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Post by hohoEMIsen on Jan 12, 2018 9:16:02 GMT 9
Welcome Leilo and 83tsu ! as 江戸っ子Hakujin said, we are super excited to have you here!! When there's no thread for you, feel free to just create a new one  Leilo , I think you already know this but even though you might struggle to read the words, make sure to focus on the meaning of the article as well! Or else you'd be frantically trying to understand it afterwards (like me xD) 83tsu let me know if you if you need some Japanese speaking practice I can chat with you if you'd like |
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Marimoooo
Straight outta Narita
Posts: 26
CIR Experience: Incoming CIR
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Post by Marimoooo on Jan 12, 2018 10:18:15 GMT 9
Hello everybody, I am also an aspiring CIR and I hail from down under (NZ, not Australia)  Is anyone else here a kiwi? I would love to hear about any experiences with the interview panel here! I will be interviewing with the Auckland consulate, but any feedback and/or general CIR interview tips from anywhere would be welcome really  |
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Post by Leilo on Jan 12, 2018 10:44:21 GMT 9
Thank you hohoEMIsen! Here's to hoping nerves don't kill me during that portion either |
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Post by Ham on Jan 12, 2018 12:32:26 GMT 9
Hello! I don't know if I should post here or in introductions, but I'm an applicant who will be interviewing in Seattle. I'm mostly worried about the Japanese portion of the interview, because I think I have less experience with Japanese than others who apply for CIR. I'm entirely fine with speaking, but I'm not sure how I'll do on reading the article, especially out loud. That sounds a lot like my own situation when I interviewed. I felt fairly confident in my listening comprehension, but shaky in speaking and utterly unprepared in reading. I literally had to ask for the pronunciation of the first word of the excerpt they gave me and then every tenth word or so of the final section of the passage. I topped it off by giving rambling, half-baked answers to all of the questions, but here I am!  Since no new board has been created for 2018 applicants, I'll just post here as well. I am also worried about that. For me, the Japanese portion will likely be the determining factor. From what I've seen, my Japanese may be waaaaay underqualified, but I guess we'll find out in the interview... It's been so long since I've spoken proper Japanese that I'm worried about that as well. I've just been practicing reading articles for the past few weeks, and I guess I'll just ramp up that from here on out? I'd maybe suggest trying to find some language exchange partners over Skype or LINE to practice your speaking with if you're rusty. I hadn't spoken a lick of Japanese for about 2.5 years before applying for JET, and honestly hadn't spoken much before then either. I remember I あのぅ'd so egregiously at the beginning that, during our first session, one of my partners actually told me I should try to avoid saying it so much. I know you probably only have a couple of weeks before the interview, but I think it's well worth it to just get used to making the sounds again and letting your mouth run. You'll sound more confident and fluent even if what comes out is utter nonsense, like with me. The site I used to find partners has shut down, unfortunately, but I'm sure there's others out there. |
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Post by Dee on Jan 12, 2018 13:41:19 GMT 9
Welcome CIR Hopefuls, and congrats on getting an interview!
You may be a bundle of nerves right now (I know I was!) but here's my 2 cents on preparing for the Japanese portion:
Write out a 自己紹介 and practice reading it out loud
Try to find someone who can help you with a mock interview
Try to read one news article a day
Be calm and take your time
I felt like I didn't do very well on the Japanese portion, stumbling over easy kanji in reading the article and not completely understanding some of the questions they asked about it.
Take a deep breath, stay calm, and do your best.
Also, don't forget to prepare for the non-Japanese part of the interview!!
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Post by twpsynsinsir on Jan 12, 2018 23:14:53 GMT 9
Hi, got news that I have an interview a couple of days ago, and I just found about this site.
I think the UK interview is a little different after reading through my email and the stuff that's been talked about here on other interviews...
It seems that my interview will be entirely in Japanese (Still has the article reading and answering section) as well as having an English grammar section - Though I'm not worried about that.
I was wondering if there's any current or past CIRs from the UK that could give me some advice or let me know how your interview was like?
Thanks!
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Post by ❄icepath❄ on Jan 13, 2018 11:11:02 GMT 9
Oh I'm late to the party once again, but look at all this new body-juice! Welcome, welcome, congrats on getting an interview, hope it doesn't cost too much for you to go to your interview location! My list of advice: - ALT dude - there was this guy who was probably specifically in charge of asking me hypothetical questions about if I got offered an ALT position, so do give some thought to that if you also checked the ALT box on your application (and if you didn't, you should probably prepare an answer as to why you don't want to be an ALT). Also, don't be nervous if they ask you super in-depth questions, it's not because they've already mentally communicated and decided you're not going to be a CIR; it's just part of the process.
- Know about your country, know about Japan, but also, know about how people in both countries perceive each other, because this can also build your case as to how you can contribute as a CIR
- If you've put preferences, prepare to expound on those preferences too.
- For the Japanese section, they might not give you time to read through once before you're required to read it aloud! I thought they would but they didn't and I didn't really understand their instructions so I was like "eh, ima desu ka?" and they said yes so I had to read it out on the spot and stumble/guess my way through the unknown kanji TT
- In general, I believe the questions about the article get harder and harder until they get to a question that's less about the article and more about a societal phenomenon that's related to what's talked about in the article. This isn't really an advice as much as it's a clue as to what to expect from the Japanese section so that you can process their questions better in that stressful situation (I hear so many instances where people blank out and fail to understand even the question)
Finally, be yourself. I sometimes wonder if I got in at all because I said a thing at the interview and they found it funny so they hired me. All the best, and we all look forward to meeting you in person at next year's CIR Mid-Year Conference and/or as our successors! |
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Marimoooo
Straight outta Narita
Posts: 26
CIR Experience: Incoming CIR
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Post by Marimoooo on Jan 14, 2018 8:41:18 GMT 9
Wow ❄icepath❄, I didn't expect there to be a CIR as far out as Tokashiki-son!!  I actually put Okinawa as one of my placement preferences, but now I'm a little worried since I can't drive  Thanks for the tips and encouragement though, they are very useful! |
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Post by ❄icepath❄ on Jan 14, 2018 11:01:55 GMT 9
Wow ❄icepath❄ , I didn't expect there to be a CIR as far out as Tokashiki-son!! I actually put Okinawa as one of my placement preferences, but now I'm a little worried since I can't drive Thanks for the tips and encouragement though, they are very useful! Hahaha there's one on Zamami too! They're further out than us by just a bit =3 I don't think you have to worry about that as yet, but in any case, I can't drive either and I'm (mostly) surviving. If you do get placed in Okinawa, on the main island you should have no trouble getting around by bus (it might just take you a bit longer, changing buses, but they'll get you to where you need to go) or by fellow-JET's-car if it's to a really really isolated area. |
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Marimoooo
Straight outta Narita
Posts: 26
CIR Experience: Incoming CIR
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Post by Marimoooo on Jan 14, 2018 21:13:17 GMT 9
Wow ❄icepath❄ , I didn't expect there to be a CIR as far out as Tokashiki-son!! I actually put Okinawa as one of my placement preferences, but now I'm a little worried since I can't drive Thanks for the tips and encouragement though, they are very useful! Hahaha there's one on Zamami too! They're further out than us by just a bit =3 I don't think you have to worry about that as yet, but in any case, I can't drive either and I'm (mostly) surviving. If you do get placed in Okinawa, on the main island you should have no trouble getting around by bus (it might just take you a bit longer, changing buses, but they'll get you to where you need to go) or by fellow-JET's-car if it's to a really really isolated area. Out of curiosity, is Zamami pretty much the furthermost CIR placement from the mainland? And that's a relief to hear! Is Tokashiki-son small enough to get around by bike? I've been to Okinawa once on a one-day business trip from Tokyo (crazy, I know  ), but I loved what little I saw of it! It just seems so chill and there's so much grass haha. Will definitely be visiting if I don't get placed there |
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Post by ❄icepath❄ on Jan 15, 2018 10:11:59 GMT 9
Hahaha there's one on Zamami too! They're further out than us by just a bit =3 I don't think you have to worry about that as yet, but in any case, I can't drive either and I'm (mostly) surviving. If you do get placed in Okinawa, on the main island you should have no trouble getting around by bus (it might just take you a bit longer, changing buses, but they'll get you to where you need to go) or by fellow-JET's-car if it's to a really really isolated area. Out of curiosity, is Zamami pretty much the furthermost CIR placement from the mainland? And that's a relief to hear! Is Tokashiki-son small enough to get around by bike? I've been to Okinawa once on a one-day business trip from Tokyo (crazy, I know ), but I loved what little I saw of it! It just seems so chill and there's so much grass haha. Will definitely be visiting if I don't get placed there As far as I know, Zamami is the furthest. In fact there are only two outer island CIRs to my knowledge (don't kill me if it turns out that I'm just ignorant about other outer islands ><) From house to workplace I walk, but to get around the island... I don't do that a lot since I can't drive, and it's a lot of uphill so biking might be tough too... People who are fit can walk around the whole island (up and down hill) in one day. |
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Marimoooo
Straight outta Narita
Posts: 26
CIR Experience: Incoming CIR
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Post by Marimoooo on Jan 16, 2018 12:43:49 GMT 9
Out of curiosity, is Zamami pretty much the furthermost CIR placement from the mainland? And that's a relief to hear! Is Tokashiki-son small enough to get around by bike? I've been to Okinawa once on a one-day business trip from Tokyo (crazy, I know ), but I loved what little I saw of it! It just seems so chill and there's so much grass haha. Will definitely be visiting if I don't get placed there As far as I know, Zamami is the furthest. In fact there are only two outer island CIRs to my knowledge (don't kill me if it turns out that I'm just ignorant about other outer islands ><) From house to workplace I walk, but to get around the island... I don't do that a lot since I can't drive, and it's a lot of uphill so biking might be tough too... People who are fit can walk around the whole island (up and down hill) in one day. That actually sounds quite nice since everything's compact! The only thing I'm kind of afraid of is ending up somewhere where I'll have to walk 1 hour each way in the snow in winter to get to the nearest supermarket or something.  How often do you visit non-Okinawa Japan? (Sorry I have taken up this thread with non-interview talk >_<) |
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Post by Cantamen on Jan 16, 2018 14:50:59 GMT 9
I can't believe I didn't see this thread earlier! Welcome everyone! One of the CIRs in my city is leaving this year, so maybe one of you will come live near me!
I also thought I completely screwed up the Japanese reading part of the interview. I had to ask for the readings of multiple words, and I got so freaked out I felt like puking. But here I am, typing this instead of doing my translations.
Luckily they do the Japanese part at the end of the interview (in Boston, at least), so if you screw up on that the nerves won't have a chance to make you worse on the English part.
Remember that they will give you a chance to ask them questions at the end of the interview. You should decide what those questions will be beforehand. This won't make or break you, but you can make a good final impression. Come up with thoughtful questions that show you are engaged, interested, and have done a lot of research into this job. You'll seem more prepared and "put together", giving them more reason to blame any stumbles you make on nerves, rather than incompetence.
ガンバ！ You can do it! (I did, after all)
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haru11
Straight outta Narita
Posts: 39 
CIR Experience: 2nd year
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Post by haru11 on Jan 16, 2018 16:39:16 GMT 9
Hi, got news that I have an interview a couple of days ago, and I just found about this site. I think the UK interview is a little different after reading through my email and the stuff that's been talked about here on other interviews... It seems that my interview will be entirely in Japanese (Still has the article reading and answering section) as well as having an English grammar section - Though I'm not worried about that. I was wondering if there's any current or past CIRs from the UK that could give me some advice or let me know how your interview was like? Thanks! Hi! I am a UK CIR in my first year at the minute and was also freaking out big time this time last year. My interview (and every other UK CIR's who is currently a first year) was in both Japanese and English so unless they've changed it, I would imagine yours will be too?? I would say the first 3/4 was in Japanese and the last 1/4 in English. We had a mini (very easy, especially if you're a native speaker) grammar test at the very beginning before entering the interview room, think it was one page.
I honestly couldn't read the majority of the kanji in the article... I would pause so often and the interviewer would butt in and tell me how to pronounce the next kanji. I definitely also made the mistake of not processing the content of the article as I read it aloud so panicked when they started asking questions immediately after.
I got the impression (as someone else also said) that the questions get harder and harder, and they ask you them all anyway to see how far they can push you. By the end I was literally asking for an English translation of the questions I was being asked so thought I was done for. So don't freak out if you progressively get worse at answering the questions. One of the interviewers even apologised to me like, 'sorry this next one is really hard', so maybe they have to ask all of the questions they have per candidate?
Good luck!
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ashra
Straight outta Narita
Posts: 6 
CIR Experience: Incoming CIR
Location: Shizuoka
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Post by ashra on Jan 17, 2018 4:50:11 GMT 9
Hi, I’ve been asked to go to the interview in London. I’ve been reading what everybody has been saying and it’s given my a good idea on how to prepare. Thanks.
Any tips on what to wear? I’ve got a suit but it’s blue. I’ve heard it’s best to wear black or grey.
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Post by Cantamen on Jan 17, 2018 8:40:08 GMT 9
Hi, I’ve been asked to go to the interview in London. I’ve been reading what everybody has been saying and it’s given my a good idea on how to prepare. Thanks. Any tips on what to wear? I’ve got a suit but it’s blue. I’ve heard it’s best to wear black or grey. Navy blue would be totally fine- my Kakaricho is wearing a navy suit right now!
They don't expect the standard black SHOE-KATS suit like they might for a Japanese person- they want to hire someone from the UK. So anything you'd wear to a formal business interview in London is okay.
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Post by Ham on Jan 17, 2018 9:09:07 GMT 9
^ I wore a striped navy suit to my interview.
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Post by ❄icepath❄ on Jan 17, 2018 9:43:29 GMT 9
I wasn't even wearing a suit in the strict sense; I wore a white collared shirt with 3/4 sleeves, a black collared shirt that looks somewhat passable as a jacket only by virtue of the fact that it ends lower than the white shirt, also with 3/4 sleeves, and black trousers from Primark, with black half-inch heels. Also minimal make-up (as in foundation only because my mum forced me to).
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Post by Aya Raincoat on Jan 17, 2018 10:07:55 GMT 9
I wore a blue suit with a bright scarlet shirt... wait, or was my suit black that time? Anyway, I've worn a blue one at least once and the scarlet shirt twice.
I did the interview four times before being upgraded (I was on the alternates list all four times... T_T), and the interview was very similar each year:
- English questions first, general interview stuff (like how do you deal with people with whom you don't get along) and more specific JET things.
- To add to what icepath said, if you put down that you don't want to be an ALT, you may be asked what you would do if most of your tasks involved teaching.
- Japanese section has the text, which is a short article about something; I've had one about Mount Fuji becoming a World Heritage Site, one about cleaning your shoes and how that's become popular, one about the importance of newspaper and one about o-toshidama. They then asked me two questions about the text, and then a more open-ended question to know my opinion on the general subject.
- Last year, my answer to the open-ended question was one sentence, but another, we ended up having a whole conversation about it and my interview lasted at least an hour.
- On that second occasion, they also made me go through the ALT Japanese test, for some reason. Those questions are way easier and usually involved explaining what's happening in various pictures.
- I've never had grammar or English tests (interviewed in Ottawa).
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Post by ❄icepath❄ on Jan 17, 2018 11:18:50 GMT 9
I wore a blue suit with a bright scarlet shirt... wait, or was my suit black that time? Anyway, I've worn a blue one at least once and the scarlet shirt twice. I did the interview four times before being upgraded (I was on the alternates list all four times... T_T), and the interview was very similar each year: - English questions first, general interview stuff (like how do you deal with people with whom you don't get along) and more specific JET things. - To add to what icepath said, if you put down that you don't want to be an ALT, you may be asked what you would do if most of your tasks involved teaching. - Japanese section has the text, which is a short article about something; I've had one about Mount Fuji becoming a World Heritage Site, one about cleaning your shoes and how that's become popular, one about the importance of newspaper and one about o-toshidama. They then asked me two questions about the text, and then a more open-ended question to know my opinion on the general subject. - Last year, my answer to the open-ended question was one sentence, but another, we ended up having a whole conversation about it and my interview lasted at least an hour. - On that second occasion, they also made me go through the ALT Japanese test, for some reason. Those questions are way easier and usually involved explaining what's happening in various pictures. - I've never had grammar or English tests (interviewed in Ottawa). Oh mine was on the obon-dama XD |
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Post by Aya Raincoat on Jan 17, 2018 11:25:21 GMT 9
- Japanese section has the text, which is a short article about something; I've had one about Mount Fuji becoming a World Heritage Site, one about cleaning your shoes and how that's become popular, one about the importance of newspaper and one about o-toshidama. They then asked me two questions about the text, and then a more open-ended question to know my opinion on the general subject. Oh mine was on the obon-dama XD Oh, that's what it was! I remembered it was something-dama, but not what ^^; Meh, not going to fix it. |
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Post by chuhaidialysis on Jan 20, 2018 6:35:27 GMT 9
Hey there!
I'll be interviewing in London for early departure CIR (preferences are Hiroshima, Kobe, and Osaka). Anybody else in here who went for early departure who knows when we get the result of our interview? I can't seem to find information online about it anywhere. I only ask because I worry that if it's too late then I won't be able to give my current job adequate notice (4 weeks notice).
Nice to see there's a little community here with plenty of info for CIR folks! It seems that the majority of content available online seems to focus around ALT.
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disco
Tried natto; not a fan
押忍 ！
Posts: 88
CIR Experience: 2nd year
Location: Okayama
Gender (Pronouns): he/him/his
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Post by disco on Jan 21, 2018 8:55:55 GMT 9
Hey everyone, really glad I found this site before the interview next week.
Just wondering if any past CIR candidates have a list of common questions in Japanese. Going to be doing a 模擬面接 with a Japanese hulemdo of mine in a few days, just wanna be able to give them a list of questions to use. Thanks in advance and good luck to everyone!
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Post by Cantamen on Jan 22, 2018 8:46:09 GMT 9
chuhaidialysis Have you seen the JET Program subredit? You can try searching "Early departure results" or something like that, and you should get a several big threads from different years where people are discussing their own results. You can look at the dates they made those comments and guess at when you might find out. disco I don't think so? They have you read the article aloud, then ask you questions about it. So I think the questions would be different each year (they may even use more than one article each year, for all I know).
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Post by Ham on Jan 22, 2018 9:22:10 GMT 9
disco Yeah, afaik, the general experience of the Japanese portion is Read article or excerpt about [SOCIETAL ISSUE/TOPIC] Then come the questions, which will probably be along the lines of What is [SOCIETAL ISSUE/TOPIC]? What did the article say on the subject of [SOCIETAL ISSUE/TOPIC]? Broadly, what are your views on [SOCIETAL ISSUE/TOPIC]? At least those were the gist of the three questions I got asked. However, the other guy who got through from the consulate I interviewed at apparently got grilled with more than twice as many questions, but I have no clue what they asked him... So, really, I'd say it's more about being comfortable with the language than having prepared answers, because the questions are based entirely on the article they'll be handing you. Also, I may be flogging the choir (preaching to a dead horse? ) but I'd also stress that they consider a lot more than your Japanese ability (I mean, I got through, right?) Make sure you're also ready for the general interview portion. In particular, think about what JET wants, and how you'd be able to deliver (and what you can say to demonstrate that without being blatant about it). Also, if you're some one like me, who doesn't exactly have the clearest roadmap to future ambitions, it's probably a good idea to hash out exactly why you want to go on JET. Not only what you can do for the program, but also what your long-term goals are and how being a CIR would move you towards them. I feel that that's definitely something you want to have a ready answer to when they ask you. Of course, you all may be much more well put together than I, and don't need this advice at all
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Post by Pierson on Jan 22, 2018 10:43:39 GMT 9
disco (and everyone else), keep in mind that some consulates alternate randomly between English and Japanese questions, so it wouldn't hurt to practice your standard interview questions (self introduction, why do you want this job, what are your strengths and weaknesses, etc.) in Japanese as well.
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Post by Dee on Jan 22, 2018 14:22:59 GMT 9
discoAside from the questions I got about the article I read, my Japanese portion of the interview also included a few questions about how I would represent my home culture and specifically how do I plan to do that. I'm from the US (Texas) so I talked about southern food and wanting to do a cooking class. This was something I had mentioned in my essay as well, so you might practice discussing points of your essay in Japanese.
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Post by Cantamen on Jan 22, 2018 14:40:04 GMT 9
Oh, I got those questions in English! (Boston consulate) I also talked about wanting to do cooking classes, haha. I like baking a lot, though it's hard to do here.
I guess talking about food is just a winning strategy Coincidentally, I was interviewed right before lunch.
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ChuhaidialysisGUEST
Guest
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Post by ChuhaidialysisGUEST on Jan 22, 2018 18:11:02 GMT 9
Thank you! I'll check it out and try to gauge around what date I'll know.
As far as I know, the UK interview will be entirely in Japanese. But if they decided to mix it up with some English questions then I'll be ready. Just going to be open, honest, and project 国際交流 goodness.
I'm definitely expecting to be asked about brexit though haha
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Post by Dee on Jan 23, 2018 14:46:28 GMT 9
Thank you! I'll check it out and try to gauge around what date I'll know. As far as I know, the UK interview will be entirely in Japanese. But if they decided to mix it up with some English questions then I'll be ready. Just going to be open, honest, and project 国際交流 goodness. I'm definitely expecting to be asked about brexit though haha Yes! Have some kind of statement prepared. The very last question I got during my interview is how would I answer questions about the US Govt and Trump. |
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Is anyone else here a kiwi? I would love to hear about any experiences with the interview panel here! I will be interviewing with the Auckland consulate, but any feedback and/or general CIR interview tips from anywhere would be welcome really 
I actually put Okinawa as one of my placement preferences, but now I'm a little worried since I can't drive 
Thanks for the tips and encouragement though, they are very useful!
), but I loved what little I saw of it! It just seems so chill and there's so much grass haha. Will definitely be visiting if I don't get placed there 
How often do you visit non-Okinawa Japan? (Sorry I have taken up this thread with non-interview talk >_<)
