(USA) Now that we have the interview list...

[Scout2012]

Who else has had their dream crushed?

[Norsehawk]

Now you've done it, Panda is going to yell at us again.

[HStraveller]

Meeeee.... I'll find another way I guess. :/ I really thought I had a good app, so I really just don't even know how to feel right now. Don't know that I'm going to sit on my butt for an entire year waiting for this again, so I'm going to look into alternate routes.

[marbotic]

Me too! I applied for Interac also and they'll call me for a phone interview in the next two weeks.

Meeeee.... I'll find another way I guess. :/ I really thought I had a good app, so I really just don't even know how to feel right now. Don't know that I'm going to sit on my butt for an entire year waiting for this again, so I'm going to look into alternate routes.

Alternate routes: Interac, Altia, maybe AEON? AEON pays better than the other two, but it's an eikaiwa, so I'm not sure if I'd want to apply with them or not. Benefit would be that I could go to Japan sooner probably after I graduate May 1st. For the ALT programs I'd have to be a restaurant server for another few months until the second trimester starts. Seems like the other programs (Heart, Borderlink, GEOS, etc) don't pay as well/treat their employees as well, so I'm not really considering them. What have you guys found out about non-JET programs?

[pandasan]

Now you've done it, Panda is going to yell at us again.

That'll be pandasan, my petit chou-fleur

Scout2012, anyone else feeling miserable: Don't feel like your dreams have been snatched from you - you still have a lifetime in which to succeed the way you want to; be it on JET or not. If you're going to reapply, that's all the more reason make the absolute most of the next 8 months. You might even have a great time doing so! Take this rejection as a learning experience rather than a hindrance

[Scout2012]

So, I had a few hours to think about things and I realized that this is sort of a blessing in disguise.

I now have time to pursue other things that were put on the back-burner. One thing I can do now is go for the TEFL license, and when I get this license it will open up other opportunities for me to teach in Japan.

Plus it will allow me to have more time to study how to become an effective teacher, and hone my English skills even more. It will also relieve some of the stress put on me to score well on the classes that I am currently taking.

In short:
Not getting accepted this year is the same as lifting a huge burden off my shoulders, and I will be better prepared next time around.

COME AT ME BRO.

[Cliodhna]

Now you've done it, Panda is going to yell at us again.

That'll be pandasan, my petit chou-fleur

BAHHH


Well, we can't control everyone!

[GriffN]

WOOOHOOO! Got my interview notification email 30 minutes ago!

I didn't get an interview last year. So I feel where you're at. It sucks.

Also, anyone looking at private ALT companies, check out Joytalk too. My brother worked with them, and their staff are awesome.

[merkypie]

WOOOHOOO! Got my interview notification email 30 minutes ago!

I didn't get an interview last year. So I feel where you're at. It sucks.

Hahahah, this was not the thread to post that in....

[marbotic]

WOOOHOOO! Got my interview notification email 30 minutes ago!

I didn't get an interview last year. So I feel where you're at. It sucks.

Hahahah, this was not the thread to post that in....

What merkypie was trying to say is that us rejects will feel:

[AVN]

Hey guys...

in 2008 I failed to get an interview and when I found out it felt like the whole world crashed around me. Then the same day I started looking into other ways to get there because I didn't want to wait a year, personal stuff. So the very same day I applied to GEOS, an eikaiwa. I got an email the next day asking for a phone interview. I did the phone interview that week. I got the interview in second week of February. I got the job a week after that. I can tell you my friend who had the JET interview was envious of that
I moved to Japan in July as I still had to graduate and such.
I was in Niigata for 2 years and in my 2nd year of GEOs I applied to JET, flew home for a week, did the interview and got the job.

Don't give up!

NOTE: I worked the eikaiwa gig for 2 years. I worked at GEOS when it went under, bankrupt, shut down, dead. Don't believe the name, the GEOS that started in the 80s is dead. The GEOS out there now has changed owners 4 times in the year and half since it went bankrupt. It treats its employees like shoot.

I never worked for AEON but from I heard through the eikaiwa grapevine it's not nice to work for. I can give more details if you want but I would not recommend it. If you just want to go to Japan for a year and make a bit of quick money sure go for it. If you want any long term, job satisfaction, real community involvement, don't do eikaiwa.

I know Interac is sketchy but I would say it's a better gamble than an eikaiwa in terms of real life in Japan, making friends, getting involved in the community etc.

You can also do private job hunts, look for things, or try again this fall.

Big piece of advice? Find some of the people who volunteered to read SOP. Get one of them to read your current SOP and help you see what the JET people saw.

ALSO getting a JET interview is a crap shoot. They're just looking at paper, they can't know how good you would be or how bad another person would be.
The year I didn't get an interview my friend did. She went to the interview and met a guy who wasn't even in a full suit. The guy turns to her in the waiting room and says:
"So what kind of stuff do they wanna hear? Cuz seriously I did this on a whim. I mean how hard can it be? I speak English I can teach it and the money looks awesome." I cried when she told me that even though I already had my job...

[randomguy]

"So what kind of stuff do they wanna hear? Cuz seriously I did this on a whim. I mean how hard can it be? I speak English I can teach it and the money looks awesome."

Ugh (-_-)* I could just imagine how that must have felt....

[AVN]

"So what kind of stuff do they wanna hear? Cuz seriously I did this on a whim. I mean how hard can it be? I speak English I can teach it and the money looks awesome."

Ugh (-_-)* I could just imagine how that must have felt....

She told me she wanted to punch him...

[Gekishinken]

Let me add my two cents...
This year, prior to JET releasing the interview lists, I have received offers from both Interac and AEON. I applied to both as backups in case JET did not work out.

I had already rejected Interac back in January, and don't regret it. While I am sure Interac is an ok alternative, there were a couple red flags for me.
1. They want you to bring 500,000 yen (close to $6000)
2. You get August ant December off...BUT you also take MAJOR pay cuts during those months
3. In general the pay just isn't that good, especially since you have to pay tax too.

As for AEON, I interviewed there in November and here are a couple red flags I got from them...
1. They truly seem like a cult. They seem like they believe AEON is the best thing ever, even though their teaching style (in my opinion) seems mildly degrading to students
2. You get an urban location...great! BUT! The working hours are not good at all, so you would not have time to really enjoy it. With AEON you work Tuesday-Friday 1-9 and Saturday I think 11-7 or so. In addition, AEON does not provide you with nearly the amount of time off that either Interac or JET does. AEON honors all public holidays, but only the ones that don't fall on Mondays (and a lot fall on Mondays), because you already have Monday off. I have read many stories of people disliking eikaiwa work so much that they can't even stay the 1 year commitment.

Between AEON and Interac I would probably pick Interac.

Best of luck to everyone going forward.

[AVN]

Let me add my two cents...
This year, prior to JET releasing the interview lists, I have received offers from both Interac and AEON. I applied to both as backups in case JET did not work out.

I had already rejected Interac back in January, and don't regret it. While I am sure Interac is an ok alternative, there were a couple red flags for me.
1. They want you to bring 500,000 yen (close to $6000)
2. You get August ant December off...BUT you also take MAJOR pay cuts during those months
3. In general the pay just isn't that good, especially since you have to pay tax too.

As for AEON, I interviewed there in November and here are a couple red flags I got from them...
1. They truly seem like a cult. They seem like they believe AEON is the best thing ever, even though their teaching style (in my opinion) seems mildly degrading to students
2. You get an urban location...great! BUT! The working hours are not good at all, so you would not have time to really enjoy it. With AEON you work Tuesday-Friday 1-9 and Saturday I think 11-7 or so. In addition, AEON does not provide you with nearly the amount of time off that either Interac or JET does. AEON honors all public holidays, but only the ones that don't fall on Mondays (and a lot fall on Mondays), because you already have Monday off. I have read many stories of people disliking eikaiwa work so much that they can't even stay the 1 year commitment.

Between AEON and Interac I would probably pick Interac.

Best of luck to everyone going forward.

From what I know AEON is just like GEOS was.
You only get 10 days off a year and you can't take more than two consecutive weeks off even if you have the winter holidays in there or golden week.
You get almost no long weekends ever. The only way you can is if there is a holiday on a tuesday which rarely happens. Otherwise you just get stuck with a random day off in the middle of your week.
Your schedule also severely limits your ability to become part of the community you live in. This is especially true if you're in a smaller urban area or a suburban area. Most stores and such close between 6 and 9. You finish work at 9 so yeah...
It seems like a cult because the people up top have to make it seem like they truly believe in it or the peons (read: teachers) won't believe in it.
Like at GEOS the trainers (kind of like supervisors) and higher ups were still telling us there was nothing wrong and everything was fine the day before bankruptcy was announced. Even when I was on the shinkansen on my way to the meeting announcing the bankruptcy my trainer was telling me not to worry it would work out.