Aspiring Canadian JETs 2012

[HerrKaiser]

Hey Everyone,

Quick Question should anyone know the answer. I, in a bustle to make my bus back to Toronto, left my medical form and criminal record check in kingston. I am planning on doing a double bus there and back to pick it up before my interview, but I was wondering if anyone knows if it is ok to express mail the copies to the consulate instead. I will give them a call tomorrow to ask. Not dropping an extra 150$ to get to kingston and back it would be preferable.

[Smasha]

Hey Everyone,

Quick Question should anyone know the answer. I, in a bustle to make my bus back to Toronto, left my medical form and criminal record check in kingston. I am planning on doing a double bus there and back to pick it up before my interview, but I was wondering if anyone knows if it is ok to express mail the copies to the consulate instead. I will give them a call tomorrow to ask. Not dropping an extra 150$ to get to kingston and back it would be preferable.

Did you apply for early departure? If so, the consulate usually needs to have those by the end of the month, but in either case, you DO NOT have to bus all the way back home just to get them. Call them anyway, but as far as I know, thats what the deal is. also read your interview e-mai, because it might mention that in it.

Good Luck!

[daniel.flores]

I think once I interview I'll be okay - I have SO much work to do for school that FOR ME April will come around really fast. It's also out of your hands....right now...It's not over yet...but once I interview - I did my best, it's out of my hands, I can't worry about it anymore.

And lol @ other people asking when you're leaving. My favourite question. I'm just like "um ya my interview is next week, and I don't even know if I'll get it but thanks for making me anxious though".

I thought I'd ask since I got my picture taken for the voucher....I assumed that when they said "passport style" it just meant a straight face...did any of you smile...because if we can then I'd rather retake my photo :{ I don't want them to send this picture to Tokyo while the JET personnel there are like ":S..........no...definitely not this one".

I smiled!

The voucher said "photo booth or passport photograph"... you're allowed to smile in photo booths, aren't you!?

=)

[Spencer]

I took a photo booth picture.... and then I trimmed it down a bit.... so it was exactly the right size.... I even have downloaded a ruler App, so I could measure the photo to trim it down properly....I didnt smile

[HerrKaiser]

Hey Everyone,

Quick Question should anyone know the answer. I, in a bustle to make my bus back to Toronto, left my medical form and criminal record check in kingston. I am planning on doing a double bus there and back to pick it up before my interview, but I was wondering if anyone knows if it is ok to express mail the copies to the consulate instead. I will give them a call tomorrow to ask. Not dropping an extra 150$ to get to kingston and back it would be preferable.

Well, just in case anyone else has a similar issue. You are not required to bring the medical form or the criminal record check to the interview. You can mail it in later. The deadline for early departure is Feb. 29. Other than that, the consulate said that you don't have to mail it until you get the results of the interview. I guess that means you wouldn't have to mail it until March or April. Mind you, I might ask in the interview if they would prefer I mail it to them sooner.

[sakurachan]

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[sakurachan]

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[Ertai87]

For people interviewing in Toronto: the Interview Voucher was just sent out. For those like me who are interviewing first thing tomorrow morning, you should probably go check your emails.

[Kiffster]

To all Calgary consulate interviewees...I would love to hear from people who had their interviews today! My partner and I have ours tomorrow, and it would be fantastic to hear about what I should be expecting...possibly also calm my nerves a little. Thanks in advance!

[AVN]

To all Calgary consulate interviewees...I would love to hear from people who had their interviews today! My partner and I have ours tomorrow, and it would be fantastic to hear about what I should be expecting...possibly also calm my nerves a little. Thanks in advance!

Basically what I think you need to know is. There will be a room with 3-4 people. They will greet you. Ask you questions about the programme. Ask you questions about your application. Ask you questions about your partner, if you mentioned him on the application. Possibly ask for a demo lesson. Possibly ask you to use some Japanese, especially if you said you could speak it but sometimes even if you said you can't.

The rest is case by case and you should go in a bit blind because otherwise you're not giving an honest interview. They want to catch you off guard at least once to see how you handle it.

[HerrKaiser]

For people interviewing in Toronto: the Interview Voucher was just sent out. For those like me who are interviewing first thing tomorrow morning, you should probably go check your emails.

Good Luck! I'll be there in the afternoon!

Anyone know how many are interviewing out of Toronto? I heard Vancouver was around 150. I'm curious to know how many Canadians are interviewing this year (and the final amount of those who make it too). Statistics are always somewhat intriguing.

[Ertai87]

@HerrKaiser: I don't think they ever publish those numbers. IIRC, the numbers are distributed in roughly 50% increments. That is to say, 50% pass the application, and 50% of that 50% (i.e. 25%) pass the interview. Of course, that number differs year to year, but I recall hearing that somewhere. Could be wrong though.

[Fukuisaurus]

To all Calgary consulate interviewees...I would love to hear from people who had their interviews today! My partner and I have ours tomorrow, and it would be fantastic to hear about what I should be expecting...possibly also calm my nerves a little. Thanks in advance!

Hey Kiffster,

I'm a current JET in my first year. I interviewed in Calgary last year. A couple of weeks ago I made a pretty extensive post about my interview experience, it might interest you to read it. Hope it helps!

viewtopic.php?f=26&t=10684&start=215

The 1st post on that page just talks about my experience of life in Japan so far. The 2nd one is about my Calgary interview.

[Gizmotech]

@HerrKaiser: I don't think they ever publish those numbers. IIRC, the numbers are distributed in roughly 50% increments. That is to say, 50% pass the application, and 50% of that 50% (i.e. 25%) pass the interview. Of course, that number differs year to year, but I recall hearing that somewhere. Could be wrong though.

Can't be that low. 20 people left ottawa this year. There were more than 40 interviews there (based on my rough math back then it was about 80 interviews or so...) and a little birdy told a friend of mine that they had a very large number of applications, which was hinted at in the 1000+ category.

All hearsay and educated guessing, but the 50% rule I don' think applies.

[KoeiS]

@HerrKaiser: I don't think they ever publish those numbers. IIRC, the numbers are distributed in roughly 50% increments. That is to say, 50% pass the application, and 50% of that 50% (i.e. 25%) pass the interview. Of course, that number differs year to year, but I recall hearing that somewhere. Could be wrong though.

Can't be that low. 20 people left ottawa this year. There were more than 40 interviews there (based on my rough math back then it was about 80 interviews or so...) and a little birdy told a friend of mine that they had a very large number of applications, which was hinted at in the 1000+ category.

All hearsay and educated guessing, but the 50% rule I don' think applies.

I submitted my application a week early and I was applicant #1566. If there were 1565 applicants before me, which would not be an overestimate, then the final number of applicants should be at least 2000. Last year, 206 people were shortlisted so that's a 10% acceptance rate. In Vancouver specifically, several people asked their interviewers the number of people they were interviewing and they were all told approximately 150. 48 people went last year (though there is a rumor that we have more spaces this year!) and given the stats, approximately 1/3 passes the interview stage.

Point: the 50% thing seems waaay too high to be the rule