So this is a common one that I totally messed up because like many folks I was obsessed with why I wanted to go to Japan – What can you offer the program? Sure, I had it on my resume but I had never really practiced saying it out loud in an interview session or to the degree of other stuff! Easily avoidable mistake! I came off sounding like a corporate press release 😛
The one I was surprised by but understanding of was – will you be ok with being dropped in the middle of no where? Tons of people think they can handle it only to find that the reality doesn’t meet their (In my experience) unrealistic expectations and quit. Not to mention being cut off from English speakers, infrastructure, conveniences, certain experiences due to location even, etc The follow up questions were along the lines of will you be lonely? Can you bear that for a long time? What will you do instead? “Luckily” 😛 that’s been a chunk of my life so I could point to support structures and coping strats I had previously implemented that I’d use in Japan. I was low key hoping to use it to reason my way to a placement in Osaka but no dice XD still, semi-rural Kobe rocks
Have involved practice conversations with people who ask you difficult questions about choosing Jet! It helps! Best of luck!
I’ve mentioned it in previous threads, but I was asked what I was going to do with my hair while in Japan by the JET alum. I am Black and wear my hair natural, so I had to explain that I have a hair care routine similar to most folks and if people ask about it, I don’t have any issues talking about why my hair looks different to coworkers or children. They waited until after I answered to say they had concerns since there were past JETs that had trouble with getting hair products they preferred or people touching their hair without permission, but I found it ironic because I dealt with that a lot in the US anyway lol. I understand why they asked, but knowing that someone with straight hair probably wouldn’t have been asked that question made me worry about how I answered it.
I had a D in a Japanese class in college (among other C and B- grades that semester). I was asked what had happened to make my grades go down, and how I could prevent something like that from affecting my work in the future if I went to Japan (or something like that).
My answer: I was in an abusive relationship that semester and my grades suffered for it. So I guess I will avoid abusive relationships to keep it from happening to my work in Japan. The interviewers seemed very embarrassed by my answer and quickly moved on after some awkward chuckles. I guess the question they had meant to use to throw me off ended up throwing them off instead.
¯_(ツ)_/¯
How do you plan on covering up your tattoos?
I don’t have any o.o.
Threw me a bit off, oh and them asking how my day was xD? Not sure why lol.
I wasn’t necessarily surprised that they asked this, but more by their response to my answer: they asked me what I would do if I experienced culture shock. In my particular case, I’m half Japanese so I addressed that my culture shock experience may be unique to those who may be immersed for the first time, but I still listed some ways that I would address culture shock both proactively and reactively – building a support network of friends and neighbors so I feel connected within my community, continuing my Japanese language study so I have a stronger understanding and can navigate linguistic obstacles, participating in local events to better understand and connect with my local community, keep regular communication with my local and abroad family members for support, contacting my network, including Japanese friends and family, for help or with questions should I need it, utilizing local resources for guidance, etc. Upon hearing all of that, the panel paused and repeated, “Ok, but what will you *do* if you have culture shock?” I was confused by this response and more or less repeated myself, haha. Ultimately I got into the program just fine, but this question had me over-analyzing for a while afterward!
They brought up something I specifically wrote in my SOP and asked me to explain it. Luckily I was able to remember the context I wrote it in, but for a brief moment I forgot what the heck I wrote.
I was asked “How are Japan and Canada different?” like… in general (I’m Canadian). It was such a broad question required me to mostly assume things about the country. I went with the general work culture, at least what I understood it to be. They seemed satisfied but I definitely had a little panic moment.
What 3 movies would you show your students to represent America? 😂 I drew a blank and couldn’t think of a single movie for like 2 minutes. Then I said American Psycho as on my choices. I still made it in though, so no pressure
“If a teacher asked you why Trump pulled out of the Paris Climate Agreement, what would you say?”
“Give us a demo on covalent bonds for a high school class.”
They really tried it. So jealous of everyone who had a more relaxed interview, but here I am typing this from the English classroom during good ol’ desk warming hours.
[deleted]
Early on in the interview, they passed me a slip with a sentence and told me to read it. They then pointed out that it was from my SOP but it is grammatically incorrect. They told me to find the mistake. I couldn’t hahahaha. I tried saying maybe the sentence was too long and the guy was like no, so I told him I am not sure. He gave me the answer and I kept it cool and said ‘thank you for correcting me, I learned a new thing.’ They then made me teach them a mini lesson on Chinese since that is my first language. I said I don’t know how to write Chinese and they said it is fine and made me do it anyway. I had to try spell Chinese pinyin on the board (which I barely remember) and teach them to sing twinkle twinkle little star in Chinese hahahaha. I decided to do a song on the spot because I am a music teacher and I think they liked that.
I got a couple of odd questions, not sure if they were just interested or it was a legit question. But because I worked in investments, they asked me what was the one piece of investment advice I’d give to someone. I guess my answer was good enough lol
Not a question that threw me off, but my Japanese level was next to nothing at all. So when it came time for the Japanese language portion, I was about to decline when I see one panelist nodding their head and mouthing “take it, take it”. I was really caught off-guard but I figured, as a panelist, they knew something I didn’t so I opted for the test anyway. Had no idea what was asked of me, so right off the bat I essentially had to reply, “I’m sorry, but I think we’re already at a level that’s beyond my comprehension”. The whole thing threw me off and felt awkward and counterintuitive, but in the end I got in so maybe it earned me a brownie point or two.
“What is your opinion of American military bases in Japan?”
For the Japanese portion: “Say you get a knock on the door from an NHK representative asking you to pay for the use of the TV in your apartment that was left by your predecessor. You don’t really use it. What would you do?”
I was so taken aback that I straight out lied and said I didn’t understand the question.
In fairness, they warned me that it would be a difficult question but I wasn’t expecting that kind of difficult.
“Why did America drop the atomic bombs on Japan during WWII?” Followed by “How would you handle this question?”
And I kid you not, within my 2nd year in Japan, I was asked this question by one of my Japanese friends.
I got asked a couple of fun ones lol. I got asked why I wasn’t married yet, why I was looking to do JET at this ‘time in my life’, and why I was leaving an actual career to participate in JET. If you haven’t guessed it, I wasn’t fresh out of college when I applied and was accepted lol. Due to an anecdote I wrote in my SOP about my time on EPIK/TaLK, I was asked how I would handle a teacher in the school giving misinformation about Americans/Black people. I was asked how I personally felt about the president at the time (Trump) and how I would convey that if asked by students/teachers. I was asked how I would deal with a school or BOE requesting that I change my appearance (this was a huge one for me as a Black woman. Like I wish they would tell me I couldn’t wear braids or my natural hair out lol).
My mind completely went blank at the “what Japanese culture do you like” all of a sudden I didn’t know *what* was Japanese culture. I said I didn’t know any. Later on I was having a good chat with an interviewer about playing the new Pokemon game and my stupid brain decided to remind me then that that could of been an answer.
“What would you do if you were told you were expected to serve tea to the other members of your office?”
“What would you do if a grandpa was yelling at you about being a foreigner in front of your students?”
I said that I liked video games and board games and they asked me, first in Japanese then in English when I struggled to answer, “video games have a negative conantation in Japan, what would you say to help change our opinion on it.” Boy, I was like,” it opens.. up opportunities…. to experience new and realistically unobtainable things…. and… can open ones minds to different people you may encounter online that you would never meet in real life?” Complete bullshit but it worked lol
I had two:
1) As someone who was in graduate school at the time of the interview, they asked whether I thought I was overqualified for JET and being an ALT. 2) “You have a very outgoing personality. What will you do when Japanese people don’t like that?” 🙃
I brought up my background as a first generation immigrant to the US and my path to becoming a citizen over time, and then my follow-up question was “how do you feel about Trump’s immigration policies?” 💀
23 comments
So this is a common one that I totally messed up because like many folks I was obsessed with why I wanted to go to Japan
– What can you offer the program?
Sure, I had it on my resume but I had never really practiced saying it out loud in an interview session or to the degree of other stuff! Easily avoidable mistake! I came off sounding like a corporate press release 😛
The one I was surprised by but understanding of was
– will you be ok with being dropped in the middle of no where?
Tons of people think they can handle it only to find that the reality doesn’t meet their (In my experience) unrealistic expectations and quit. Not to mention being cut off from English speakers, infrastructure, conveniences, certain experiences due to location even, etc
The follow up questions were along the lines of will you be lonely? Can you bear that for a long time? What will you do instead?
“Luckily” 😛 that’s been a chunk of my life so I could point to support structures and coping strats I had previously implemented that I’d use in Japan.
I was low key hoping to use it to reason my way to a placement in Osaka but no dice XD still, semi-rural Kobe rocks
Have involved practice conversations with people who ask you difficult questions about choosing Jet! It helps!
Best of luck!
I’ve mentioned it in previous threads, but I was asked what I was going to do with my hair while in Japan by the JET alum. I am Black and wear my hair natural, so I had to explain that I have a hair care routine similar to most folks and if people ask about it, I don’t have any issues talking about why my hair looks different to coworkers or children. They waited until after I answered to say they had concerns since there were past JETs that had trouble with getting hair products they preferred or people touching their hair without permission, but I found it ironic because I dealt with that a lot in the US anyway lol. I understand why they asked, but knowing that someone with straight hair probably wouldn’t have been asked that question made me worry about how I answered it.
I had a D in a Japanese class in college (among other C and B- grades that semester). I was asked what had happened to make my grades go down, and how I could prevent something like that from affecting my work in the future if I went to Japan (or something like that).
My answer: I was in an abusive relationship that semester and my grades suffered for it. So I guess I will avoid abusive relationships to keep it from happening to my work in Japan. The interviewers seemed very embarrassed by my answer and quickly moved on after some awkward chuckles. I guess the question they had meant to use to throw me off ended up throwing them off instead.
¯_(ツ)_/¯
How do you plan on covering up your tattoos?
I don’t have any o.o.
Threw me a bit off, oh and them asking how my day was xD? Not sure why lol.
I wasn’t necessarily surprised that they asked this, but more by their response to my answer: they asked me what I would do if I experienced culture shock. In my particular case, I’m half Japanese so I addressed that my culture shock experience may be unique to those who may be immersed for the first time, but I still listed some ways that I would address culture shock both proactively and reactively – building a support network of friends and neighbors so I feel connected within my community, continuing my Japanese language study so I have a stronger understanding and can navigate linguistic obstacles, participating in local events to better understand and connect with my local community, keep regular communication with my local and abroad family members for support, contacting my network, including Japanese friends and family, for help or with questions should I need it, utilizing local resources for guidance, etc. Upon hearing all of that, the panel paused and repeated, “Ok, but what will you *do* if you have culture shock?” I was confused by this response and more or less repeated myself, haha. Ultimately I got into the program just fine, but this question had me over-analyzing for a while afterward!
They brought up something I specifically wrote in my SOP and asked me to explain it. Luckily I was able to remember the context I wrote it in, but for a brief moment I forgot what the heck I wrote.
I was asked “How are Japan and Canada different?” like… in general (I’m Canadian). It was such a broad question required me to mostly assume things about the country. I went with the general work culture, at least what I understood it to be. They seemed satisfied but I definitely had a little panic moment.
What 3 movies would you show your students to represent America? 😂 I drew a blank and couldn’t think of a single movie for like 2 minutes. Then I said American Psycho as on my choices. I still made it in though, so no pressure
“If a teacher asked you why Trump pulled out of the Paris Climate Agreement, what would you say?”
“Give us a demo on covalent bonds for a high school class.”
They really tried it. So jealous of everyone who had a more relaxed interview, but here I am typing this from the English classroom during good ol’ desk warming hours.
[deleted]
Early on in the interview, they passed me a slip with a sentence and told me to read it. They then pointed out that it was from my SOP but it is grammatically incorrect. They told me to find the mistake. I couldn’t hahahaha. I tried saying maybe the sentence was too long and the guy was like no, so I told him I am not sure. He gave me the answer and I kept it cool and said ‘thank you for correcting me, I learned a new thing.’ They then made me teach them a mini lesson on Chinese since that is my first language. I said I don’t know how to write Chinese and they said it is fine and made me do it anyway. I had to try spell Chinese pinyin on the board (which I barely remember) and teach them to sing twinkle twinkle little star in Chinese hahahaha. I decided to do a song on the spot because I am a music teacher and I think they liked that.
I got a couple of odd questions, not sure if they were just interested or it was a legit question. But because I worked in investments, they asked me what was the one piece of investment advice I’d give to someone. I guess my answer was good enough lol
Not a question that threw me off, but my Japanese level was next to nothing at all. So when it came time for the Japanese language portion, I was about to decline when I see one panelist nodding their head and mouthing “take it, take it”. I was really caught off-guard but I figured, as a panelist, they knew something I didn’t so I opted for the test anyway. Had no idea what was asked of me, so right off the bat I essentially had to reply, “I’m sorry, but I think we’re already at a level that’s beyond my comprehension”. The whole thing threw me off and felt awkward and counterintuitive, but in the end I got in so maybe it earned me a brownie point or two.
“What is your opinion of American military bases in Japan?”
For the Japanese portion:
“Say you get a knock on the door from an NHK representative asking you to pay for the use of the TV in your apartment that was left by your predecessor. You don’t really use it. What would you do?”
I was so taken aback that I straight out lied and said I didn’t understand the question.
In fairness, they warned me that it would be a difficult question but I wasn’t expecting that kind of difficult.
“Why did America drop the atomic bombs on Japan during WWII?” Followed by “How would you handle this question?”
And I kid you not, within my 2nd year in Japan, I was asked this question by one of my Japanese friends.
I got asked a couple of fun ones lol. I got asked why I wasn’t married yet, why I was looking to do JET at this ‘time in my life’, and why I was leaving an actual career to participate in JET. If you haven’t guessed it, I wasn’t fresh out of college when I applied and was accepted lol. Due to an anecdote I wrote in my SOP about my time on EPIK/TaLK, I was asked how I would handle a teacher in the school giving misinformation about Americans/Black people. I was asked how I personally felt about the president at the time (Trump) and how I would convey that if asked by students/teachers. I was asked how I would deal with a school or BOE requesting that I change my appearance (this was a huge one for me as a Black woman. Like I wish they would tell me I couldn’t wear braids or my natural hair out lol).
My mind completely went blank at the “what Japanese culture do you like” all of a sudden I didn’t know *what* was Japanese culture. I said I didn’t know any. Later on I was having a good chat with an interviewer about playing the new Pokemon game and my stupid brain decided to remind me then that that could of been an answer.
“What would you do if you were told you were expected to serve tea to the other members of your office?”
“What would you do if a grandpa was yelling at you about being a foreigner in front of your students?”
I said that I liked video games and board games and they asked me, first in Japanese then in English when I struggled to answer, “video games have a negative conantation in Japan, what would you say to help change our opinion on it.”
Boy, I was like,” it opens.. up opportunities…. to experience new and realistically unobtainable things…. and… can open ones minds to different people you may encounter online that you would never meet in real life?”
Complete bullshit but it worked lol
I had two:
1) As someone who was in graduate school at the time of the interview, they asked whether I thought I was overqualified for JET and being an ALT.
2) “You have a very outgoing personality. What will you do when Japanese people don’t like that?” 🙃
I brought up my background as a first generation immigrant to the US and my path to becoming a citizen over time, and then my follow-up question was “how do you feel about Trump’s immigration policies?” 💀