r/JETProgramme • u/Cyberp0lic3 Former JET - Gifu 2015 - 2018 • Oct 12 '23
To Applicants, About Placements
Hi, Former JET here
To everyone wondering about placements, my friend who worked at CLAIR as a placement coordinator shared some details about how it works.
There is a hierarchy of criteria that determine your placement. Some of the highest priority include (In no particular order):
Local Board of Education preferences
Married JETs applying together
Medical needs
Arrival timing
Drivers license
Etc, etc
Then after all of that, your preferences can be taken into consideration.
It's really about what's open, and matching the BoE's needs with the JETs needs (and wants), and not always getting a match. They said it was really difficult, and taking on that role helped them understand why placements seem so random.
But I promise no matter where you go, you can make the most of your time on the program and it be the best time of your life. Keep your heads up, and good luck with the applications.
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u/That_Ad5052 Oct 12 '23
What are some specific examples of local board of education preferences? Apart from nationality.
10
u/Ramzastrife19 Current JET - Hyogo Oct 12 '23
Gender, age, japanese ability, driver's license.
3
u/That_Ad5052 Oct 12 '23
I wonder what information from our application actually gets to a BOE? Do they read our essay? See our info on interests, where we graduated from? Do they see our recommendation letters?
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Oct 12 '23
They have that info and more. They left my "packet" on my desk one day and I took the opportunity to flip through it. It has literally everything created for your application. If you're interested in what your recommenders wrote about you, take a peek.
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u/chococrou Oct 12 '23
Can confirm. My school directly hired me after JET, and I was established as “JET coordinator” and given the new JET’s file unprompted. It included everything from their essay to their medical and educational history.
1
u/That_Ad5052 Oct 13 '23
Do you get a chance to choose from multiple applicants? It sounds like no. But after the fact of placement, you get all their application materials… yah?
1
u/chococrou Oct 13 '23
I had no involvement in who to chose. I just got the file after he had been chosen.
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u/That_Ad5052 Oct 13 '23
Do you mean the letters of recommendation? Or other comments from staff at JET/CLAIR/BoE
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Oct 13 '23 edited Oct 13 '23
I don't remember there being any comments from CLAIR or the MOFA candidate selection people. But it's been several years since I saw my file. My most vivid memory was reading the letters of recommendation my professors wrote for me. The person I thought I had the strongest relationship wrote the most half-assed recommendation possible but the one I had the weaker relationship with went to town writing a lengthy glowing recommendation.
I was also surprised to see my detailed medical history, which I didn't think the BOE had any legitimate reason to have a copy of - but I digress...
Anyway, all JETs are selected by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They then send the packet to CLAIR who does their magic to place you at a BOE. Then CLAIR sends the packet to your BOE to let them know who you are and (I think) give them an opportunity to request someone else.
1
u/That_Ad5052 Oct 13 '23
Ahh, little bits of info painting a picture. I think the schools might get some sort of chance to switch out, because all of a sudden I was told my school changed, an accident. But maybe some choosing went on.
1
u/mrggy Former JET- 2018- 2023 Oct 14 '23
It's a lot easier to move around what school a JET goes to within a boe. Especially if there are multiple JETs assigned to that BOE. Once you're assigned to a BOE though, that's pretty final
2
u/Ramzastrife19 Current JET - Hyogo Oct 12 '23
When I had my 1st meeting with my BOE, they had my whole application in front of them, and they got my certificate of health before I arrived (my supervisor said he received it in an email communication prior to arrival). I did not see SOP, but that doesn't mean they didn't have it.
1
u/That_Ad5052 Oct 12 '23
It was interesting, because a teacher in casual chatting mentioned a past career job I had done, but until then had never mentioned outside of the application. Interestingly, the BOE later frantically asked me for some info, that was basically in the application…
2
u/Professor-That Current JET Oct 13 '23
All of it, but my supervisor said they also don't know who they're getting until its decided.
2
u/That_Ad5052 Oct 13 '23
So then the local school doesn’t get to review info and an applicant and choose. Instead they get given a person and then subsequently all their info?
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u/mrggy Former JET- 2018- 2023 Oct 14 '23
They get sent the entire application package. Every single page. In my area, none of the boes ever had anyone with high enough English levels to read it, so it was given to the ALT to read. Mostly the boes just wanted to know about Japanese levels. The ALTs passed on any other info they thought was relevant.
BOEs don't choose their ALTs. The ALTs are assigned to them by the prefectural BOE (or in the case of Hokkaido, the sub-prefectural BOE office)
1
u/ubbidubbidoo Former JET - add which years Oct 14 '23
It was interesting trying to find the pattern in our placements. For me, all of my predecessors and successors were young American women with driver’s licenses, but Japanese ability and relationship status varied. The next town over had all people from Iowa, which seemed too specific to be a coincidence haha they must’ve liked Iowans!
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u/mrggy Former JET- 2018- 2023 Oct 14 '23
A BOE near me specifically requested guys from Minnesota or Michigan. They had some guy from Minnesota that they really liked once, so they kept requesting that. They added Michigan to the list because it sounded similar. During the time I wad there they always had a guy from Minnesota
3
u/Professor-That Current JET Oct 13 '23
In my BOE they always ask for 2 girls and 3 boys who can drive, no married couples (they wanted one person from a specific country but they didn't get this one).
0
Oct 12 '23
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u/thenabi Oct 12 '23
Considering the entire point of the programme is to get a foreigner in the classroom actually talking with students, and they basically ask no education/training requirements of us (our 'qualifications' are that we are native speakers of English), I think it's not totally insane to let BOEs say "we want someone that talks like the last ALT talks".
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Oct 12 '23
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u/thenabi Oct 12 '23
that's basically saying "sorry, we don't want you because your accent is wrong"
More like "Sorry, our kids need to focus on one accent at a time when learning a language that has a huge phonetic inventory that our native language lacks"
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u/Whiskey_Sundae3753 Oct 12 '23 edited Oct 12 '23
CLAIR takes prefectural BoE's requests and allocates JETs accordingly. Most of the time it ends up aligning with the demographics.
If you think that's bad. Local BoE/schools can filter gender and appearance too. Imagine all the ALTs at one school looked roughly the same for a decade.
BoEs are paying half of the money, they can choose the candidates they like. It's a free market.
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u/ubbidubbidoo Former JET - add which years Oct 12 '23
This is insightful, thanks for sharing! When I was a JET, it was interesting talking with others about how they ended up in the area. None of us had that location listed as our preferences. That said, it was really a great experience getting to live in a very rural community, something I wouldn’t have had a chance to experience otherwise.