CLAIR visit to new COs/新任用団体面談

we're very rare (JET just started 2-3 years ago in the PH. I dunno how competitive the application is for CIRs but for ALTs it's an advantage if you had teaching experience. whereas for other countries even the average weeb can get it in). I think there's only 2 of us 全国 and I'm not even from the PH. I'd love to have more PH CIRs sometimes I have to translate stuff in Tagalog and it can be hard ;_;

I'm also a first CIR with no pred, my CLAIR "interview" is in a couple of weeks. I have no idea what to expect either, my soup just said they are coming and not much else.

I didn't know that! I told CLAIR that I think my CO shouldn't have hired an eigoken person and mentioned Indonesian and Tagalog and they took notes and looked thoughtful so maybe they will think about getting more PH CIRs in future! I'd love if they hired a PH CIR here, then people might stop complaining about how I don't speak any useful languages *sigh*

nessie Given that this is a work forum and I feel like giving some advice on here is better than me sitting around doing nothing haha.

This forum is a great place for all us to out our heads together and help out fellow hulemdos because together we can probably do some good in helping Japan get its workforce together or just die trying.

I haven't met any CIRs from here irl yet (I think ) either ! But welcome !!

I'm glad your interview went well! I actually went to ask my pred if Clair came to interview them, but they said no but they're also not coming to ask me... I wonder if my tiny island is too inaka for them...

Hi are you me 

I'm the first CIR in my town and we had the soudan with gyomu Gyomu earlier this year, I'm not sure if it'll be the same content for you but here's a rundown of what the day was like for me 

- Two gyomu Gyomu officials came, we had a general greeting in the mayor's office with my kachou, jimukyokucho and tantousha (and the vice mayor). It was all just self introductions and pleasantries so nothing much here 

- We then split up and the two gyomu Gyomu reps actually interviewed me first, privately. They asked me general questions about how I was enjoying the job and what kind of work I was doing, but it gradually got more detailed as they went into asking about if my workload was reasonable, was I doing overtime, if yes how was I getting compensated for it (is there a daikyu system?), do I feel like my tasks are relevant to my position as CIR, do I get along with my coworkers, do I feel welcome and comfortable in my workplace, how are my living conditions, how is my personal support system here (do I feel like I can reply on my CO and soup if something happens), have I had any issues with going to the hospital when sick, was I able to take sick leave, have I experienced homesickness or culture shock since coming here, if yes how do I deal with that, am I aware of the JET support systems such as counselling services, have I attended any of the translation and interpreting courses or the camp in that place with the Lake and NOTHING ELSE, did I find it useful, do I want to work in Japan after JET or would I like to go home/into something else like further study... and probably more but that was the gist of it. Seriously we spoke for about an hour and a half all up and they took very thorough notes. They gave me ample opportunities to speak honestly about any issues or qualms I might have had with my workplace and didn't make any quick judgements or dole out advice on the spot. It was surprisingly nice actually.

- Then I got asked to leave the room while they interviewed my tantousha and other bosses very thoroughly for about the same length of time. I wasn't allowed in the room so I have no idea what it was about but I assume they do a series of similar questions about your behavior and performance etc. 


- We then toured some of the local attractions in town and I was able to show the reps some of the translation work I'd done for tourism establishments. The lady in particular had a background in translating and was great to talk to about the challenges of translating and had good advice for future projects. We didn't tour my actual office though and they didn't get to meet my whole team which was a bit of a shame as it's separate to where we held the interviews, but I could've probably been more proactive about asking for that if I really wanted them to do so. 


- Then we dropped them off at the train station and it was over! I emailed a thanks to both of them and got nice replies. There was no formal feedback or report from them or anything though so /shrug 

All up it took most of the day and was pretty nerve-wracking but once you get over the nerves it's a really good opportunity to give honest and open feedback about your situation and your CO, so I'd encourage you to not hold back if there's anything you want to say (keeping it as non-petty as possible though obviously)  

Hope this helps, let me know if there's anything more specific you wanted to know! 

just out of curiosity...
After all the interview, talks, and what not, did anything really change?

結論から言いますと if no one feels a strong need for the CIR's services, the situation will not improve. 

clair doesn't have the power to make a CO do anything. if anything, clair might well be responsible for your troubles. in my case, my CO apparently specifically requested a speaker of chinese, but I don't speak any chinese, so how do you think that made them felt...? to be fair, I have no idea if they had the ability to reject clair's offer of a non-chinese speaking person, but who knows. one thing I will say is that despite specifically requesting a speaker of chinese, there is absolutely no need of a chinese-speaking CIR (or any CIR) in my placement...but again, that is neither here nor there.

if a CO does anything, it will only be to save face, but that won't actually improve the CIR's situation. the fact that our salaries are substantially subsidised doesn't help. COs have no incentive to treat us as anything other than something like one of those pockettalk gadgets (btw, also purchased with hojokin), left on the shelf until required, used, and then put back to collect dust for another year.

in the end, it's best to accept reality and move on. we are disposable to our COs.