Irish JET Applicants 2012

[bigwig]

no said i had no experience, i did say in my SOP that i had a strong grasp of fundamentals and structure of English language though!...from what i hear they were asking most about misbehaving student in class, i was expecting the interview to have a more intense atmosphere from what reading online, did anyone find the interview to be intimidating?

[RoBot]

i did say in my SOP that i had a strong grasp of fundamentals and structure of English language though!

I'd say they were testing this then- in my interview they focussed a lot on what was in my SoP.

i was expecting the interview to have a more intense atmosphere from what reading online, did anyone find the interview to be intimidating?

I didn't find it too bad- I had two Irish (former JETs I think- one guy and one woman) and a Japanese woman. The two JET's were pleasant enough and smiled a good bit especially the guy. The Japanese woman was pretty intense in her questioning of my experience but she wasn't too intimidating. What sort of panel did you have?

[Sairus]

did anyone else get asked precise grammatical questions and how to explain them? i slipped up on one grammar question

I had one grammar question asked of me which I completely fumbled. I was completely brain frozen when they asked it, but I eventually came around to openly admitting my knowledge was clearly rusty in places and that if I didn't know a grammar point that was asked of me I would research it before giving a possibly wrong answer.

And they definitely asked me that point in relation to me mentioning having a TEFL Cert on my SoP. They were really picking at points in my SoP until I started referencing the essay myself - at this point I think they realised I knew it inside out and went for more removed questions like "Would you shave your beard?"

[RoBot]

"Would you shave your beard?"

Haha really!? What did you say??

[Sairus]

Haha really!? What did you say??

I have a vertical stripe of a beard on my chin, so they asked me "Your beard might be very stylish over here, but it may not be appropriate in some parts of Japan. Would you be willing to remove it if you were offered a position?" to which I laughed an said I'd definitely be willing to shave if it'd get me a place on JET!

I mentioned that I'd had hair down to the middle of my back four days before the interview (my head is now shaved ) so I was very malleable when it came to looks. They all laughed after that and said they were going to ask what happened to my hair since my passport photo still had my hair on display.

[Deveire]

I assume you didn't get the position after you got that Alternate status, but did you reapply last year or take a year out from applying?

I took a break to get my Masters degree and re-evaluate if I still wanted to do JET. (I do! Hire me!)

You don't sound as bummed out now about the interview as you did on the day. Maybe it wasn't as bad as you imagined?

I'm on an upswing again. Haha. I'm sure my interviewers will have listened through my babble and got the actual content in my answers...It can't be as bad as I imagined it. Yes. Positivity!

[RoBot]

I'd definitely be willing to shave if it'd get me a place on JET!

Too right! Haha; if I had facial hair I deffo would!!

I mentioned that I'd had hair down to the middle of my back four days before the interview (my head is now shaved ) so I was very malleable when it came to looks. They all laughed after that and said they were going to ask what happened to my hair since my passport photo still had my hair on display.

Haha that's brilliant- I'd say your future students would love that too. Lucky for me that a shaved head isn't the norm for Japanese women!

[hatefulsandwich]

You don't sound as bummed out now about the interview as you did on the day. Maybe it wasn't as bad as you imagined?

I'm on an upswing again. Haha. I'm sure my interviewers will have listened through my babble and got the actual content in my answers...It can't be as bad as I imagined it. Yes. Positivity![/quote]

I'm also taking the path of assuming that I will, in fact, be going to Japan. If I don't get in, well, then I can be miserable. I might as well not be miserable until I've actually found out.

[rozzer]

BTW rozzer can you speak any Japanese? I was speaking to a guy and he said he could hear the panel speaking about him prior to his interview and he said they were laughing at his application!

That's absolutely horrible if its true.. I'd doubt anyone would do that though. I said I spoke beginners- a few phrases, which they asked me- didn't have a clue what she was saying to me though.

Yeah, I was talking to a good few before the interview, there were about 6 huddled outside when I arrived there, so I joined in. Don't know if it made me feel any more comfortable though.

[RoBot]

That's absolutely horrible if its true.. I'd doubt anyone would do that though. I said I spoke beginners- a few phrases, which they asked me- didn't have a clue what she was saying to me though.

Yeah, I was talking to a good few before the interview, there were about 6 huddled outside when I arrived there, so I joined in. Don't know if it made me feel any more comfortable though.

I know! I think he may have been exaggerating because he looked super nervous- all pale and kept pacing. I was nattering away to him- hope he got on ok!

[bigwig]

so......what do we do until April?

[RoBot]

so......what do we do until April?

Good question. I'm doing my last semester at college so that's keeping me busy. Also finishing my TEFL course & trying to learn sone Japanese ( failing horribly at that). Are you in college/working? A holiday will help it go quickly methinks.

[Deveire]

so......what do we do until April?

A holiday will help it go quickly methinks.

I'm going on holiday! But over the first two weeks of April. So I have to find something else to distract myself with until then, and then half way through the hols I have to try not to think about the results sitting in an envelope at home waiting for me to get back... haha.

[RoBot]

A holiday will help it go quickly methinks.

I'm going on holiday! But over the first two weeks of April. So I have to find something else to distract myself with until then, and then half way through the hols I have to try not to think about the results sitting in an envelope at home waiting for me to get back... haha.

I think I am going to plan a holiday for March- maybe the week after Paddy's. MUST do something! What date in April are you expecting the results? I was thinking late April but could be earlier?

[bigwig]

Also finishing [i]my TEFL course[/i] & trying to learn sone Japanese ( failing horribly at that). Are you in college/working? A holiday will help it go quickly methinks. [/quote]

when did you start your tefl? and did you specifically do one just for jet? and if so did they comment on it in the interview?