Being overqualified for JET

[biginjapan]

My buddy was just refused from JET. I studied with him in Japan and he speaks fluent Japanese. He also already has experience teaching students there because it was part of his volunteer work for one of the classes he attended.

I think its major bullshit that JET would rather get people who know little about the country and speak zero Japanese. Does anyone know the reason for this? And is it just JET that is like this or do other companies prefer to hire less qualified applicants?

[MMM]

Originally Posted by biginjapan

My buddy was just refused from JET. I studied with him in Japan and he speaks fluent Japanese. He also already has experience teaching students there because it was part of his volunteer work for one of the classes he attended.

I think its major bullshit that JET would rather get people who know little about the country and speak zero Japanese. Does anyone know the reason for this? And is it just JET that is like this or do other companies prefer to hire less qualified applicants?

How in the world would anyone know why your friend was turned-down?

Speaking Japanese is NOT a prerequisite to being a JET. Having teaching experience is NOT a prerequisite to being a JET. Most JETs who are hired do not speak much Japanese and do not have any teaching experience.

That doesn't mean he was denied BECAUSE he can speak Japanese and has teaching experience. I wasn't there at the interview so I can't imagine what happened that made him not a winning candidate.

Keep in mind that Japan's population is in decline, and schools are shutting down. At the same time, the JET program's reputation is growing. When I applied over 10 years ago less than 20% of applicants from my city were hired. I hear now it is well under 10%. It's a popular program, and just because he was qualified doesn't mean he is hired.

[Kenpachi11]

he might not be a good ppl person or be good with kids? or have really bad patience? or he could have thrown a temper tantrum at the interview lol

[MMM]

I think it is more of that young American sense of privilege.

[Kenpachi11]

Originally Posted by MMM

I think it is more of that young American sense of privilege.

i dont understand this sense of privilege?

[alanX]

Originally Posted by Kenpachi11

i dont understand this sense of privilege?

He means young American's have thoughts that they get to do what ever they want. Like this kid's friend. "I'm cool caus' I can speak Japanese, that must mean everyone wants to hire me because it's so uncommon and hard to do and I'm like the only person in the world who can do it."

[Kenpachi11]

Originally Posted by alanX

He means young American's have thoughts that they get to do what ever they want. Like this kid's friend. "I'm cool caus' I can speak Japanese, that must mean everyone wants to hire me because it's so uncommon and hard to do and I'm like the only person in the world who can do it."

oh okay i see. yea that is the problem with alot of young people these days, they think just bc they can do something they can do anything. but if he already has teaching experience over there then he must not be young?

[MMM]

You are pretty close, alanX.

What I mean is a phenomenon that has begun to happen in recent years in America, where recent college graduates in America are feeling they are worth more than entry level positions because they have paid so much for college. (The rate of tuition increases in the last decade is much higher than the rate of cost of living).

So what happens is you have recent graduates who won't apply for $12.50 an hour positions, but for managerial positions (looking at the salary) because as a graduate they feel they are "above" such a low pay wage.

This isn't exactly the situation biginjapan is talking about, but I sense the same "sense of privilege".

Biginjapan's friend is qualified for a job. He took the interview. He didn't get the job. Therefore that is bulls**t.

I had friends (several) who didn't get the same job in the 90s, and when they got their rejection letters they said "I wonder what I did wrong?". This generation doesn't ask that. They say "I got screwed. This is bulls**t".

The reality is that it is a hard economic time to keep on with that attitude.

Getting hired for a job is an honor, not a right.

I don't mean to hijack your thread, biginjapan, and my observations obviously go beyond the scope of your friend, who I don't even know, but this is a something I (and others) have observed lately.

[Nagoyankee]

As a Japanese tax-payer, I won't tolerate anyone calling the JET program b***s***. It's run entirely by our tax money. It was started many years ago when the Japanese economy was in its best and healthiest shape in the 20th century. People should give a lot of credit to Japan for even maintaining the program into these recent years when it no longer has any money to spare.

What other countries offer anything even close to JET? Certainly not the OP's country! I would have loved to teach Japanese in the U.S. through the same type of a nice government program. Every year, JET gives thousands of people from abroad a chance to live in Japan and experience its culture first-hand while earning a good income for the inexperienced young teachers that they usually are. JET gives you 100% job security when so many workers in Japan, Japanese or foreign, are having to work under much worse circumstances.

JET isn't b***s***. It's really the opposite of that if anything.

[Hatredcopter]

If he was that good at Japanese, he should have tried for the CIR position instead. It requires functional Japanese skills, and is more suited for people with a bit more experience in Japan. That's what I did, and I find it a lot more fulfilling than being a run-of-the-mill English teacher (in my humble opinion!). Even if he were dead-set on being an English teacher, there's a lot of other places he could have applied and probably gotten accepted.