Great news, all! Got a call last night about my placement and I'll be living in, drum roll please!
badda badda badda ~~~!!!
YOKOHAMA!
I'll be teaching Elementary school kids and I will probably have to jump around between more than one school. The man I spoke to said that the area I'll be living in has five different elementary schools and that I could very well be working at all five of them. Don't worry. There's one place where they have 21 schools. I'm glad I'm not that person.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Saturday, January 9, 2010
All That Jazz
So, it's been a while. Christmas and New Years has rolled by and it's not 2010. Two more years until complete devastation and destruction! WOOHOO!
Just kidding.
Anyway, the Interac interview inter-whatever process:
How to sign up:
Go to the Interac website (https://www.interacnetwork.com/recruit/) and fill out the Application. It takes a while, but it saves and you can go back to it.
Submit it and wait. After a while they'll tell you if you made it to the Interview stage.
Your first interview is done over the phone. It's only about 15 to 30 minutes long and can be really fun so long as you're not nervous. Best advice? Just be yourself. Nobody likes hiring one person they met on the phone and lands up with someone completely different in the workspace. That is lame. And honor's a big thing to me.
Then, if they like you enough, they tell you about a second interview. Right there, on the phone. I mean it. If they don't tell you, they probably didn't like you enough. I hope you're all quite charming. Anyway! So you have another interview. After your first interview, they'll email you some information about your second interview.
Then you pick an Interview location. I lucked out and landed Nashville, TN, which is only about a 2 hour drive away. One of the guys had to drive, like, a whole day to get there. I was the only shmuck who doesn't drive already, so I had to bum a ride from my parents and leave early. Sorry, mom and dad. I love you lots, but I really need to learn how to drive. (And at least they enjoyed their little visit to Nashville! It wasn't a complete loss! AND WE HAD JACK IN A BOX. Why don't they have any Jack in a Boxes here in Alabama?!)
What's the interview like? Well, you get to learn more about the Interac program and what you'll be dealing with in Japan. You should've read through the website before going to the interview because that'll make you look smarter and a better worker. Me? Well, I didn't... but I absorb pretty well and tend not to ask questions because somebody among your peers is going to ask really good questions already. Oops. I'm such a mooch.
After the intro to Interac, you have to teach a 5 minute lesson. They time you and record you. You're emailed with a guideline as to what to teach. It's a three part recording: 1) self introduction in Japanese or in English; 2) short lesson teaching about new material that's simple; 3) short lesson teaching one of a selected type of lesson. These are all really simple, and if you procrastinate a lot like me and don't start planning until the week before, you won't take it too bad. The main thing is that they want to see if you're someone that they can teach and mold into a good teacher. Luckily, they looked beyond my nervousness. The last part is an interview with your recruiter. You just answer some questions and ask questions you may have.
You have to wear business attire. If you're a chick, you wear suit jacket, slacks or pants, and a nice blouse. Conservative is fine because hey, they're pretty conservative in the business world that is Japan. Guys? Well, guys are pretty easy: suit jacket, slacks, collared button down shirt with long sleeves. Big thing in Japan is that if you have a tattoo, you can't let anyone know about it. At all. If you have a tattoo on your hand? Well, you're screwed. Me? No tattoos, so w00t!
And then you wait again until they email you to say you got the position.
And email, which I read in the morning before going to work, totally made my day. <3
Just kidding.
Anyway, the Interac interview inter-whatever process:
How to sign up:
Go to the Interac website (https://www.interacnetwork.com/recruit/) and fill out the Application. It takes a while, but it saves and you can go back to it.
Submit it and wait. After a while they'll tell you if you made it to the Interview stage.
Your first interview is done over the phone. It's only about 15 to 30 minutes long and can be really fun so long as you're not nervous. Best advice? Just be yourself. Nobody likes hiring one person they met on the phone and lands up with someone completely different in the workspace. That is lame. And honor's a big thing to me.
Then, if they like you enough, they tell you about a second interview. Right there, on the phone. I mean it. If they don't tell you, they probably didn't like you enough. I hope you're all quite charming. Anyway! So you have another interview. After your first interview, they'll email you some information about your second interview.
Then you pick an Interview location. I lucked out and landed Nashville, TN, which is only about a 2 hour drive away. One of the guys had to drive, like, a whole day to get there. I was the only shmuck who doesn't drive already, so I had to bum a ride from my parents and leave early. Sorry, mom and dad. I love you lots, but I really need to learn how to drive. (And at least they enjoyed their little visit to Nashville! It wasn't a complete loss! AND WE HAD JACK IN A BOX. Why don't they have any Jack in a Boxes here in Alabama?!)
What's the interview like? Well, you get to learn more about the Interac program and what you'll be dealing with in Japan. You should've read through the website before going to the interview because that'll make you look smarter and a better worker. Me? Well, I didn't... but I absorb pretty well and tend not to ask questions because somebody among your peers is going to ask really good questions already. Oops. I'm such a mooch.
After the intro to Interac, you have to teach a 5 minute lesson. They time you and record you. You're emailed with a guideline as to what to teach. It's a three part recording: 1) self introduction in Japanese or in English; 2) short lesson teaching about new material that's simple; 3) short lesson teaching one of a selected type of lesson. These are all really simple, and if you procrastinate a lot like me and don't start planning until the week before, you won't take it too bad. The main thing is that they want to see if you're someone that they can teach and mold into a good teacher. Luckily, they looked beyond my nervousness. The last part is an interview with your recruiter. You just answer some questions and ask questions you may have.
You have to wear business attire. If you're a chick, you wear suit jacket, slacks or pants, and a nice blouse. Conservative is fine because hey, they're pretty conservative in the business world that is Japan. Guys? Well, guys are pretty easy: suit jacket, slacks, collared button down shirt with long sleeves. Big thing in Japan is that if you have a tattoo, you can't let anyone know about it. At all. If you have a tattoo on your hand? Well, you're screwed. Me? No tattoos, so w00t!
And then you wait again until they email you to say you got the position.
And email, which I read in the morning before going to work, totally made my day. <3
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