, the interviewers asked me if I knew any special connection between Townsville, QLD and Japan. I didn’t really know so I just said that Townsville was one of the locations where Air raids took place. They said, “No, it was actually Japan’s first consulate in Australia.” I was like “Oh really, that’s cool” and we moved on. I felt like I had done myself in with that.
I was given the title of alternate, and then was upgraded on May 12, which was the same day I travelled to Japan for the first time in 2016.
I applied because I was having a quarter life crisis. I think I also applied to the Army reserve around the same time as I applied to JET.
I overcame anxiety by not expecting it to happen. I’d go through the application process and if they said no, no big deal, I’d find another opportunity somewhere else.
My high school Japanese teacher studied abroad in Japan and did JET, so I wanted to be like him. Cool dude.
I graduated college in 2016 and wanted to do it right after, but family issues. Come 2018, finally applied and got in. There’s a lot of advice online… but I think the best thing is to have confidence in yourself as a human being.
Watched a video on youtube, went “I could probably do that” and then I applied.
DIdn’t think I’d get in, got an interview. Thought the interview wasn’t too crash hot. Got shortlisted. Then Covid happened and things got delayed and I got a new job, didn’t really care too much about going on JET if it was going to get delayed further but I got shipped out at the end of 2020.
Still remember getting my placement and going “where the hell is that?”. But having been here for a bit I think it’s a really good place and I lucked out.
I found out about JET in 2018 after my Japanese tutor did four years on it. She was also one of the leaders when I did my sister cities exchange to Koshigaya in ’08. I’ve kept up with friends I’ve made from then, as well as the Japanese tourists I used to show around Sydney when I used to work at some of major museums for a few years. Before JET, I’ve been to Japan eight times and traveled quite a bit, with only Kyushu left to sightsee. When I used to visit my friends in Tokyo that were in university at the time they asked for some tips when it came to academic writing they suggested I should consider teaching English here. JET was a way to see if I wanted to consider teaching as career and it’s been worthwhile since then. However, I do have an ideal placement which is one factor and I know not everyone lucks out like that. Hell, Tokyo wasn’t even in my list to begin with – but given my ongoing medical things I deal with, I can see why that was a factor in my placement as well.
I found out about Jet in April ’21. Really wanted to go but I couldn’t as I had 2 cats plus a foster demon-cat hybrid who couldn’t be rehomed due to her feral nature. She kept hinting at a sweet side that I decided to keep her rather than putting her down.
Somehow by April ’22 I was cat-less due to cancer and the feral demon doing a 180 and deciding she was a house cat after all. It was really hard when I received my short list email as my 13yo cat lost his cancer battle days afterwards.
As for my Jet application- the panel really liked the fact I had moved to a rural town for work and I talked about how I got involved in the community. My interview was also really short and they seemed like they were only confirming that my SOP was true.
Found out about JET in January while I was googling English teaching jobs in Japan. Reading about the application requirements gave me a bit of anxiety as I’m pretty far from the embassy, the SOP and start up costs (if I get in) also stressed me out to the point that I decided to apply next year. The main reason for applying next year though is to give myself as much time as possible to learn basic Japanese as I feel it’s the greatest tool that I can bring to JET to adjust quicker and create relationships a bit more naturally. Currently I’ve just wrapped up Hiragana and all I have in my arsenal are lone words and anime catchphrases but I believe by the time next year’s application I will be much better.