kaoru
Straight outta Narita
Posts: 9
CIR Experience: Prospective CIR
Location: Kanagawa
Gender (Pronouns): she/her/hers
|
Post by kaoru on Aug 21, 2020 9:48:03 GMT 9
I received a really warm welcome from my introductory post, and was urged to look around the Future CIR portion of the site. Very helpful! I really like the atmosphere here btw. I lurked on another JET Program forum on a major site (not sure if allowed to drop names, but I think everyone knows what it is) and a lot of what I've seen from aspiring JET participants don't get very helpful replies when asking questions similar to mine. A lot of "JET isn't a long term goal," etc.
When it comes to being a desirable applicant, I have a feeling I am part of the way there. I've lived overseas for 10 years of my life (mostly in Europe but only 3 years in Japan) and having experience with other cultures is desirable when it comes to the program, but currently that's all I really have to offer. I haven't worked with kids or won any outstanding awards for Japanese speech like other people have. I'm planning on volunteering in the local community when I move back to the US this year, so maybe that would help? I was also thinking about going on study abroad to Kyoto just to demonstrate to the committee continuing interest in Japan despite moving away from it.
Despite people saying "JET is not a long term goal," I want to participate in the program and I want to increase my chances of getting in as much as possible. I'm in my first year of university so I do have some time until I even get to the point of even applying, but I have at least 2 years to improve my chances. What kind of things look good on the application beyond international experience and working with kids (though I think working with kids is usually advice given to ALT hopefuls)?
I'm sorry this post is very poorly written, I don't post on forums like this often.
|
|
|
|
Post by wapiko on Aug 21, 2020 9:56:12 GMT 9
IMO, as a CIR, JET can easily be a long-term goal depending on what you want to do with your life. I'd wanted to be a translator for years and for me, a CIR is a perfect step along the way. Obviously our maximum contracts are 5 years at best so that part isn't a long-term goal, but if translation or international relations in Japan is something you want to do, it's a great opportunity!
I think flexibility and adaptability are two of the biggest traits you can have to show you're a good candidate for JET. There's a lot of stuff that can happen on the fly and obviously you won't have much choice with where you are placed. I remember in my interview I noted that I can get along with almost everyone I meet and enjoy other people, to which I was countered "there will be times when you may be isolated, how would you handle that?" and then I got to admit that I'm secretly an introvert and I can handle that just fine. xD Positivity will also help. Just be open-minded to whatever situation may happen.
|
|
|
|
Post by Pierson on Aug 21, 2020 12:50:44 GMT 9
Off the top of my head, I think what the committee is looking to see is:
1. Will this person be able to handle to ups and downs of life overseas? 2. Does this person have a genuine interest in Japan? 3. Does this person have sufficient language skills to do the job? (Generally around JLPT N2 level, but no certification, awards, etc. necessary)
4. General professionalism
With regards to the first point, having lived overseas for 10 years is absolutely an advantage. Also, 3 years in Japan is HUGE. That's definitely more than most applicants; I had only spent 3 months in Japan before I applied. So you already have an established connection with the country, and like you said, study abroad would certainly demonstrate continued interest.
Since you're in your first year of university, I think one of the most important things you can do right now is cultivate relationships with your professors so that you have someone who is able to write a strong letter of recommendation when the time comes. And if you want to be SUPER on top of things, maybe you could also start chipping away at your personal statement.
But honestly it sounds like you're already way ahead of the pack, haha.
|
|
kaoru
Straight outta Narita
Posts: 9
CIR Experience: Prospective CIR
Location: Kanagawa
Gender (Pronouns): she/her/hers
|
Post by kaoru on Aug 21, 2020 14:02:43 GMT 9
IMO, as a CIR, JET can easily be a long-term goal depending on what you want to do with your life. I'd wanted to be a translator for years and for me, a CIR is a perfect step along the way. Obviously our maximum contracts are 5 years at best so that part isn't a long-term goal, but if translation or international relations in Japan is something you want to do, it's a great opportunity!I think flexibility and adaptability are two of the biggest traits you can have to show you're a good candidate for JET. There's a lot of stuff that can happen on the fly and obviously you won't have much choice with where you are placed. I remember in my interview I noted that I can get along with almost everyone I meet and enjoy other people, to which I was countered "there will be times when you may be isolated, how would you handle that?" and then I got to admit that I'm secretly an introvert and I can handle that just fine. xD Positivity will also help. Just be open-minded to whatever situation may happen. It’s really great I found this place and get to hear Current and Former CIR opinions about things. The forum I read for months is usually geared towards ALTs and the thought process about JET is suuuuper different. I bolted the first part because I couldn’t find a way to tack that into my original post, but translation and interpretation definitely interests me. Like, “looked at translation and interpretation masters programs” interest. I was first exposed to translation through fan translations of pop culture medi-, and though CIR is obviously different, feels like such an amazing opportunity because it’s still translation, yknow? Translation opens up the world so much and being able to contribute to that would be such a dream come true... sorry this reply is badly written, just genuine excitement haha. |
|
kaoru
Straight outta Narita
Posts: 9
CIR Experience: Prospective CIR
Location: Kanagawa
Gender (Pronouns): she/her/hers
|
Post by kaoru on Aug 21, 2020 14:40:34 GMT 9
Off the top of my head, I think what the committee is looking to see is: 1. Will this person be able to handle to ups and downs of life overseas? 2. Does this person have a genuine interest in Japan? 3. Does this person have sufficient language skills to do the job? (Generally around JLPT N2 level, but no certification, awards, etc. necessary)
4. General professionalism
With regards to the first point, having lived overseas for 10 years is absolutely an advantage. Also, 3 years in Japan is HUGE. That's definitely more than most applicants; I had only spent 3 months in Japan before I applied. So you already have an established connection with the country, and like you said, study abroad would certainly demonstrate continued interest.
Since you're in your first year of university, I think one of the most important things you can do right now is cultivate relationships with your professors so that you have someone who is able to write a strong letter of recommendation when the time comes. And if you want to be SUPER on top of things, maybe you could also start chipping away at your personal statement. But honestly it sounds like you're already way ahead of the pack, haha.
This makes me feel a lot better, thank you so much! Funny you mention it, I honestly have pondered the idea of starting a rough ROUGH draft of my statement of purpose. Might finally do that. Your point about cultivating relationships with professors is definitely in my mind right now, I'm transferring to a different university this year so hopefully this isn't too hindered by that. I will definitely work on that though. Is it okay to have the professor of Japanese language write a letter of recommendation for you is that kind of a no-no for JET program? I'm not taking Japanese as a major or minor (management major) but I'm going to take most of the classes offered there and from what I've researched most of them are taught by the same person, so I wonder if it works more in my favor to have one from the professor and another from a non-japan related subject or just 2 non Japan related subject professors. |
|
|
|
Post by Pierson on Aug 24, 2020 11:51:10 GMT 9
Off the top of my head, I think what the committee is looking to see is: 1. Will this person be able to handle to ups and downs of life overseas? 2. Does this person have a genuine interest in Japan? 3. Does this person have sufficient language skills to do the job? (Generally around JLPT N2 level, but no certification, awards, etc. necessary)
4. General professionalism
With regards to the first point, having lived overseas for 10 years is absolutely an advantage. Also, 3 years in Japan is HUGE. That's definitely more than most applicants; I had only spent 3 months in Japan before I applied. So you already have an established connection with the country, and like you said, study abroad would certainly demonstrate continued interest.
Since you're in your first year of university, I think one of the most important things you can do right now is cultivate relationships with your professors so that you have someone who is able to write a strong letter of recommendation when the time comes. And if you want to be SUPER on top of things, maybe you could also start chipping away at your personal statement. But honestly it sounds like you're already way ahead of the pack, haha.
This makes me feel a lot better, thank you so much! Funny you mention it, I honestly have pondered the idea of starting a rough ROUGH draft of my statement of purpose. Might finally do that. Your point about cultivating relationships with professors is definitely in my mind right now, I'm transferring to a different university this year so hopefully this isn't too hindered by that. I will definitely work on that though. Is it okay to have the professor of Japanese language write a letter of recommendation for you is that kind of a no-no for JET program? I'm not taking Japanese as a major or minor (management major) but I'm going to take most of the classes offered there and from what I've researched most of them are taught by the same person, so I wonder if it works more in my favor to have one from the professor and another from a non-japan related subject or just 2 non Japan related subject professors. I don't remember, unfortunately. I applied for something before where they specified that letters of recommendation had to come from a non-language professor, but I can't remember if that was JET or another scholarship. You'll have to check the JET website (unless someone else here knows?) |
|
|
|
Post by Aqua on Aug 24, 2020 11:59:14 GMT 9
Both of my letters of recommendation came from Japanese language teachers! And there was no issue with it.
|
|
|
|
Post by Aya Raincoat on Aug 24, 2020 12:12:07 GMT 9
This like that could change a lot between now and when you eventually apply, though, so you probably shouldn't focus on such detailed things. Cultivating good relationships with all the professors you can will help you whether you end up applying for JET or not, though.
|
|
Mumblesnore
Dead Stargod 
’Tis the season (for Eggnog)
Posts: 16,154 
CIR Experience: Former CIR
Location: Tokyo
|
Post by Mumblesnore on Aug 24, 2020 14:11:51 GMT 9
Who even knows if there will still be a JET program in 4 years
|
|
|
|
Post by Leilo on Aug 25, 2020 10:43:09 GMT 9
Both of my letters of recommendation came from Japanese language teachers! And there was no issue with it. I think I did the opposite, When I applied (in the US, in 2018), it stated we needed 1 letter from a teacher and 1 from a non-teacher. But I didn't see the part that said one needed to be from a teacher and got 2 letters from 2 bosses from an internship. At the time I was worried that would disqualify me or something but there was no problem in the end.
|
|
|
|
Post by hohoEMIsen on Aug 31, 2020 14:10:55 GMT 9
Hi kaoru ! A belated welcome to the forums! I agree with Pierson . 10 years overseas experience with 3 years in Japan is a huge advantage. It shows the committee that you are more likely to adjust to living in Japan than the other newcomers. As a CIR, there are many potential workplaces that you will be placed in, from prefectural offices, to international associations, museums, and even tourist information counters or a role as a glorified ALT. Therefore, the committee is most probably looking out for someone with both the ability and flexibility to cope with various offices and situations. Also, although experience with kids are a plus point for ALTs, I don't think it is as important for CIRs. ------- → When you have your statement of purpose written, feel free to ask us to review it. I think most of us would be happy to help. I had the help of 5 senpai CIRs myself. (Wrote about the experience here: gaiyaba.wordpress.com/2016/11/18/application-submitted/)→ My two letters of recommendation came from my university professor, and my previous workplace supervisor. I don't see any issues with having a professor of Japanese language write a letter of recommendation. → With regards to JET not being a long term goal True the maximum duration of a JET placement is 5 years, but a CIR who has worked in Japan for 5 years is desirable to companies. Especially if the hiring company is familiar with CIRs / has CIRs working there. If you are lucky to get placed in an office that offers you a lot of connections, such as the prefectural office, you might very well find yourself another job before you leave JET. All the best! |
|
kaoru
Straight outta Narita
Posts: 9
CIR Experience: Prospective CIR
Location: Kanagawa
Gender (Pronouns): she/her/hers
|
Post by kaoru on Sept 14, 2020 7:04:25 GMT 9
Hi kaoru ! A belated welcome to the forums! I agree with Pierson . 10 years overseas experience with 3 years in Japan is a huge advantage. It shows the committee that you are more likely to adjust to living in Japan than the other newcomers. As a CIR, there are many potential workplaces that you will be placed in, from prefectural offices, to international associations, museums, and even tourist information counters or a role as a glorified ALT. Therefore, the committee is most probably looking out for someone with both the ability and flexibility to cope with various offices and situations. Also, although experience with kids are a plus point for ALTs, I don't think it is as important for CIRs. ------- → When you have your statement of purpose written, feel free to ask us to review it. I think most of us would be happy to help. I had the help of 5 senpai CIRs myself. (Wrote about the experience here: gaiyaba.wordpress.com/2016/11/18/application-submitted/)→ My two letters of recommendation came from my university professor, and my previous workplace supervisor. I don't see any issues with having a professor of Japanese language write a letter of recommendation. → With regards to JET not being a long term goal True the maximum duration of a JET placement is 5 years, but a CIR who has worked in Japan for 5 years is desirable to companies. Especially if the hiring company is familiar with CIRs / has CIRs working there. If you are lucky to get placed in an office that offers you a lot of connections, such as the prefectural office, you might very well find yourself another job before you leave JET. All the best! Thank you so much for replying to my post! I've read through your blog frequently (hopefully that doesn't sound too weird ;  and it's very informative, you write really good posts. And I feel very grateful that it is possible to ask CIRHP for review of my SoP given the only person I know on JET was an alt._. Reading through the post you linked there, one thing that I've been kind of worried about is having like 'JET Appropriate/SFW' hobbies/interests to write about. I like Japanese rock music, but with the whole "you are a representative of your country" something like rock music does not look that great. I feel like that kind of in the view of "don't write about anime/manga" advice ive seen given on reddit. Like.. my hobbies are going to concerts and band related literature (aka.. magazines). I mean, it's possible to twist that into something more CIR related with how popular media translation is a thing and that opens up the niche of jrock to the world, but just mentioning the genre at all seems risky. Man, this is way more than I wanted to write but.. idk. Should I just.. make something up to replace that? Ugh, sorry ;; it's a problem that came to me and I have years to come up with a SFW hobby to write about but I don't even know where to start |
|
|
|
Post by Leilo on Sept 14, 2020 10:03:30 GMT 9
kaoru I'm not saiyng you should do this, but I think on my application I wrote "translating" as a hobby...which, truthfully was mainly about translating manga online. But in my interview they asked about it and I think I said I liked to translate song lyrics as a hobby (I guess I did that as a hobby too). They replied saying "okay...so you have no experience with academic translation, translation of articles, etc...?" and I just said "no, but I'd like to challenge myself with translation work like that as a CIR".
That exchange (specifically the interviewer's reaction to when I said I liked translating song lyrics as a hobby) got me worried that I was docked points. But, I got shortlisted so it probably didn't really hurt. edit* that being said, I didn't actually write about my hobbies in my SOP. I more talked about my experience/passions/goals etc. I think they may be put off if you talk too much about any hobby in your SOP. An ex-interviewer told me that they didn't pass some guy who talked too much about his passion for Japanese martial arts, because they felt like he was more interested in pursuing that hobby by going to Japan rather than actually being interested in Japan/international exchange. |
|
|
|
Post by Aqua on Sept 14, 2020 10:52:49 GMT 9
kaoruI don't think not writing about anime/manga is a general "rule" as such. I talked a lot about it in my SoP actually. But I just made sure to link it to my interest in other things. Like "I became interested in anime when a hulemdo introduced me to it at age 14 and after spending a lot of time watching it, I started to gain an interest in the country it is produced in" - and then link it to that. I also did Kendo for a few years and linked that in, but not just talking about the sport - linking it to the fact that I was interested in how some of the etiquette traditions that have been part of Martial Arts for years can still be seen in regular Japanese society. Talk about bands. Link it to getting interested in modern Japanese culture. Or maybe that it was an inciting factor to you managing to make Japanese hulemdos. Just talk about what you're actually passionate about and it will shine through. If you put things in that you don't actually feel passionate about it will show and come across as insincere, especially when they ask you about it in the interview. It's fine to talk about hobbies, and honestly I think I'd encourage it, as long as you can link it to growing your interest of Japan as a whole or expanding your understanding of the culture.
|
|
kaoru
Straight outta Narita
Posts: 9
CIR Experience: Prospective CIR
Location: Kanagawa
Gender (Pronouns): she/her/hers
|
Post by kaoru on Sept 14, 2020 11:55:03 GMT 9
I guess it is more forum culture to tag than quote, so I'll try that >< Sorry.. Leilo That is a really good point about putting translation as a hobby. I like to translate band interviews/articles as practice right now, and kind of what got me interested in translation in the first place. Maybe framing it to be more CIR job duty centric is helpful. Thank you for sharing your experience with the interview and also about how you wrote your SOP. That is a really good point. You mentioned experience, and I was thinking of putting my experience living in other countries in my SOP alongside all the other things, since maybe that can help out with cooking classes or something. Aqua Thank you for replying, too. This forum is so helpful, and I'm grateful to have so many perspectives to hear. You bring up a lot of things I did not previously think of writing, like about how it helps me make Japanese hulemdos. As well as writing about what I'm passionate about. So much useful advice ;; thank you all so much. I feel better about writing about bands and just my SOP in general, feelsgoodman |
|
|
|
Post by hohoEMIsen on Sept 14, 2020 13:45:31 GMT 9
You're very much welcome, kaoru! It doesn't sound weird that you have read my blog frequently. In fact, I'm glad to meet a fellow reader  Please let me know what other information you're interested in knowing and I'll do my best to post them in detail I think both Leita and Aqua have sufficiently addressed your worry about having JET appropriate hobbies and interests. I very much agree with Aqua with the point of talking about what you're actually passionate about as it will shine through. I'll PM you my SOP so you can get a feel of how I phrased things. PS: Don't worry about quoting and tagging that much. I think we use a good balance of both. |
|
and it's very informative, you write really good posts. And I feel very grateful that it is possible to ask CIRHP for review of my SoP given the only person I know on JET was an alt._. 
Please let me know what other information you're interested in knowing and I'll do my best to post them in detail