BífCarbet
Straight outta Narita
Posts: 28 
CIR Experience: 1st year
Location: Gaikoku
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Post by BífCarbet on Feb 5, 2015 3:19:46 GMT 9
I interviewed yesterday in Los Angeles, and I was hoping to have a mind meld with some other interviewing applicants.
The popular topic seems to be that there was only one reading for many people. I only had one relatively easy reading. I was worried that I may have not qualified for the second reading, but that doesn't seem to be the case, I guess.
Any thoughts or comments?
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Post by マイJake - 島人ぬ宝 on Mar 11, 2015 10:44:45 GMT 9
I don't think there are many current applicants on the forums in the first place.
I wouldn't worry about only reading one passage. They change there logic up every once and a while based on what they think is most effective. I think most people on here felt that their interview went badly, and then ended up being accepted.
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Post by sembei on Apr 1, 2015 17:44:44 GMT 9
I know that this is wayyy after the fact now but I want to share my experiences such that future CIR applicants can gain some insight. Personally, the threads on the old site helped me out a lot in preparing, and with those now gone that shared wealth of knowledge is no longer available.
I also interviewed in California but mine was at the San Francisco consulate. Like you, I was presented with only one reading and it was relatively easy content-wise, but presented in a way that didn't align with what I had read from previous years' applicants so I was caught off guard. Basically, I was expecting a minute to glance over it silently before reading and THEN read it aloud, but actually I was told to flip the paper over and start reading out loud immediately. Mistake made: focusing too hard on reading it pretty and not enough on the actual content. This led to some less-than-graceful answers to the questions in Japanese but I guess it wasn't too bad because I was still shortlisted.
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BífCarbet
Straight outta Narita
Posts: 28
CIR Experience: 1st year
Location: Gaikoku
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Post by BífCarbet on Apr 2, 2015 5:23:41 GMT 9
That's exactly what I did, though I had about 30 seconds to read it to myself first.
I wanted to show them that I knew the words, so I focused on the words themselves, as opposed to comprehending the meaning. It helped that the article was simple and the questions were too. If it had been a tougher article, like how Yake described his experience, I might have been toast.
Btw, Hake, the old site is gone now. I'm hoping to be a part of getting the new version kicked off for future CIRs.
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Post by sembei on Apr 23, 2015 5:06:29 GMT 9
Yeah if the article hadn't been simple it could have been a problem. Was your article 新聞の強み or something by any chance?
I know that the interview style varies from country to country, and from consulate to consulate, but the impression I got from previous years' applicants is that in America the style is typically English in the beginning Japanese at the end, and that the English portion generally constitutes the majority of it (covering the stuff like why JET, why CIR, what makes you think you're a good fit, etc.).
However, mine was 日本語交じり from the beginning--really half-and-half I would say. Actually the first question after I did eigo and nihongo 自己紹介 was from the Japanese panelist who asked about my 動機 for applying to become a CIR. So I just answered in whichever language the question came in.
How was your interview in that regard?
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