ninetyhugs
Straight outta Narita
Posts: 11
CIR Experience: Prospective CIR
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Post by ninetyhugs on Jan 30, 2019 0:02:45 GMT 9
Thank you for all your replies! I will keep that in mind  I guess being able to communicate in Japanese that I'm not able to pronounce this specific kanji and if that would be okay to continue is also very important! I didn't think of that before haha Also, do you guys recommend taking off piercings during the interview? Other companies I have interviewed with were very open and okay with my ear piercings (just 4 visible on my right ear, hair is covering my left ear's piercings). It's 2 cartilage piercings and a double earlobe piercing... Nothing flashy at all. But this is Japan we're talking about... 出る釘は打たれる What do you guys think? I've heard of a lot of people coming in with crazy coloured hair etc and passed. hue Definitely recommending you take off your piercings! I have 19 on my ears (i put in really small looking ones on the day of the interview) and they did tell me that certain organisations will not be that happy with my piercings. I did tell them that I'll take them off if they ask me to. But better to be safe and take them off first? Shows that you're willing to adapt I guess. |
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taengoo
Straight outta Narita
Posts: 4
CIR Experience: Prospective CIR
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Post by taengoo on Jan 30, 2019 3:27:13 GMT 9
Two more days until my interview! Thank you for everyone's input  I caught a cold last Friday and I'm slowly getting better. Hopefully this nose congestion will go away before my interview. T__T Feeling a lot better about my interview (or maybe I'm just so over being nervous hue) |
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Post by Dee on Jan 30, 2019 13:33:14 GMT 9
Good luck to everyone on their interviews!
Regardless of how you think your interview went, go out and treat yourself afterwards!!
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Post by wapiko on Jan 31, 2019 8:06:29 GMT 9
I’m so excited for you all!! Echoing what dee said, absolutely treat yourself after. I was a dork and went to Mitsuwa in Chicago for some kitsune udon.
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Post by Leilo on Jan 31, 2019 9:48:31 GMT 9
I got 0 political questions, having interviewed in Seattle... I was thrown off that I didn't since I had specifically practiced for answering political questions before the interview, hue. I also didn't get asked to talk about any current events/news, which was funny because I had been studying in case I would be asked those as well.
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taengoo
Straight outta Narita
Posts: 4
CIR Experience: Prospective CIR
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Post by taengoo on Feb 1, 2019 7:01:25 GMT 9
Just came back from my interview and honestly feeling kind of sad...
I think I did okay during the English portion of my interview they asked questions like "why jet?" and some other skills questions. They asked for a mock lessons and what props and tools I would use to teach middle schoolers. I even sang them "down by the bay". But during the Japanese portion, I was able to read around 70% of the kanji but because I was trying to get through and concentrate on the reading I barely took in what the article was about. I was able to answer 2 of the 3 questions but on the last questions I said that I didn't understand what it meant and they skipped it.
Ahhhhhhhhhh, I suck. Time to apply for other jobs. Good bye 8 year old dream. T__T
Thanks for everyone's help!
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2019 8:38:18 GMT 9
Just came back from my interview and honestly feeling kind of sad... I think I did okay during the English portion of my interview they asked questions like "why jet?" and some other skills questions. They asked for a mock lessons and what props and tools I would use to teach middle schoolers. I even sang them "down by the bay". But during the Japanese portion, I was able to read around 70% of the kanji but because I was trying to get through and concentrate on the reading I barely took in what the article was about. I was able to answer 2 of the 3 questions but on the last questions I said that I didn't understand what it meant and they skipped it. Ahhhhhhhhhh, I suck. Time to apply for other jobs. Good bye 8 year old dream. T__T Thanks for everyone's help! There are other ways to Japan. Some people get screwed on the CIR and are not happy with their jobs. From my experience talking with others, I would say around 35% end up doing something they are unsatisfied with/ something different than what they imagined. This could be a blessing in desguise.
There is a reason why most people hop off after two years.
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kulido
Straight outta Narita
Posts: 9
CIR Experience: Prospective CIR
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Post by kulido on Feb 1, 2019 12:06:30 GMT 9
taengoo From what I gathered on the forums and on Reddit, a lot of CIRs make it even if they make mistakes, so you should be fine!! You tried your best, so don't sweat it too much!! My own interview is coming up in like 3 days so I'll probably be nervous af too so I'll probably have to take my own advice.. oh and btw, I was wondering what y'all put for your Japanese ability on the application -- the oral test scales to whatever you put, right?
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Post by Leilo on Feb 1, 2019 13:11:11 GMT 9
taengoo From what I gathered on the forums and on Reddit, a lot of CIRs make it even if they make mistakes, so you should be fine!! You tried your best, so don't sweat it too much!! My own interview is coming up in like 3 days so I'll probably be nervous af too so I'll probably have to take my own advice.. oh and btw, I was wondering what y'all put for your Japanese ability on the application -- the oral test scales to whatever you put, right? For the CIR interview the Japanese oral test should be the same for everyone regardles of what you put on the application for your ability. Because, all CIRs need to have at least a certain level of Japanese, so they're interviewing you to see if you have that, rather than adjusting the level particularly to you.
Personally I put semi-advanced, even though I felt I was more intermediate. (I thought of putting intermediate at first but I didn't want to write something like that then have it considered that my ability wasn't good enough for the position and end up not being offered an interview.)
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Post by Dee on Feb 1, 2019 13:38:21 GMT 9
Just came back from my interview and honestly feeling kind of sad... I think I did okay during the English portion of my interview they asked questions like "why jet?" and some other skills questions. They asked for a mock lessons and what props and tools I would use to teach middle schoolers. I even sang them "down by the bay". But during the Japanese portion, I was able to read around 70% of the kanji but because I was trying to get through and concentrate on the reading I barely took in what the article was about. I was able to answer 2 of the 3 questions but on the last questions I said that I didn't understand what it meant and they skipped it. Ahhhhhhhhhh, I suck. Time to apply for other jobs. Good bye 8 year old dream. T__T Thanks for everyone's help! Don't give up just yet! Sounds like you did about as well on the Japanese portion as I did on mine, and I still got in! You never know!! |
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Post by Simplecat on Feb 3, 2019 13:02:24 GMT 9
Hi everyone!!
I did my interview yesterday and feel like I absolutely bombed it! The Japanese portion was just fine for me though I'm not sure all of my answers were coherent in terms of comprehension questions. It's the English questions that I really think I didn't do well at. I feel like I got a bunch of curve ball questions and my answers weren't straight forward. Also my interviewers were not very responsive. I would answer questions and be met with silence. Also I noticed that my interview started late and ended early.. went from about 1:50-2:20 instead on 1:40-2:30.
So, has anyone else had an experience like mine but was accepted in the end? I don't have a lot of hope to be honest but I thought maybe I'd ask.
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kulido
Straight outta Narita
Posts: 9
CIR Experience: Prospective CIR
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Post by kulido on Feb 4, 2019 14:30:24 GMT 9
じゃぁ、僕の番ですね！ Time to give it my 精一杯!
Any final tips before I march off to battle in less than 24 hours?
P.S. Is it fine for me to use 僕? I know that わたくし is generally the go-to pronoun for interviews, but...
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Post by wapiko on Feb 4, 2019 14:35:16 GMT 9
じゃぁ、僕の番ですね！ Time to give it my 精一杯! Any final tips before I march off to battle in less than 24 hours? P.S. Is it fine for me to use 僕? I know that わたくし is generally the go-to pronoun for interviews, but... Use 私 just for the interviews. Anything less than would be too informal for this particular situation! And good luck!!! |
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kulido
Straight outta Narita
Posts: 9
CIR Experience: Prospective CIR
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Post by kulido on Feb 4, 2019 14:52:37 GMT 9
wapiko じゃぁ、「わたし」ですね！ Got it -- I will chotto enryo shimasu! Thanks for the advice -- I'll do my best!!
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Post by 𝑜𝓇𝒾𝒽𝒾𝓂𝑒 on Feb 4, 2019 16:56:04 GMT 9
kulido good luck! Hope it goes well~
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kulido
Straight outta Narita
Posts: 9
CIR Experience: Prospective CIR
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Post by kulido on Feb 5, 2019 0:23:08 GMT 9
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Post by wapiko on Feb 5, 2019 9:57:26 GMT 9
Hi everyone!! I did my interview yesterday and feel like I absolutely bombed it! The Japanese portion was just fine for me though I'm not sure all of my answers were coherent in terms of comprehension questions. It's the English questions that I really think I didn't do well at. I feel like I got a bunch of curve ball questions and my answers weren't straight forward. Also my interviewers were not very responsive. I would answer questions and be met with silence. Also I noticed that my interview started late and ended early.. went from about 1:50-2:20 instead on 1:40-2:30. So, has anyone else had an experience like mine but was accepted in the end? I don't have a lot of hope to be honest but I thought maybe I'd ask. I wish I had an answer for you but just try not to overthink it!! The silence, were they taking notes? |
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kulido
Straight outta Narita
Posts: 9
CIR Experience: Prospective CIR
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Post by kulido on Feb 5, 2019 10:22:41 GMT 9
Back from my interview!
The reading test wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but dear god, some of the stuff I said was incoherent af.. I think they might have misunderstood me..
I'm probably overthinking things - hopefully if I accidentally made a contradiction in Japanese, the rest of what I said in English could make up for that..
Oh well, now I just have to play the waiting game and keep improving my Japanese I suppose
Thanks for all the support, everyone!
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Post by wapiko on Feb 5, 2019 10:29:37 GMT 9
I kind of love seeing all of the interviewee stuff. I didn't even know about these places for camaraderie because I was keeping it so DL because I was/am a firm believer in "talking about it jinxes it" so it is kind of neat being on the other side and being able to say "I made it, you can too!"
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bobo343
Straight outta Narita
Posts: 16
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Post by bobo343 on Feb 6, 2019 8:33:44 GMT 9
Had my interview today (UK applicant), and I've come out of it feeling really confident. They seemed impressed with my language ability, the article was an easy read and I was able to answer all questions without a hitch. Must have been a solid 45 minutes in the interview room too! Certainly went through a lot of questions with some long answers/discussions
I'm writing this now because I know in a few days I'll have dissected each mistake and will be thinking "Wow I bombed that super hard", so maybe I can look back on this soon and regain some lost confidence hue.
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Post by Ham on Feb 6, 2019 10:15:52 GMT 9
Hi everyone!! I did my interview yesterday and feel like I absolutely bombed it! The Japanese portion was just fine for me though I'm not sure all of my answers were coherent in terms of comprehension questions. It's the English questions that I really think I didn't do well at. I feel like I got a bunch of curve ball questions and my answers weren't straight forward. Also my interviewers were not very responsive. I would answer questions and be met with silence. Also I noticed that my interview started late and ended early.. went from about 1:50-2:20 instead on 1:40-2:30. So, has anyone else had an experience like mine but was accepted in the end? I don't have a lot of hope to be honest but I thought maybe I'd ask. I can't comment on responsiveness, but I remember my interview was pretty short. I didn't check the clock or anything, but the girl before me definitely ran long, and I only got asked 7-8 questions (Japanese portion included) so I doubt my interview could have been more than 20-30 minutes. Considering the only other person to pass at my consulate told me he got 7 questions on the Japanese reading alone (I had 3), I don't think length is an indication of how you did. |
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Post by 𝑜𝓇𝒾𝒽𝒾𝓂𝑒 on Feb 6, 2019 11:59:33 GMT 9
Had my interview today (UK applicant), and I've come out of it feeling really confident. They seemed impressed with my language ability, the article was an easy read and I was able to answer all questions without a hitch. Must have been a solid 45 minutes in the interview room too! Certainly went through a lot of questions with some long answers/discussions I'm writing this now because I know in a few days I'll have dissected each mistake and will be thinking "Wow I bombed that super hard", so maybe I can look back on this soon and regain some lost confidence hue. Ah, glad to hear it went well! Sounds like it went a lot better than mine so I feel like that bodes well XD |
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Iris
Straight outta Narita
Posts: 12
CIR Experience: 2nd year
Location: Chiba
Gender (Pronouns): she/her/hers
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Post by Iris on Feb 10, 2019 20:16:20 GMT 9
I did my interview on Friday and I think it went well. The Japanese part was really easy. The article was nothing close to N1 or even N2 (though I never took N2 so I’m not so sure). One of the panelists was my university tutor. She told me that the result will be released in April and placement in May. I suddenly wonder does being shortlisted guarantee a placement? Or you still have to wait until May to be certain?
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Post by Leilo on Feb 11, 2019 19:06:04 GMT 9
I did my interview on Friday and I think it went well. The Japanese part was really easy. The article was nothing close to N1 or even N2 (though I never took N2 so I’m not so sure). One of the panelists was my university tutor. She told me that the result will be released in April and placement in May. I suddenly wonder does being shortlisted guarantee a placement? Or you still have to wait until May to be certain? I'm sure if you're shortlisted you will be placed. But there are also cases of your placement being delayed more than your peers in your same departure group. |
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bobo343
Straight outta Narita
Posts: 16
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Post by bobo343 on Feb 11, 2019 19:24:36 GMT 9
I did my interview on Friday and I think it went well. The Japanese part was really easy. The article was nothing close to N1 or even N2 (though I never took N2 so I’m not so sure). One of the panelists was my university tutor. She told me that the result will be released in April and placement in May. I suddenly wonder does being shortlisted guarantee a placement? Or you still have to wait until May to be certain? Where are you applying from? I was guessing placements would come out with results in April but it seems that's not the case. |
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Iris
Straight outta Narita
Posts: 12
CIR Experience: 2nd year
Location: Chiba
Gender (Pronouns): she/her/hers
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Post by Iris on Feb 11, 2019 20:18:18 GMT 9
I did my interview on Friday and I think it went well. The Japanese part was really easy. The article was nothing close to N1 or even N2 (though I never took N2 so I’m not so sure). One of the panelists was my university tutor. She told me that the result will be released in April and placement in May. I suddenly wonder does being shortlisted guarantee a placement? Or you still have to wait until May to be certain? Where are you applying from? I was guessing placements would come out with results in April but it seems that's not the case. I’m applying from Australia. |
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Post by Sparkles on Feb 12, 2019 9:53:09 GMT 9
I did my interview on Friday and I think it went well. The Japanese part was really easy. The article was nothing close to N1 or even N2 (though I never took N2 so I’m not so sure). One of the panelists was my university tutor. She told me that the result will be released in April and placement in May. I suddenly wonder does being shortlisted guarantee a placement? Or you still have to wait until May to be certain? Where are you applying from? I was guessing placements would come out with results in April but it seems that's not the case. If you're from an 英語圏(EIGOKEN)/primarily English-speaking country that sends a relatively large number of JETs (US/UK/Canada/Australia/New Zealand) and you did not apply or were selected for early (April) departure, you will most likely get your placement in (mid to late) May. Not 100% sure about the smaller EIGOKEN countries (Singaporeans, want to weigh in?) but I think overall the schedule must be similar.
If you're not, the schedule is definitely different. (Some countries like Argentina have only 1 CIR position always in the same place, so you know where you're going to be. And some countries like China, South Korea, and Brazil always send their CIRs in April, so their entire application timeline is different.)
But the majority of JET placements will be in May--they start doing placements mostly AFTER the shortlist has been determined (and released).
As previously said, if you are shortlisted, you are basically guaranteed a placement. (I think it says somewhere in the official paperwork that it's not a 100% guarantee--or it least it did 6 years ago when I first applied--but I don't think there's ever been a shortlisted JET who didn't get a placement.)
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Post by ❄icepath❄ on Feb 12, 2019 12:11:55 GMT 9
Where are you applying from? I was guessing placements would come out with results in April but it seems that's not the case. If you're from an 英語圏(EIGOKEN)/primarily English-speaking country that sends a relatively large number of JETs (US/UK/Canada/Australia/New Zealand) and you did not apply or were selected for early (April) departure, you will most likely get your placement in (mid to late) May. Not 100% sure about the smaller EIGOKEN countries (Singaporeans, want to weigh in?) but I think overall the schedule must be similar.
If you're not, the schedule is definitely different. (Some countries like Argentina have only 1 CIR position always in the same place, so you know where you're going to be. And some countries like China, South Korea, and Brazil always send their CIRs in April, so their entire application timeline is different.)
But the majority of JET placements will be in May--they start doing placements mostly AFTER the shortlist has been determined (and released).
As previously said, if you are shortlisted, you are basically guaranteed a placement. (I think it says somewhere in the official paperwork that it's not a 100% guarantee--or it least it did 6 years ago when I first applied--but I don't think there's ever been a shortlisted JET who didn't get a placement.)
Yes. |
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hemena
Straight outta Narita
Posts: 14
Gender (Pronouns): she/her/hers
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Post by hemena on Feb 20, 2019 14:52:46 GMT 9
I'm still alive! And trying to catch up on all the tips I missed. I'm relieved to read about all the experiences that turned out good in the end.
The deadline for CIRs in Germany was just four days ago, and after my second recommendation letter finally arrived, the lady from the embassy was nice enough to let me know a few days ago that all my documents are complete now (bless her!). We have 9 CIR positions open this year, so fingers crossed!
Interviews aren't until 10th-12th of April though, so gotta be patient and see if I get an invitation e-mail in March.
Talking about piercings, this reminded me that they changed the Medical Report 2019 for German CIRs, so now you don't have to put down details about tattoos or piercings anymore. Hoping this is a good sign, since I have some tattoos myself.
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IttanMomen
Straight outta Narita
頑張るぞ〜
Posts: 44
CIR Experience: Former CIR
Location: Tokyo
Gender (Pronouns): she/her/hers
CHaos??: yaas chaos
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Post by IttanMomen on Feb 27, 2019 0:30:37 GMT 9
HI GUYS. I secretly always stalk this thread because- Does anyone else feel like the wait for the release of the results is killing you? Coz that's how I feel everyday   I know it's bad but I think it just goes to show how much I want the job hahaha. Anyway have a great day ahead guys! (I am currently rushing my essay hue) and really hope all you people aiming to be CIRs get in too!!! All the best for those who have yet to do the interviews! ファイト！ |
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