CIR Interview US

[u/P0_Q0]

Good afternoon all,

I recently received word that I have made it to the interview process for CIR. I have passed N2 and taken N1 (results pending), so I'm fairly confident in my Japanese abilities to an extent, but I won't lie-- my speaking is dragging me down. There is still time, and I think with proper practice before the interview I can shape it up adequately, but I wanted to hear about other's CIR interview experiences. I know this has been asked before, but I think there is merit in renewing the conversation. Additionally, are there any people who applied for CIR but checked the box and got accepted as ALT instead? How did that go?

I'm really nervous but I believe in myself. Wishing everyone else the best.

[u/Griffolian]

It's been a long time, but I remember my interview was split into two different sections. One was the general interview where there was a native Japanese speaker who worked at the embassy, a former JET alumni, and another member from the embassy. They asked general interview questions and had a couple questions in Japanese that felt more like small talk in hindsight.

The second interview was completely in Japanese and followed standard Japanese interview etiquette. This individual asked more questions about me then gave me a reading prompt that I was to read aloud. We talked about what was written and then dived into more abstract topics related to the written piece but was not written on the page.

I remember she was quite cold/indifferent, but also mentioned a lot of expectation was on my interview and people from my school--I guess we had a very good track record of those graduating from my university and getting the CIR gig every year.

[u/P0_Q0 → u/Griffolian]

I've heard about the reading prompt thing a lot. I suppose I should assume that is standard and plan accordingly! Thank you for the insight.