Aspiring US JETs 2012

[Cliodhna]

On the bright side, there's only 4-5 weeks left for USA regular departure.

Wait, regular departure doesn't happen until the end of july- that's more like 4-5 MONTHS away.


@Miami_Coordinator: So early departures have all already been notified, or are the notifications still going out?

Crossing my fingers for all you early departure peeps!!!

[dtrue]

On the bright side, there's only 4-5 weeks left for USA regular departure.

Wait, regular departure doesn't happen until the end of july- that's more like 4-5 MONTHS away.


@Miami_Coordinator: So early departures have all already been notified, or are the notifications still going out?

Crossing my fingers for all you early departure peeps!!!

I think they meant 4-5 weeks till we find out.

[miami_coordinator]

On the bright side, there's only 4-5 weeks left for USA regular departure.

Wait, regular departure doesn't happen until the end of july- that's more like 4-5 MONTHS away.


@Miami_Coordinator: So early departures have all already been notified, or are the notifications still going out?

Crossing my fingers for all you early departure peeps!!!

I think they're talking about notification for Regular Departure. That typically happens in April, which is only about 4-5 weeks away.

Each coordinator is responsible for contacting their own candidates, so while I can't say for certain if they've all been contacted, I believe they have been. There's so little time to prepare before departure, that they probably have all been notified. I typically notify by email, but if I'm under a time crunch, sometimes I also notify by phone (that's what I typically do with upgraded alternates). Different coordinators may have different systems.

Even though the April 10 Early Departure candidates should have been contacted by this time, it's possible there could be a few more notifications to go out. There may be some Early Departure people who decide they don't want to participate with JET, in which case there might be time to accept candidates who can take their place for the April 10 departure date. Also, this is not the only possible time to go as an Early Departure candidate. An Early Departure candidate can expect the possibility of being sent any time between mid-April and late-July (I believe that this is the only pre-determined Early Departure date; meaning that the people who leave on the April 10 date will have the 3-day Tokyo Training, whereas those sent between April and late-July will not unless their Contracting Organizations permit them to attend Group A's training).

As I've said before, this is something that's really new for a lot of the countries sending Early Departure people this year. We're still learning how to work with this new option.
That said, there will probably be a few contracting organizations that will want a new JET before the Group A people arrive. So, in those cases, a few additional candidates who requested Early Departure may still be chosen. It's also possible that if there are some Early Departure people who made alternate plans (due to believing they were ineligible for Early Departure), it's possible that someone else could be upgraded in their stead. I'm really not sure about any of that.

[SakuraHoshi]

If people apply for early departure and aren't selected for it, they still get separately considered for normal departure right? Are the two things judged on their own merit? What's the criteria for being selected early? Sorry to act like a noob, UK never mentioned anything about ED in the app process so I know little about it. Seems like a real rush to be notified a month before leaving. What about people who have to organise renting out their houses, hand in job notices etc?

[miami_coordinator]

If people apply for early departure and aren't selected for it, they still get separately considered for normal departure right? Are the two things judged on their own merit? What's the criteria for being selected early? Sorry to act like a noob, UK never mentioned anything about ED in the app process so I know little about it. Seems like a real rush to be notified a month before leaving. What about people who have to organise renting out their houses, hand in job notices etc?

Yes, if they apply but are not selected for Early Departure, then they will still be considered for Regular Departure.

To be eligible for Early Departure, some of the deadlines are earlier (including a few that are US-specific on account of the time required for the FBI background check and when Bachelor degrees are conferred). We required applicants to prove that they would have a Bachelor's degree by April 1 and to submit an FBI background check and a Certificate of Health to the main JET Program office by January 31. There were some people who were unable to get their additional documents to DC by that date, and so we considered them to be ineligible for Early Departure but could still be considered for Regular Departure. Surprisingly, when we got the list of those selected for Early Departure, there were also a a few of those people were thought were ineligible for Early Departure.

It IS very short timing, and because of that I generally advocate against Early Departure for the majority of applicants (it's so much more stress for relatively few positions), but for a person in a position where that sort of short-term notice isn't a problem, then it's a good option. I think a lot of people applied because they either didn't want to wait until July/August to depart or they thought they'd have a better chance of being accepted.

April Departure has been around for a while for a few countries (I think it was only a few Asian countries that participate with JET and I believe also Australia and NZ). This year was the first time it was opened up to the US and a few additional countries. I can't remember if the UK was on the list of countries participating or not.

[brainsteww]

On the bright side, there's only 4-5 weeks left for USA regular departure.

Wait, regular departure doesn't happen until the end of july- that's more like 4-5 MONTHS away.


@Miami_Coordinator: So early departures have all already been notified, or are the notifications still going out?

Crossing my fingers for all you early departure peeps!!!

I think they meant 4-5 weeks till we find out.

I bet it will FEEL like 4-5 months

[megandd]

People are finding out already? I was expecting to see lots of excited posts about it! If they're already finding out, I guess that means I can relax for a bit before waiting with everyone else for regular departure results. I'm still going to check my e-mail every night just in case, though. I need a smart phone so I be notified when I get new e-mails. My current phone doesn't do that, but there's no sense buying a new phone if I might be moving in a few months. Well, maybe I'm still a little too exited.

[megandd]

The poster above was not trolling. I received my notification of acceptance for an early departure position by phone last Thursday, and I received notification of my prefecture last night.

Congratulations!

[gugik]

I'm still going to check my e-mail every night just in case, though. I need a smart phone so I be notified when I get new e-mails. My current phone doesn't do that, but there's no sense buying a new phone if I might be moving in a few months. Well, maybe I'm still a little too exited.

If you're using gmail or forward your other email to gmail you can actually get the email sent to your phone as a text. You might not get the whole message, but at least it will tell you the sender and you can immediately check it at the nearest computer. This is why I only use my gmail for really important things.

[megandd]

I'm still going to check my e-mail every night just in case, though. I need a smart phone so I be notified when I get new e-mails. My current phone doesn't do that, but there's no sense buying a new phone if I might be moving in a few months. Well, maybe I'm still a little too exited.

If you're using gmail or forward your other email to gmail you can actually get the email sent to your phone as a text. You might not get the whole message, but at least it will tell you the sender and you can immediately check it at the nearest computer. This is why I only use my gmail for really important things.

Really? I'm going to go do that right now! I usually use my yahoo account, but I made a gmail account especially for JET because the interview form I was given requested a non-yahoo account. That works out too well! Thank you so much for the tip!

[firefly06]

I am a little late to the party, but could you please add me to the list? I applied for normal departure and interviewed in Miami.

[brainsteww]

I am a little late to the party, but could you please add me to the list? I applied for normal departure and interviewed in Miami.

Me too! What day did you interview?

[firefly06]

I am a little late to the party, but could you please add me to the list? I applied for normal departure and interviewed in Miami.

Me too! What day did you interview?

My interview was on the 17th. When was yours?

[merkypie]

I am a little late to the party, but could you please add me to the list? I applied for normal departure and interviewed in Miami.

Me too! What day did you interview?

My interview was on the 17th. When was yours?

Are you sure? Because Miami consulate interviews were the 23, 24, 27, and 28th.

Welcome btw!

[firefly06]

Whoops! My interview was on Thursday the 23rd. I don't know what my fingers were thinking when they typed the 17th