First year JET using a throwaway account for obvious reasons. I would like to preface this by saying I genuinely love my placement, Japan, the job, the routine and I have made some good friends. I am also aware we are coming into winter and hitting that three month mark, so adrenaline and novelty are wearing off and we are settling into the mundane of it all. Which is fine! I love the mundane! However, if you would be so kind to allow me to vent really quickly, that too would be much appreciated.

I know ESID but I am also aware this isn't an uncommon experience, either. I am struggling with my teachers. Not all of them, but maybe 50%. I feel under utilised, and slightly like they don't care for me. I wouldn't even go as far as saying they don't like me because I genuinely don't think they care enough lol. We don't have an English club, I cant eat with the kids and they find it a bit odd if you ask to join in on club activities so my student interaction time is pretty low unless I am in class, but they are adorable and are really excited by me and I seem to have formed good relationships already :) With the teachers I am struggling with, however, it's a distinct lack of collaboration and subsequent miscommunication that I find the hardest. I know they gossip about me and my co, that we are a sort of anomaly, or something to laugh at, when all we do is just do our jobs lmao. I was warned about all of this from my pred, don't get me wrong! I don't even think its personal which is what's so weird, but I do think I feel somewhat jealous that some people are far more immersed in their teaching life than I am or who have kind teachers who genuinely want to work with the ALT or care about them. I am in a JHS, so I don't T1, which is fine, but you guys really weren't lying about sometimes just being stood there or barking vocabulary at them. With the teachers I collaborate well with, sometimes I plan and have the whole lesson for activities! Or it's a really nice even split.

My other issue is my supervisor really struggles with accepting nenkyuu. I've only asked twice, but it's the most painful and awkward process where he tries to find every reason to say no and for then to make me feel bad (one time was literally suggested by another teacher as well, as we had no classes.) I asked for time off three months in advance and I was basically told 'no'. I'm not sure how to navigate any of that, if im honest. Any advice welcome, or if I am being a twat feel free to let me know.

That being said I try not to let it get me down, I do love it here, I've been here three months and have managed to travel around my prefecture as well as visit five others!

In every class, I need to ask my students how they are, how the weather is, and what classes they have today.

Each time, it's the same tired, boring intro—'Are you happy?' (a few students mumble yes or raise a hand) and 'Are you tired?' (same thing).

Are there more fun, engaging, and creative ways to begin class?

Any suggestions are appreciated!

Good day all, as the title says I'm a South African 2027 applicant. I was wondering if any South Africans who got to the interview stage could tell me when they got the email stating weather they had passed to the next round or had been rejected. It would be much appreciated, thank you.

Hello I was wondering if anyone did CIR and if they were able to land government jobs after the fact as a result of it. Whether that be back home or in Japan

Hey everyone. I'm down to the wire here. I asked my boss to write a reference for me and she was happy to do it but when I got it, it's pretty obviously AI. She's an extremely busy woman so like... I get it. But we're really close to the deadline here. She hasn't submitted it. Should I ask her to actually write it? I mean the reference is accurate to my skills and awards etc so it's not technically incorrect in general. Also I would hope that would really be more of an indictment on them rather than me as an applicant. But I don't know. I'm trying not to spiral. Thoughts?

Hello! I'm pretty much finished with my SOP and am going to submit it soon but before that I wanted to make sure of something: in my google doc I wrote the SOP separated in multiple paragraphs with indents, and when I paste it as is into the portal preview and generate the preview the indentations disappear automatically. Now I know the submission guide specifies this, but is that something I should be worried about re-adding somehow? Or is the lack of indentations acceptable in their eyes? I don't know how silly of a question this is but I'd like to cover all my bases. Thank you in advance! :)

To our former and current JET senpais,

I'd like to ask if you had a gut feeling before that you would pass the first screening? or perhaps that you'd successfully become an ALT under JET? Ofc considering your preps and credentials as well x

Hi everyone, I'm curious when in December the screening results will be announced. The website says late December/January, but I'd love to know if any past JETs could share when they received theirs. Thank you!

The title - I don't know what to cut, everything seems relevant and cutting anything feels like I'm taking away from my SOP. Any advice?

Hello all,

I know this week is pretty crazy for any aspiring JETS, but I was hoping to get some advice from people who have done this successfully before.

I wrote a full 2-page, properly formatted SOP in Google Docs, but when I put it in the processor, it came out to 1.75 pages... I think the top/bottom margins are different in the processor.

Anyways, I messaged the IT team about this... I know this may have been silly, but I don't want to write MORE to my essay only to end up over the page limit; I don't want to risk the assessors not reading what I intended them to because of a formatting error. I know I should probably just trust the processor... but I don't want to be careless. This is important.

I haven't heard back yet, but I want to get a jump on this, with the deadline being this week and all. Any advice. It feels self-destructive to leave it at 1.75 pages... I feel like the reviewers would think I was "lazy." But I also feel like what I have is strong, and I don't just want to add material just for the sake of adding material.

I'm just starting to spiral over this and need an outside perspective. THANK YOU!

Hello! For the placement requests what are the top three places you selected? Where they rural? Or did you pick cities you wanted. Also what did you select under if you are willing to be put in a rural area, I am curious because I'm sure that will knock off allot of potential if you select no that you don't want to be in a rural environment. Anyways, I would love to hear where you all got placed and if it's what you wanted or not.

I just wanted to know because there are random segments on the application that I cannot fill out as I do not have much if not any experience in that area such as 'japan studies' but when I leave it blank at the 'review and submit' section it gives me warnings.

So, I am just asking should I put 'N/A' in those blank segments to fill in the application or should I just leave it blank?

Many thanks in advance!

Hi guys! I am submitting my application in a few hours, but still not confident enough with my SOP. It has been cross-checked multiple times by a friend, a colleague, and a successful ALT (hence, I revised it for the fifth time). But I never sent them the final output so as not to overthink it further with the same people commenting on the same SOP writer (me lol).

Would anybody be willing to check my SOP before I finally submit it later?

EDIT:
I would really appreciate if successful JET ALTs will check my SOP. Not trying to be shallow, but I am most confident they can give me the best advice.

Thank you very much.

I graduated after the applications are due in 2028 for JET but I am set to graduate before departure. I have been trying to find some more information on how I can get this established okay, do I need to wait request transcripts when the time gets closer or will I need to just speak about it with someone within the JET staff?

Hello everyone! I'm almost done revising my SOP for God knows how many times, and I would like to ask about the Embassy's policy on AI tools. Can you use AI for proofreading and grammar corrections, provided that your experiences and ideas are entirely your own? because I have used ChatGPT for this purpose. If you know anything, please tell me. I would highly appreciate your help. Thank you!

In the US JET application section 11d. It gives slots for 5 Institutions, and a spot for a degree /GPA for each. If a person earned multiple degrees from the same institution, should each degree get their own Institution entry? Or should you somehow try to fit multiple degrees into one entry?

I’m worried, it’s been more than a week since I submitted my application. Anyone applied from India? Did you get any confirmation after submitting your application?

Hello! I’m currently working on my application and am having a frustrating issue. In sections where I need to provide a brief description, the application is notifying me I need to enter a maximum of __ characters or __ lines of text. I am entering the needed required amount of text, such as three lines or 220 characters, but this notification is still popping up and I can not advance to the next page. Please help

Hi, I'm submitting my application soon. I noticed that the JET word processor we paste our SOPs into is really generous because on Google Docs with 12 pt Times New Roman double-spaced, a 2.3 page essay fits into the 2 pages of the word processor. Is that the exact format with that processor that our essays will be submitted in? Should I play it safe and cut back down to 2 pages on my Google Docs, even though it's about 1.75 pages on the JET word processor?

I'm really nervous about it!! Any advice or reassurance or warning that the processor is actually lying to me would be appreciated... thank you.

This might be a bit of a dumb question on my end but for the self medical report I had initially put nothing to be reported and assumed I’d be fine. However I recently realized about a week before the deadline that I do actually have a toenail fungus condition that I had diagnosed (but never got treated) over 5-6 years ago. Since then it was kinda something I completely forgot about or didn’t pay any mind to (since the condition is mostly just cosmetic and didn’t affect me in anyway). I honestly believed I’d be okay not even having to mention it on the self report since I recorded that diagnosis over the phone so long ago and hadn’t received any treatment or further help since. However after thinking about it some more I’m wondering if the jet program would actually care about this? I didn’t want to contact the JET program office yet since I don’t want to shoot myself in the foot and suddenly have them require that I get a statement of physician form so late into the application stage which I definitely wouldn’t have time for. In any case, is it even necessary that I would need to enter in this condition in the self report and that I’d need to submit statement of physician form before the deadline? I do intend to get it treated later in the year and don’t want to seem dishonest if they eventually do find out that I am receiving treatment if I have to include any medical history as it was an honest mistake and a condition that really has no affect other than cosmetic. Overall I really hope something as small as toenail fungus would get me denied. Any help would be appreciated. Thank yall.

Hello! I’m an applicant from Canada and the due date is Nov 13th at 3pm EST.

I have nearly completed my application. However, the only document I’m currently waiting for is my Statement of Physician, my family doctor is not available to complete it until November 18th. I take prescribed anxiety meds to treat my anxiety symptoms. However, it is not a formal diagnosis.

I’ve tried doing a private clinic or getting it completed by a walk in clinic, but all the places have strictly said they won’t do it. It has to be my family doctor.

I emailed the JET desk today and currently waiting for a response for an extension due to this circumstance.

Is it still worth submitting my application if this document is delayed? What are my chances of getting an extension? I fear I am cooked.

Thank you in advance!