Has anyone gone directly from language school to JET? (especially CIR)

I’ve been flirting with the idea of JET or language school for a long time, and I’m finally starting to understand my priorities and accept the idea of returning back to life on a student budget.

Learning Japanese to a high level has always been on my bucket list, so I’d like to prioritise that. I’m currently in the process of applying to a language school again, as I got turned down last time due to having no record of prior study. Turns out not every school requires this though!

After graduating I’d like to apply for JET as a CIR. I was just wondering if anyone had gone directly from language school to JET, or if this would look bad on my application? I’ll by mid 30’s by then, so I already feel at a disadvantage due to my age and the weird pivot in my career. I’ll also be applying from Japan (I understand I’ll have to go home for the interview) and I’m not sure if this will be another point against me as well. Since it’s all about exchange, do they prefer people who don’t have a lot of experience living in Japan already? I’d rather not move home between language school and JET, because if I want to go for PR one day I’d need 10 years of continuously residing in Japan and that would reset the clock.

TLDR: Is applying from within Japan immediately after graduating language school going to count against me in my application as a CIR?

2 comments
  1. The only thing that counts against your application is turning down a placement.

  2. I can’t help with the language school part, but I applied from within Japan whilst studying at university here. I had 6 years in the country when applying, so having time and experience in the country is not a negative for your application, at least as a CIR.

    I would think that applying from a language school within Japan would be totally fine. If your Japanese was up to scratch and you wrote a competitive SoP I think you’d be as much in the running as anyone else.

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