I applied in-person. The process took 5 months. I interviewed at JET Program (San Francisco, CA) in Mar 2018
Interview
The interview process is very much to ensure that the future JET will have success in Japan as well as make an impact in their job. They will ask you questions that pertain to the actual job duties such as "Why are you excited to work with kids?", "Are you okay with studying Japanese as well during your off periods?", etc. They will also ask you various questions like "Are you good at cooking ?" or "How do you deal with bug infestations?" These are NOT random questions. When I was on the JET Program, I absolutely had to be calm and capable for these since I was in a town of less than 5,000 people in the middle of nowhere. Answer these questions honestly.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
"What would you do if a student was misbehaving in class while you were trying to teach?" (Make sure that you answer in a positive manner!)
Smooth. Interviewers were kind. Asked questions about why I wanted to join, asked me some questions in Japanese, asked about ways I could contribute as an ALT, and that was that.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
What methods do you plan to use to get students interested in English outside of the classroom?
Panels consist of three to four members, stay calm and remember what you wrote in your SOP, you will do fine! Just be professional and polite. Don't worry about the Japanese portion, it does not effect your acceptance.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
How would you teach a lesson about animals to elementary schoolers?
Quite straightforward- questions came by no surprise. Just have to know yourself well and show enthusiasm for both Japan and Teaching. It lasted around 20 minutes and was conducted by both an alumnus, as well as someone from CLAIR.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
How would you engage students' interest in English?
