i havent graduated college, do i have a chance?

[Spencer]

Well, then I recommend Korea, Its allowed there..
Dont try Japan. If you love it as much as you do, the chance (even the slightest) that you could never go there again.... would be terrible.

[Jax]

A student visa in Japan does not permit you to work... if you are caught working while on a student visa your visa WILL be revoked and you WILL be deported... and you don't want that to happen.... once Deported from Japan, they do not issue you another visa... ever. It's a big deal here and they are very strict about it.

This isn't necessarily true. You can work on a student visa with permission from the university and immigration bureau. One of my friends is doing this. I just checked the website for his university as well and it says that up to 28 hours are allowed.

[Gekishinken]

A student visa in Japan does not permit you to work... if you are caught working while on a student visa your visa WILL be revoked and you WILL be deported... and you don't want that to happen.... once Deported from Japan, they do not issue you another visa... ever. It's a big deal here and they are very strict about it.

This isn't necessarily true. You can work on a student visa with permission from the university and immigration bureau. One of my friends is doing this. I just checked the website for his university as well and it says that up to 28 hours are allowed.

I have a friend who studied abroad for a year in Nagoya and was able to work 20 or so hours a week at an eikaiwa....

[merkypie]

The time and hassle it would take to get to Japan on a student visa is a lot worst than getting into JET, if my friend's experience into a graduate program over there is any indication. Unless the school has some exchange program with another school in Japan, you basically gotta prove yourself that you're worthy of a student to even be accepted into a program there. Not only that, a lot of programs require some level of Japanese proficiency. It is a lot harder than trying to get to Japan on a teaching/cultural visa. That being said, OP should just stick it out.

The JET Program is not a one way ticket to partyland and gundams. OP should research the program more if he or she wants an interview with them in the future.

[Spencer]

I talked to a former jet, and interviewer and he said that if you go to jet, done schools are willing to give half or full scholarships to foreigners. Interesting side topic but he got his masters of business admin there. Kinda cool thing to know

[histgirl]

Ask yourself, would you still do JET if you were stuck in rural Japan?

And why rush? If you just can't wait, do a study abroad. You'll have a stronger JET app (90% of people at Tokyo Orientation had been abroad already for a significant amount of time), but you obviously need a degree first. Why would you want to work in Japan for a couple of years and then come back to finish your degree?

I understand the "not going anywhere in a million years" statement, and I wish I hadn't ignored it before I came. Japan has this mysticism about it, but don't come here expecting to find the Japan you see on tv or history books. Try going somewhere else in Asia. It's a little annoying when people have never seen any other parts of Asia and they can't compare. Why not focus on China/Korea that have a more growing economy and demand for jobs? Why not focus on Southeast Asia where the food is better?

And again, if you want to do JET because you love Japan and not because you love teaching/children, please don't come. There are enough ALTs bad at their job that are wasting taxpayer money already. JET is not a free ticket to Japan.

[rollins]

And again, if you want to do JET because you love Japan and not because you love teaching/children, please don't come. There are enough ALTs bad at their job that are wasting taxpayer money already. JET is not a free ticket to Japan.

Perfectly said! I've seen way too many grumbly people get turned off because they're not ready for the teaching aspect. Eventually the excitement of being in Japan is going to wear off in your first few months and then you're left with well, a job teaching. Hope you like it!

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

And again, if you want to do JET because you love Japan and not because you love teaching/children, please don't come. There are enough ALTs bad at their job that are wasting taxpayer money already. JET is not a free ticket to Japan.

Sorry, I need to steal that for a board signature. Spot on.

[JasonB91]

And again, if you want to do JET because you love Japan and not because you love teaching/children, please don't come. There are enough ALTs bad at their job that are wasting taxpayer money already. JET is not a free ticket to Japan.

QFT.

This should be a sticky or something.

[AVN]

And again, if you want to do JET because you love Japan and not because you love teaching/children, please don't come. There are enough ALTs bad at their job that are wasting taxpayer money already. JET is not a free ticket to Japan.

I agree with this. Though I think coming in for the love of Japan but with a willingness to give the students your all no matter what is good too. As long as you remember why you're coming and that that is priority number one, not your wants, then come!

[histgirl]

Ha, thanks guys. Just wait, when you get here, you'll look around and wonder how some of these other people did.

Honestly, if you learn you don't love teaching, fine. But be responsible about your job. All that's needed in general professionalism. Because it's Japan, people are less direct when they are unhappy about what you're doing, but all the same rules apply. The things JETs get mad about... are not usually Japan/supervisor/JTE issues as much as they are life/boss/coworker issues.

Most of the people that have issues here are the ones that DIDN'T work after college (hint to the original poster, not to rush) and JET is their first full-time job. I'm not trying to rag on these people, but I never realized how vast the difference between a 22 year old and a 24 year old could be. Also, be careful because the people I know that are the most lost about future career/school/life goals are the ones who came here directly after college. Japan is a great place to lose yourself, not find yourself. It's really easy to lose sight of your pre-JET goals as well as lose motivation when you have a well-paid, low-responsibility job. I know too many recontracters that stayed because it was easier, not because they liked their jobs.

[AVN]

Ha, thanks guys. Just wait, when you get here, you'll look around and wonder how some of these other people did.

Honestly, if you learn you don't love teaching, fine. But be responsible about your job. All that's needed in general professionalism. Because it's Japan, people are less direct when they are unhappy about what you're doing, but all the same rules apply. The things JETs get mad about... are not usually Japan/supervisor/JTE issues as much as they are life/boss/coworker issues.

Most of the people that have issues here are the ones that DIDN'T work after college (hint to the original poster, not to rush) and JET is their first full-time job. I'm not trying to rag on these people, but I never realized how vast the difference between a 22 year old and a 24 year old could be. Also, be careful because the people I know that are the most lost about future career/school/life goals are the ones who came here directly after college. Japan is a great place to lose yourself, not find yourself. It's really easy to lose sight of your pre-JET goals as well as lose motivation when you have a well-paid, low-responsibility job. I know too many recontracters that stayed because it was easier, not because they liked their jobs.

So true. So true.

[Namisuke]

Japan is a great place to lose yourself, not find yourself.

YES! I have a feeling many people apply who haven't really thought about what they want to improve about themselves in the long run. This pretty much goes for anyone who says they want to "find themselves." I always have an association with that phrase to people who want to break up with someone and use that as an excuse. If I saw that phrase on someone's application, it would personally sway me away from hiring them. Someone else on this forum posted a topic about this, saying he wanted to find himself and such, and didn't get the interview.

Know what your goals are. If you want to come to Japan just to see Japan, simply come to vacation here. If you don't care much about the job, get a working holiday visa or apply for an easy eikaiwa job. I think it totally makes sense to need education in order to teach. It is pretty ironic otherwise.

I talked to a former jet, and interviewer and he said that if you go to jet, done schools are willing to give half or full scholarships to foreigners. Interesting side topic but he got his masters of business admin there. Kinda cool thing to know

I can't totally understand what this means because of odd grammar and possible lack of punctuation, but do you mean you heard that schools that participate in the JET Programme give their ALTs college/university scholarships? If that is your question, the answer is likely in the negative. Schools can barely afford to hire ALTs, nevermind give them money for school. The only thing we get, which is new, is a little bit of reimbursement if we take a TESOL course. I can't find the link for it, but you have to apply for it, and I think it was only for about 10,000-20,000 yen. A general certification through Global TESOL costs about $800-900 (at least when I took courses), so it covers a bit, but not all. Again, I have no idea what you mean in your post though.

[ladama]

I talked to a former jet, and interviewer and he said that if you go to jet, done schools are willing to give half or full scholarships to foreigners. Interesting side topic but he got his masters of business admin there. Kinda cool thing to know

I can't totally understand what this means because of odd grammar and possible lack of punctuation, but do you mean you heard that schools that participate in the JET Programme give their ALTs college/university scholarships? If that is your question, the answer is likely in the negative. Schools can barely afford to hire ALTs, nevermind give them money for school. The only thing we get, which is new, is a little bit of reimbursement if we take a TESOL course. I can't find the link for it, but you have to apply for it, and I think it was only for about 10,000-20,000 yen. A general certification through Global TESOL costs about $800-900 (at least when I took courses), so it covers a bit, but not all. Again, I have no idea what you mean in your post though.

Maybe spencer meant "some schools" instead of "done schools" and is referring to universities giving out scholarships to JET Alums? That's my guess at least. I know this graduate school in California has a JET Alumni scholarship, don't know about any universities in Japan that do it but then again I haven't looked into it at all.

[AVN]

I talked to a former jet, and interviewer and he said that if you go to jet, done schools are willing to give half or full scholarships to foreigners. Interesting side topic but he got his masters of business admin there. Kinda cool thing to know

I can't totally understand what this means because of odd grammar and possible lack of punctuation, but do you mean you heard that schools that participate in the JET Programme give their ALTs college/university scholarships? If that is your question, the answer is likely in the negative. Schools can barely afford to hire ALTs, nevermind give them money for school. The only thing we get, which is new, is a little bit of reimbursement if we take a TESOL course. I can't find the link for it, but you have to apply for it, and I think it was only for about 10,000-20,000 yen. A general certification through Global TESOL costs about $800-900 (at least when I took courses), so it covers a bit, but not all. Again, I have no idea what you mean in your post though.

Maybe spencer meant "some schools" instead of "done schools" and is referring to universities giving out scholarships to JET Alums? That's my guess at least. I know this graduate school in California has a JET Alumni scholarship, don't know about any universities in Japan that do it but then again I haven't looked into it at all.

That's how I read it as well and I haven't heard of this either. I would love to know which ones do if this is true.