Bright! I doubt it!
I received a letter today. Well, I received several letters today. The one I’m bothered about the most, though, started:
Dear Jamie Taylor,
Unfortunately…
I’d applied to the JET recently – for those who don’t know, it’s a programme that allows people to travel to Japan and assist in teaching English – and had my whole life on pause while I waited for a response; hoping that it would be, at the very least, a ‘come along to an interview’.
Alas, it was not.
This is more than a single kick in the nuts. Having applied while I was still studying University in 2008 and gotten an interview BEFORE I GRADUATED, based on the fact that I would have graduated by the time it came round to leaving for Japan; but not making it much further than the interview process.
Since then I’ve worked in schools and adult training environments, gaining a better understanding of how education actually works, being trained by some of the best in the business, and continued my study of the Japanese language.
Apparently, the competition was very fierce this year. I wonder how many other people with a similar background had applied?
Needless to say, I’m completely let down by myself.
I feel terrible.
I feel crap.
I feel naff.
What Now?
Part of me is screaming that I should get a TEFL qualification and try again, but I’m not convinced that’s the answer. The loudest and clearest argument coming through is that I should just not bother applying again. It makes sense, but then what was the point of having studied Japanese for over 5 years?
sure, I love the language, but I can’t do anything with it in the country. That is, unless I take my education further and do a second degree in Japanese language. But, with the cost of tuition being what it is, and the fact that I’ve already had a loan from the Student Loans company fighting against me, I’d have to finance it myself. Something in the region of £9,000 a year for 2 years is not going to be easy to find.
Should I even bother?
I really don’t think that I should bother trying. I’ll be unemployed again in a few weeks time, and my job search hasn’t been going that well either.
- Paying a stupid amount of money to get to an interview I’m told about 24 hours in advance; rushing to get ready
- Travelling down 5 hours in advance
- Looking, feeling and smelling terrible by the time I get there
- Not being able to have a good enough interview because I’m so tired (having stayed up so late getting my stuff ready, and gotten up stupidly early to get there on time)
- Running up debt because the interviewers wont redress my travel costs
- Only getting interviews for generic Software Development roles – which I don’t get, because I’m trained in completely unrelated programming languages and techniques.
I, honestly, can’t see the point any more.
