Q&A

Q&A: “if i cant get into JET, where should I go?”

anonymous said:

hi, so i have a question, ive been studying japanese for a while-6 years- but still dont have the hang of it and actually had to drop out of the japanese program at my school because the anxieties from my now retired teacher were so bad it was messing up all my grades, needless to say, after spending a semester in japan for abroad a year out of being in the program i was more confident and aware of what i have to work on, now ive come to the conclusion of wanting to teach there and i would love to join the jet program to start, but im pretty sure i left a bad impression dropping out of the major with my JPN teacher who is still here, and she discouraged me from going abroad while i was still in her class, plus my friends who left for jet told me she knows many people in the application process and has gotten students denied before if she didnt like them, so if i cant get into JET, where should I go? or what should i do about my sensei? or about working in japan?

 

i’m really sorry to hear about the shitty situation that you’re in with your former Japanese teacher. :/ at the same time, i wouldn’t let that stop you from applying to the JET Programme if that’s what you really want to do. keep in mind that while she may know people involved in the application process, she herself is still not directly involved in it. your application package, as well as the fact that you applied at all, should be kept confidential (as is standard procedure), thus making it unlikely that she’d even know that you applied at all unless you or someone else not involved in the application process tells her. even if she does somehow find out, it still wouldn’t hurt to apply anyway.

having said all that, the JET Programme is but one of many ways to get an English teaching job in Japan (as a native English speaker). as such, even if you do apply to JET, there’s no reason why you’d have to put all of your eggs into one basket with JET. you could apply to other companies simultaneously as backup plans. hell, you could forgo applying to JET altogether and still make it to Japan just fine. other major companies that hire applicants from abroad include, Interac, Heart, Gaba, AEON and many more. there are also popular job listing sites like Dave’s ESL Cafe and Ohayo Sensei.

as with anything, please be sure to do your homework on any company that you are considering applying to as some will be better than others, especially in terms of your specific needs and wants. there’s a plethora of information available online about all of these companies (here, have a random post). you will, without a doubt, find both happy stories and horror stories from people who have gone through all of these companies  (JET included), but i can at least tell you that all of the above companies are legit and the job listing sites themselves are legit as well.

in other words, JET or no JET, you can totally land a job teaching English in Japan and once you’re here, if the job that you got ends up not suiting you, you can always change to something else. that former teacher of yours couldn’t stop you from coming back to Japan to work even if she wanted to.

good luck~

YouTuber and Blogger, Vesper is an American expat currently living in Japan.

Leave a comment?