Hi! I’ve read on here that one of the most important points to make in your statement of purpose when applying to the program is how JET will impact your future career goals, and it’s also a question in the written application. I’m going into my final year of uni this fall and honestly have no idea what I would want to do after JET if I were to be accepted. I just know that based off of my previous volunteer/work experiences that I love teaching English as a foreign language, and am hoping I would figure out next steps while I’m there.
So basically my question is: Current/past JETs, did you have a clear vision of your future career plans for after JET when you first applied to the program? If not, how did you approach talking about that in your SOP/interview?
Also, sorry for this being my second post of the day – I’ve been going down a bit of a JET rabbit hole the past few days and am probably making myself a bit too anxious in the process haha. I’m just manifesting an acceptance in my future 🙂
19 comments
If you know you’re interested in teaching English as a foreign language, you could roll with that in your SOP. That’s a career.
In my SOP I explained my career goal and how the JET program fits into that. In the interview they asked me a question about my career goal and I was able to expand on how the experience of the JET program will help me get to my career goal.
I did not have a clear vision at all. My advice would be pick something you could see yourself doing/enjoying (for example, you mentioned that from your previous experience, you live teaching EFL, so you could go with that) and just stick to it and expand on it as of it were a concrete plan, even if you’re still not sure. You don’t have to be sure, you just have to sound confident. That said, don’t say anything outright implausible or that you wouldn’t actually do, because it could trip you up when they ask you about it in your interview.
You only need to answer this in broad terms. Saying that you want to pursue a career in teaching is perfectly fine, even if you don’t actually know the specifics.
They just want to ensure that the applicant recognizes the temporary nature of the program and has put the minimum amount of thought into a (hopefully realistic) post-JET plan.
To answer your questions:
1) no :’)
2) the after JET career goals I had 6 years ago have changed
i have no idea what i want to do for a future career and i said so! and i followed with how i want to continue promoting cultural exchange and work in a multicultural environment 🙂
I don’t really have a “career goal” but i see myself doing teaching in the future, so I just rolled with that. It’s hard to say what they want to hear – no one truly knows – but they want you to exchange cultures and come back to your native country and spread the good word about Japan, so I just made sure I had a “way out” of Japan (aka wanting to teach in my native country and how jet will benefit that). Obviously say something you actually think is cool or smth you want to do, don’t just steal others ideas because if you’ve seen it once, they’ve probably heard it a million times. You don’t need to be dead set on anything. They can’t see inside your mind at the end of the day, so they won’t know if you *really* want to do something, but if it’s something cool and something you enjoy, you’re more likely to speak passionately and freely about it, which I would assume, is more the kind of thing they’re looking for.
I had an idea, wasn’t sure if I would do it – is anyone? And turns out, nope definitely not doing it. I wrote about it as if I would do it but plans change.
I would say don’t stress about it, do you have some ideas for things you might like? Pick one and write about it.
I told them that I wanted to pursue a career that would utilize my International business degree, and that I was hoping to work closely with many of the Asian companies in the area. They asked why Japan and I then told them that many of the companies I hope to work for either have major offices in Japan (IBM, Cisco, etc.), or are Japanese companies (Toyota, Sony, Softbank, etc.) with a large presence in the US.
I am back in the US now, and trying to work my way up to those companies still.
For the application process, it’s more broad. They want to know that participating in JET is part of the bigger picture for you. Don’t stress too much, at most they’re going to ask you how it all ties together in the interview – it’s important to have a *reason* why you’re applying and why this will be beneficial for both parties. Doesn’t have to be a big, grandiose one.
I would say *outside of the application*, it’s definitely good to have an idea to know this coming in. It might change, since career paths are way less linear nowadays, but you should think about this. So many people come straight out of university, then scramble to figure it out when their time is up. I’ve seen lots of people panic trying to pass the JLPT and struggle since they have no idea how to market their time here.
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Just choose something you have enough interest in to sell as your potential future career and run with how JET would help you prepare for that.
Once the interview is done, no one is going to care if you actually follow through on it or not.
More important that having a set career plan after JET is CHOOSING a set career plan and sticking with it through the application process. As others have mentioned, in the long term it doesn’t actually matter if you stick with this or not, but what is important is that you’ve taken the time to consider how JET will help you get this goal, and that this is reflected in your application. For what it’s worth, my future career section of my SOP was like, two sentences tops.
I’ve been wanting to change careers for a while and found I find enjoyment in teaching (a small part of my current role), and I enjoyed research, so I’ve been looking into and stated in my SOP of pursuing a Phd in a japanese field.
I think if you’re gonna write about something, you have to make it so it reads as you’re definitely going to do it, even if you’re not sure. This is so you don’t come off flippant, but determined.
Also, showing passion for such things will help alot in your writing and interview.
The JET Program is made up of 3 different government ministries that want three different things out of the program. MEXT (the education ministry) wants you to teach children well. CLAIR wants you to serve as a cultural ambassador in your community. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs wants you to fall in love with Japan then go back to your home country and strength ties with Japan/spread Japanese soft power.
The “what will you do after JET” part is mostly aimed at MOFA’s goals. They don’t care *what* you do, so long as it involves returning to your home country and Japan positively impacting you in someway. You can be vague it’s it’s ok to say you’re not entirely sure. The main thing that they want to see is that you are a driven person, with some sort or direction in life, and that JET will have a positive impact your life trajectory.
You want to make a plan at least so you have an answer. You aren’t beholden to do what you said. But if your answer to “what are your long term goals” is “I dunno man” you’re going to lose out to someone who has a stock answer prepared.
They want to know that you’re going to go back to your home country and spread the word of Japan in a positive light amongst influential people/business sectors. Effectively saying “I’m going to go home and hang around the house” is not going to look good. You don’t have to give a precise idea of what you’re going to do, but at least show you’re someone worth investing in.
Be honest, and spin it positively. It’s fine to not know what you want to do, but don’t just say “I’ve got no ideas so I’m going on JET”, say you want to develop yourself, explore, try new things and build new skills for a career in possible areas like X or Y.
They don’t want you to know exactly what you’re going to do in 2, 3, 5, or 20 years. I’m even guessing they’d rather have people apply that don’t have a rigid plan. They’ll be more open to try new things. They just want to know that you’re not looking to go get drunk and party for however long.
Not to say you shouldn’t, let loose and have fun, but talk about personal/professional growth on the SOP.
You could just say whatever and just be able to back it up during the interview.
If you don’t know what you’ll do (which is totally understandable) just spin your experience into a continued career in teaching English. Honestly there are quite a few JETs who just stay and become full time English teachers after the program and you may decide that’s what you want to do anyway after a year or more, so its not even technically lying.