I came to Taiwan after being rejected by JET.
I will have my revenge…
Any ex-Jetters out there?
I lived and worked in Taiwan for nearly 4 years and loved it. I was rejectetd by JET once…while I was living in Taiwan…and then applied again and was accepted. There is no shame in trying twice or three times.
Rest assured that your experience in Taiwan is VERY VERY SIMILAR to Jet, even in terms of the money you are making. I am not kidding you. Japan is soooooo expensive compared to Taiwan and only about 1/2 of Jets get their accomodation paid for.
(in Okinawa).
I was accepted by JET, lived and worked in Hokkaido for a year.
JET from 95 to 98. I think the rules for applying has changed since 2001 as it was more strict when I applied. I don’t believe you were allowed to apply again if you had been refused the first time and a former JET can never apply a second time but now all is possible. Many do not pass the first stage which is the actual application. Then the second stage is the interview. The odds were 1 in 3 (I was told) to be selected across Canada so I didn’t hold my breath. Plus I was the first person to be interviewed in Vancouver over a 3 day interview period so I thought the interviewers wouldn’t even remember my name by the end.
JET has a well organized support system and there are alumni associations almost everywhere. I’m still an active member and still keep in contact with teachers and the many JET friends I’ve met around the world, including some that never left Japan. I wouldn’t say the experience was all peaches and cream but I do look back on it fondly.
[quote=“Mr. Sir”]I came to Taiwan after being rejected by JET.
I will have my revenge…
Any ex-Jetters out there?[/quote]
I got accepted to JET and turned it down and came to Taiwan in 1996. Went to Japan in 1997 and came back to Taiwan in 2000. I met many jetters and they seemed pretty happy with their jobs. I also met some who stayed on after Jet. The unhappiest jetter I ever met had been in Hokkaido, though I can’t imagine why she was so unhappy; my happiest year in Japan was in Sapporo.
“I think the rules for applying has changed since 2001 as it was more strict when I applied. I don’t believe you were allowed to apply again if you had been refused the first time.”
Haha. Thats really funny that you think it has become easier to get into JET...in fact, it is now harder than ever to get admitted (in terms of numbers), though they have changed some admission requirements.// There was never, ever any restriction on how many applications you could make. In fact, my interviewing team was very impressed with my
perfect persistance` to borrow a term from Japanese. One thing that has changed is this: the old age limit was 35, and the new age limit is 40.[/quote]
Ho hum …it’s a slow day with no work so I’ll take the time to repeat myself. Let’s see…now the rules for eligibility bumped the age limit from 35 to 40. They now allow former JETs from 10 years ago to apply. Current JETs may also renew their contracts for a 4th or even 5th year. All this never happened when I applied. Therefore, the rules were more strict. As far as it being easy or hard to apply – then and now – I have no idea and I wasn’t commenting on that.
Has it occured to you that these revised rules, which are designed to make things easier on the contracting organizations, have actually increased the pool of available JETs and therefore it is now more competitive? There is a 4th year JET here in my prefecture. He is awesome…and he is holding onto his spot, reducing turnover…whilst the number of available slots has not greatly increased.// I guess stats isn`t your thing.
Wheels on the bus goes round and round…
Didn’t I say my experience was 1 in 3 from Vancouver and this was in 95? A friend who applied in SF said her chances were 1 in 5 (same odds in NYC or any other big US city I would imagine). I believe in NZ the odds were the best with 1 in 2 being selected. Certainly the program has swelled from only 16 countries and 3000 JETs to about double the size now. Factor in economy, reputation of JET, location of application, etc. it might vary the odds more or less each year. So is it more difficult now? Was it more difficult in 87 when JET first started? Do I really care?
As the typhoon has now dragged her windy and wet ass over us, I’m going outside to play.