Aspiring South African JETs 2012

[byproduct]

And now the long wait begins...

Goodluck to everybody on CT Day 2!

Oh man, I hit one complete blank in my interview. And on an issue that I DID prepare for. Damn nerves. I really hope it doesn't count against me.

[Shandi]

Good luck to everyone on Day 3 and 4 of the Cape Town interviews You'll make it through, no matter hwat your nerves are telling you!
Days 1 and 2, take a breather. Somehow we made it through!! Soon we'll all be doing the long wait together.
I'm sure the forums is going to get a little quiet, but I'll be cheering for the SA group! We're the coolest country to choose from, they should take lots of us

[eFred]

Good luck to everyone on Day 3 and 4 of the Cape Town interviews You'll make it through, no matter hwat your nerves are telling you!
Days 1 and 2, take a breather. Somehow we made it through!! Soon we'll all be doing the long wait together.
I'm sure the forums is going to get a little quiet, but I'll be cheering for the SA group! We're the coolest country to choose from, they should take lots of us

Yes! Yes!

[Shandi]

That awkward moment when someone quotes your post and you realise you made an horrific grammatical error...and spelling errors.

As such: <ahem> *no matter what your nerves etc.
** the forums ARE (!!!!!) / the forum is

Just trying to save face here guys. The sentiment is still the same though I look forward to more " " moments in the future. Thank you and good night!

[hatefulsandwich]

Don't worry, Shandi. I recently posted this gem on Facebook: " I dreamt that I red a bike and then to poison oak in my eye."

Like... words can't even describe. I can be speaking of the English, I swears. FWIW, I'm sure Auto-correct made it worse than it would have been if there had just been the usual typos.

To be fair, I didn't notice your errors until you pointed them out.

Good luck, you epic-large group of Capetonians! I'm sure you'll all be just fine. Out of interest, was the panel the same as I described in Jozi?

[eFred]

Just printed my photo (gosh, do I really look that angry in real life???) and feeling all fluttery. Reading over the forums helps a little because, thanks to those that have gone before, I know more or less what to expect. Aaaah!! Well wishes from people. Thanks! And good luck to everyone for tomorrow (I'll be meeting some of you no doubt).

[GJD]

Good luck to all those still interviewing

[hatefulsandwich]

Come on, Capetonians. How did it go? What did you think of the grammar test? Did anyone else feel like a complete twit after exiting the interview room? I feel so alooone.

[byproduct]

Don't worry HS, I too don't know what to think about the interview. Like I said earlier, I hit a complete blank for a question I DID IN FACT prepare for. :'( I'm really, REALLY, upset with myself for messing that question up.

The grammar test wasn't too bad. I felt the comprehension was a bit tricky in parts though, but nothing that you couldn't puzzle out.
Here's to hoping that March flies by eh?

[eFred]

Originally, I planned to stay away from the forums. But I thought it was a bit unfair and selfish since I got so much help in here. So here it goes:

Panel: I had three dudes/men(?) - a Japanese guy, a professor and a guy named John (sorry, that's all I got - maybe he was an ex-JET?)

Interview: We shook hands (yes!) and after I took a seat I was asked to do a 1 minute introduction. (I rambled a little, but hey, they laughed at my jokes)
The questions were incredibly basic: Why Japan, Why JET, Why teaching (yes, I got all that). The only questions that might prove to be my downfall was:

1) "Who is Japans Prime Minister?" (I know! I know! I just couldn't remember! My mind was going 'say the emperor's name! say the emperor's name!' - luckily my mouth was smarter than my head and I just said something like: "Hmmm.. I should have looked that one up shouldn't I?").

2) "What Japanese current affairs are you aware of?" I couldn't exactly say jackshiite, so I waffled something about the 2011 earthquake and something about SA's relations with Japan <- Definitely not my finest moment.

3) "What Japanese geography do you know?" (Odd way of putting the question) I more or less know where's where so that wasn't too bad.

The other questions were (not very application specific) related to isolation, classroom situations, my stunning good looks... joke! but there was a question about how I would assert my 'adultness' since I look so young, also my hobbies, culture etc.

I found them all to be incredibly friendly and awesome to talk with. The professor shared some stories about when he first started lecturing, we laughed a bit. Then paused and laughed again. I got lost looking for the toilet and when the Japanese guy found me wondering about we played "Where's the bathroom" laughed about that ... was there too much laughter going on?

I actually liked the security guard the best! He talked about other applicants and gave us the totals of the people that didn't pitch up and the totals of the applicants that were selected. Yep, we liked him much much.

Can't believe I spent so much time panicking about what I was going to wear though...

That's it.

And I met Sean, Yumz, Tasneem (can I say her full name here?) and Nur!

[eFred]

Oh! I forgot to add the test! = Easy-ish

[BradaPeace]

Is there anyone out here who interviewed in Durbs or PE?
Does this mean that SA is done with interviews? Hmmm......
Now that we are all done with interviews, I guess it's that time that we all love to hate, waitinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng

[Yumz27]

So I think I've had enough time to mull over my interview experience and am now ready to share it with anyone whose interested.

My interview was on Friday. I wrote the test first and that was easy peasy I reckon that was by far the easiest part of this whole application process. As eFred already pointed out we had a panel of 3 men, 1 Japanese he seemed nice enough serious though but that's okay. John was the former JET I must say I enjoyed his questions the most and the way he asked them. The prof. was the hardest nut to crack. But overall I was asked the typical questions:

Why the JET programme?
How will I handle isolation?
How will I involve myself within the community I'm placed in?
My religion (Islam) was the focal point of the interview and as such they wanted to know how I'd handle prejudice from my students? If I was hit on my a male student what would I do?
If a fellow teacher asked to see the zulu dance what would I do? I said I'd break out in zulu dance and tell her about other SA quirks.
I can't remember all of the questions anymore but I definitely felt that I didn't answer every question the best I could based on the prep I had done but the prep wasn't wasted. I had to think on my feet but I feel that I did all I could do and now it could go either way.

I feel less confident about making it now than I did before the interview. I keep replaying it in my head and I'm not sure how to feel anymore. But for now I've to work on a back-up plan and find a new job!

[BradaPeace]

I feel less confident about making it now than I did before the interview. I keep replaying it in my head and I'm not sure how to feel anymore. But for now I've to work on a back-up plan and find a new job![/quote]

I definitely agree with you on that one, I was more confident prior to the interview that I am now. I must say, you had the coolest questions, questions that I was prepared to tackle. I felt like my interview ws a bit weird in a sense that I felt like I didn't need to prove myself why I should be hired. Most of their questions were based on what I had written on my application. I got a sense that their questions were confirming what I wrote on my application.

Lately I've been starting to think of plan B, should I be rejected. I guess we are only left with a week or two before we know our fate. Fingers crossed.

[eFred]

I guess we are only left with a week or two before we know our fate. Fingers crossed.

A week or two? You do know that we'll only get a response in April right?

[unless you're talking about something completely different and I've once again made a fool of myself]