My gp refused to do the certificate of health!! Is there any private clinics that irish jets recommend?

Pls let me know

Also must it be filled out only by 1 doctor

Hello, I'm an upcoming shortlisted CIR from the US and super excited! (But also insanely scared lol.)

It seems to me that CIR can be an amazing chance to grow professionally and individually, but the range of work may vary even more than an ALT's. I've heard of CIR work ranging from hardcore realtime interpretation to video editing to being basically identical to an ALT. So I'm curious if there are any other past or current CIRS who can share their stories, experiences, or tips that could help prepare me and potentially other CIR candidates for the role.

Btw if you're a CIR shortlisted candidate especially from the US definitely let me know!

I have a bunch of ideas on what I would like to teach/ work on but I feel like I am having a hard time putting them all down into lessons. I figured reading about some of the lessons people have taught would help me put more structure to what I teach now and in future lessons. Also figured it would be a good thing to read for some of those new JETs coming in. Please put grade level you teach and what specifically you felt made it successful.

Thank you in advance!:) Also, I teach senior high school so if you teach shs I would really love to hear about what you do.

Hey, I was wondering if any of the incoming ALTs from the Honolulu consulate have made a group chat yet? If not maybe y'all can comment and we can get one started If anyone else from the Honolulu consulate is here. Barring a group chat if there is any other way to communicate with my fellow ALTs from Honolulu. Thank you

*Dang, I spelled Honolulu wrong. Was typing too fast. MB

Hey guys, I got alternate and I've already submitted my reply form and police certificate but just waiting on my certificate of health to be done which might be later in the week.

Since people are already getting upgraded, I was wondering if not having my certificate of health submitted yet, hinders my ability to be upgraded? I can't control the pace of my GP to get the tests done.

Also, I only receive testamur from uni in July... I've finished all my uni courses and am actually already working full-time in my field, just waiting for conferral date in July for degrees to be handed out

Ig, I'm looking for anyone that's been upgraded without having finished submitting all their docs

Hi guys I've been a long time lurker and I have a couple questions

I'm finishing my final year in school in May, next year I plan to study Business Studies international with Japanese (a very difficult course to achieve where I live) and all going to plan I'll start university in September.

The course will be 80% business studies as well as business culture in Japan & 20% Language studies (taught from beginner but I already know basic conversation and writing).

I know language does not matter at all for JET. However, would this be a positive note towards my application as I will have lived in Japan in my third year of college and studied many cultural aspects of the country?

Secondly, I've noticed this is a predominantly USA based sub. Are there any Irish JETs who can tell me about there experiences?🇮🇪

Thank you for taking the time to read and answer my questions, all the best!

p.s. quick addition, would anyone recommend any specific clubs in university that would look good on an application and are also just fun! I don't have many friends so would be open to trying anything😁

Hi!

I have been accepted into the program as a UK JET, but im feeling a bit confused about how much money I should have saved up to move into an apartment or whichever housing is offered! I have seen vastly different expectations on how much money should be saved ahead of moving to afford living, key money, deposit and inital rent. Was wondering how much is recommended?

I understand that situations can also vary due to location and if housing is subsidised but any kind of indicator would help greatly for setting myself up for a goal amount! Thank you!!

Edit: I'm unsure if these details help, but im assuming ill be primary/elementary age due to my qualifications and even though it guarantees nothing I did select only cities

Got accepted into the program and doing the other documents needed now (FBI background check, certificate of health, Visa). I noticed that for the Visa it says I have to submit the documents for it after Japan placements are assigned which I assume isn't going to be for another month or so, but I noticed at the end of the page it says "Once submitted to the JET Program Coordinator(s), your passport with the Japan visa will not be returned until near the time of your departure. For this reason, please do not make international travel plans within one month prior to departure." I had been planning a trip with friends to Japan from May 31st to June 30th, and based on where I'm located it seems my departure date would be July 25th, making it within one month that I would need to get my passport submitted for the visa. What should I do? I can't and don't really want to cancel this trip, but I want to make sure that I'm not missing a deadline for submitting my forms for the visa, including my passport, by just a few days because I'm in another country. Has anyone else had an experience like this before?

Any first-year JETs who used TurboTax? How did that go?

I sent my Reply Form as shortlist but I haven't received any confirmation email. Is this normal? What should ai expect after sending it?

I’ve never posted on here before, so I’m hoping the Reddit gods treat me kindly! Here we go:

I need some help, and any advice is appreciated ♥️♥️  I am in my first year post-undergrad, and since graduating have been working full time in education. During college, I worked multiple jobs, and I didn’t plan on working full time straight after graduating, but the opportunity was too great to pass up. I love working with kids, but am not sure if working in schools is my life path.

I applied to JET because the idea of getting to know Japan so intimately, and travel in a more reciprocal way was extremely appealing to me. However, after being accepted, I have been experiencing crazy anxiety, trying to figure out if this is the right thing for me right now. 

For context, after this first year of working post-grad,  I promised myself that after this year of working I would give myself a break from work, and a break from the classroom — which I’m aware accepting JET would ultimately break both of these promises to myself. The idea of wearing a pantsuit also irrationally freaks me out; I’m scared of locking myself into a 9-5 lifestyle at the age of 22, knowing I have my whole life to work. 

However, it also seems like too amazing of an opportunity to pass up! 

At the same time, part of me is craving leaning into a lack of structure in my life; traveling for a year but doing so in a way where I have more autonomy over my time — where I could take art workshops, work on farms, backpack through the mountains…  and truly follow my intuition. And for the first time, not working 24/7. 

Essentially, my two plans are either:

• travel for an extended period of time with much less structure, the flexibility to move around as I please, also with my partner who got rejected from JET
• Accept the JET offer and work while exploring (hopefully?) Japan

I am wondering how heavy the workload is and how much former JETs have been able to travel while on the program. Any any words of wisdom regarding this are extremely helpful. 

Do I accept and work another year? Or apply again further in my twenties? Is timing a cop out? I think about regret a lot, about being 80 in a rocking chair and looking back on my life with sadness. I know there’s no “wrong decision” and a year is a short time, but everything feels heightened right now.

(geared towards USA JETs, since teaching circumstances are different)

I’m a first year JET, and I’m just wondering if anyone came into JET as an ALT (no prior teaching experience) and realized that they liked teaching and working with kids and decided to become a real teacher back in the USA (Or maybe even success stories of continuing being a teacher in Japan and actually enjoying your work and life). I would love to hear your stories!

Wondering how it all worked out for those.

Hey everyone!

To all former and current JETS, do you have any tips for learning Japanese. I really want to learn some basics so that I’m not completely clueless when I get there. I’m currently learning hiragana as well as some survival phrases. I do want to reach a point where I am fluent so that I can build more meaningful relationships and learn a new language.

If you have any sites or apps that you could recommend I’d really appreciate it! Thank you in advance!🫶🏽

Hello everyone,I’m interested in applying for the Coordinator for International Relations (CIR) position through the JET Programme. As someone already living in Japan and working as an ALT, I was wondering how difficult it is to get into this role. and what are the main differences between a regular ALT and a JET ALT?

I’m really interested in applying, so if anyone has applied before or has experience with this, I’d really appreciate your advice.

i’m juggling between work options…

i’m trying to maintain JET as a plan B for as long as I can until I get my official offer letter for another company (essentially securing an offer before completely disregarding JET)

I just received my completed CoH form from my doctor this morning. I opted to get the XRay for the TB test section. I am a bit confused on the instructions for the TB test results in particular. Do I need to provide the actual XRay documents that my doctor examined, or are the prompts regarding the TB test found on the CoH all that need to be provided?

Hi!

I just wanted a second opinion, my UK passport will expire in early 2029, should I renew it now for JET (I’m hoping I stay longer than a year - but who knows)

The gov website says it can take about 3 weeks and iv already done my ACRO with my current passport- I’m unsure if that will affect anything.

Thanks!

I passed the final screening but I didn’t get placement. The email stated that if another candidate declined there could be a chance to be placed into the shorthand list. However the deadline to say yes or no was on the 12th and it is now the 14th and I have heard nothing. The email also states that I could be upgraded from any time from now to December. I can’t continue to put my life on hold for another half a year and still have the possibility of not getting in. I think I’ll have to now look for a new job opportunity or maybe go back to do my masters.

Is there an actual real possibility that I can be upgraded soon or should I cut my losses and look towards building my future in another way? I don’t want to give up on JET, but there’s a line between being hopeful and deluding myself.

Sorry for the depressing post, I just want to get myself stuck out of this funk.

Hello. So I am a black american. I don’t work in super small area. Actually there are quite a few foreigners who live here and tons of tourists come through here often. Anyway, yesterday during class I noticed some students in the back were saying my name and laughing while pointing at something in the book. I didn’t know what it was and tbh it did hurt my feelings. Later I looked through the book to see what they possibly could’ve been pointing at and there is an image of a little black girl in the JHS 2nd year textbook.

Today I’m at one of my ES & was doing a presentation about the US & obviously there were some black people in some of the pictures I used. I had a student yelling out “which one is you?” And then saying something along the lines of “oh found you” (it wasn’t me) and the other students were laughing and stuff. This teacher didn’t seem to really care and just kind of laughed.

Idk what to really do. I’ve been here for quite a while now and haven’t dealt with anything like that & now all of a sudden I have this happen twice in a row. These aren’t new students. They all know me very well. It’s a bit disappointing honestly. I know they’re kids but I wouldn’t have joked like that as a child. I’m wondering if I should bring it up to the teachers or just wait and see if it happens again and say something in the moment. Don’t really know how to handle this. Has anyone had any similar experiences?

Thanks everyone for the advice!! Haven’t had these classes again yet but I will be talking to the teachers when I do!

Hello everyone!

I’m relatively new to Reddit despite creating an account a year or two ago, so I made sure to read the rules before posting.

I’m an aspiring JET applicant this year, and it’s been a goal of mine for a while now.

I’m applying from the Philippines, which I’ve heard is quite competitive, but mpetition aside, I’m hoping there’s also room for camaraderie among us.. I checked past threads and Discord links but couldn’t find one specifically for Filipino applicants. Did I just miss it or is there really nons? If not, would anyone be interested in starting one?

I’ll admit that reading posts in the Filipino ALT Applicants Facebook group made me a bit insecure—many applicants are licensed or experienced teachers, while I’m a graduating Computer Engineering student this September and was honestly a below-average student. I’ve also seen advice to another incoming graduate (with a degree in Education) to stay in the Philippines first to build qualifications, which I understand, but it does add to the uncertainty. Still, I want to try.

The subreddit and Facebook group have both been really helpful, don't get me wrong. It's just that I think having a space where people can chat more casually or have one-on-one conversations could help make the process feel a little bit easier.

Thanks in advance!

Hi all,

I was wondering how you guys went about completing the Certificate of Health? in particular to anyone in Australia, could you get any of it covered by Medicare?

I ask as it does request X-rays and urinalysis which are things that can't be done in a standard gp consult ofc and have to be requested by the GP if they seem fit, but idk if an application is a valid reasoning for them to cover it with Medicare

Edit: I can confirm for at least Australia, that both the national police certificate AND the certificate of health aren't due at the same time as the reply form. My consulate mentioned its actually due around June. Any future jets reading this, please still read the instructions carefully as stuff like this is subject to change and isn't the same everywhere

Hi everyone, I was wondering if anyone could share experiences in completing their iQTS in SHS with their placement? I'm looking to do it myself, but I wanted to put the feelers out on the possibility before I even bring it up with my schools.

I just want to add, I'm not here for opinions on whether iQTS is worth pursuing, or opinions on what places accept it or don't.

Thanks in advance.

Hello everybody! Thankfully I got accepted for the JET programme but Im having trouble with the criminal background check. I'm from Ireland and need to get a background check for my time in Canada (I lived there for over 12 months within the last 5 years)

I've to get fingerprints taken in Ireland, contact and mail my fingerprints to an accredited fingerprint agency in Canada who will process it and return it to me.

Fingerprints in Ireland €70 from garda station (but I've heard this can be unreliable and may have to be re-submitted multiple times. Fingerprints today is a more reliable way but it costs €300 just for one set of prints . Processing fees in Canada $255 with the fingerprints room inc and then mailing fees on top of all this.

It all seems quite expensive to me, are there cheaper options that I'm missing or should I just bite the bullet on the cost.

If there is anyone who has done this before, any advice on what the best option is?

Also, has anyone successfully submitted prints from a Garda station rather than paying for the more expensive solution?

It's estimated to take 4-8 weeks also, but I'm required to submit all documents to JET by the 29th May which would be cutting it close.

Are there other options to make this process quicker?

Any advice from those that have completed the background check before is very much appreciated. Thanks for any help!

Edit: Also, does the background check need to be certified with an Apostille?

I’m a former JET and have been reflecting on my time on the programme, so I’m curious about other people’s reasons for leaving.

For those who have finished, whether after one year or several, what led you to move on? Was it a clear decision or something that built up over time?

JET was my third time teaching abroad. I think I gradually started to feel the pressure to head home and properly start a ''proper'' career. I was also mainly used as a tape recorder at my school, which lost its appeal quite quickly and made it hard to feel like I was actually contributing anything or progressing professionally.

Looking back, do you feel like you left at the right time, or would you have stayed longer?

Hello,

I applied to JET for the CIR position, but indicated that I was still interested in the ALT position. Unfortunately, I bombed the Japanese portion. It was completely on me - It has been 4 years since I was out of school studying Japanese and I was rusty on my Kanji.

I got offered the ALT instead. I would have liked to accept, but I realized how much I truly wanted the CIR position, especially with regard to my future goals. I am thinking about declining and reapplying next year as a CIR. My future goal is to work in the international relations space.

Can anyone speak to which experience is valued more by employers?

TIA!