Placement based on Nationality

[hatefulsandwich]

I have read that different BOEs request JETs of certain nationalities. Does this mean certain regions/prefectures of Japan will only take people from certain countries? It would make me a bit bummed out to know that I've requested places that I have no chance of getting into because I'm not the right nationality.

[Gizmotech]

They also can request gender to. However that doesn't necessarily mean CLAIR will give them that. A friend of mine was supposed to be a British woman... they got a British man instead.

[ladama]

Oh, you JET hopefuls, always finding something new to stress out about

Yes, contracting organizations can request certain nationalities (and gender). I think many towns request nationalities based on sister city relationships. For example, there was a town in my prefecture that had a very active sister-city connection with a town in Australia, and they almost always got Australian JETs (whether they were actually from that Australian sister-city didn't seem to matter). And every year it seems a few Denver JETs go to Takayama-shi (Denver's sister-city) and Yamagata-ken (Colorado's sister state).

Some COs base their requests on which JETs they liked in the past. If they had some awesome superJET from Canada, they're more likely to request someone from Canada. If they had an awful, troublesome JET who was male, they may request only female JETs. I know, it's pretty blatant stereotyping, but it's how it goes .

Anyway, these requests are limited to individual towns and schools, it's not like entire prefectures are requesting only UK JETs. And like JET's placement requests, the COs maybe not necessarily get the JET they "requested".

Should you be shortlisted, I'm sure they'll put as much thought into placing you as as they do any other JET. Just don't be surprised to learn your CO requested an American.

[coordinatorsf]

COs can make requests on what qualities they are looking for in their incoming JET. Some COs prefer a participant with stronger Japanese Language skills, especially if they will be teaching at elementary schools, since there may not be a JTE for the JET to work with so Japanese language skills are important to communicate with the Home Room Teacher.

Regarding nationality, sometimes a CO just wants to expose different cultures to the people and students in their town. For example if a CO's last JET participant was from the United States they may request a participant from a different country to learn about a different culture.

[Lianwen]

COs can make requests on what qualities they are looking for in their incoming JET. Some COs prefer a participant with stronger Japanese Language skills, especially if they will be teaching at elementary schools, since there may not be a JTE for the JET to work with so Japanese language skills are important to communicate with the Home Room Teacher.

And sometimes, there may not be enough applicants with stronger Japanese language skills, and the CO gets someone who doesn`t speak any/enough Japanese.

A little, ot, but speaking Japanese isn`t a requirement of the program, so I feel badly for ALTs who are placed in this type of situation. It does happen, and then the CO has all sorts of expectations of the JET and it`s awkward and the transition of living in Japan becomes very difficult. My pred was a native level Japanese speaker and I am often expected to have her level of fluency, even though I under-emphasized my Japanese language skills on the application because I didn`t want something like that in the first place. I wish the COs would understand that they may not always get someone with the same set of skills every time.

[RockerBug17]

Not to hijack this thread, but would it stand to reason that a CO would request an ALT with a specific background, credential or career goal in mind? Teacher comes to mind as an example. I would think the answer would be 'yes' considering that requests for nationality (possibly race) and gender have been made previously.

[Renz_A]

My COE seems to request persons with different nationalities each time to give the children a more `diverse` cultural experience. I am Jamaican, my pred was Irish and her pred was Singaporean.

[EricaHartmann]

My state had a sister city relationship and 3 out of the 15 JETs ended up going there. My town itself has had only Australian JETs for the past 5 intakes. Impressive when you find out that they did 3, 3 and 5 year stints and the 2 current spots are filled by Australians.

Even if you don't get your first preference (not many seem to) its still very likely you'll just be in the next prefecture over anyway.

[Elfe_noire]

It depends where you come from... if you're from an english speaking country then there is a possibility you might get the city or prefecture you want, or in a close by location.

If like me, you are from a non english speaking country, then the locations are usually decided. For France for example, we already know the places where we can be sent, so it's either make a request for one of the cities in the list (however if the jet in place does not end his / her contract, you won't get it) or just put whatever you want but you won't get it because these places do not hire French jets.
For example I put Fukuoka but it was not on the list so I knew it wouldn't chance anything... i was just hoping that maybe fukuoka decided to change nationality... but these things do not happen often. It happens for english speaking countries, like they decide to take an english person instead of an american or irish et etc, but it's very rare that they change from let's say american to german or russian etc, unless they decide to tie special relationships with that country from now on...

[hatefulsandwich]

I've actually relaxed about this a fair bit. I changed my preferences after doing some research and finding some prefectures where I noticed South Africans are/were placed before. I know this isn't a guarantee, but it puts my mind to ease.

[Narcheska]

Sometimes it does seem like a lottery. Except, myself and the two other new JETs in my town were all teachers. An odd coincidence. The 7 JETs in the town were a mix of Aussie/Brit/USA. My main school had had a run of male JETs for 10 years until me. You just never know.

I say don't put specific preferences, no way to be disappointed and it gives the selectors more options for you. Or if you have a general preference, like rural or city, put that down. Just be ready to explain it at the interview.

[nicklar]

I've actually relaxed about this a fair bit. I changed my preferences after doing some research and finding some prefectures where I noticed South Africans are/were placed before. I know this isn't a guarantee, but it puts my mind to ease.

That's pretty good advice. My town always prefered to have male JET's from Portland. They couldn't understand my Australian accent when I first arrived. After I left they had a Scot then, shock horror, a FEMALE ALT. Think that experimenting is over now though.

[Crowbeak]

It's gonna be awesome wherever you go. Relax.

It seems like most of the requests the COs put out are either based on sister-city relationships or bad past experiences. Hokkaido, for instance, has a lot of towns that actively don't want Australians because apparently they had a rash of assholes at one point.

[nicklar]

...they had a rash of assholes at one point.

Wonder what kind of ointment you'd put on that? But seriously I could see how that would happen. Hokkaido is so popular with Aussies for skiing that some towns there probably got landed with quite a few punks on a lark. Pity that some spoil it for others.

[megandd]

It's gonna be awesome wherever you go. Relax.

It seems like most of the requests the COs put out are either based on sister-city relationships or bad past experiences. Hokkaido, for instance, has a lot of towns that actively don't want Australians because apparently they had a rash of assholes at one point.

I put in a a placement request for the sister city of city where I attended university. I explained it in my application, but I'm wondering if the sister city in Japan will want me because I technically don't live in the US sister city.