2012 JET Program

Interview Candidates Information

Update: If you applied for the 2012 JET Program, you can now check your application status on this page. Thank you for your patience as we reviewed this year's applications.

You will need your ID number to check your status. This number can be found in the following 2 locations: on the first page of your main application form and on your confirmation card which was sent in the mail. Please do not call our office for your number. If you do not have your number, you will still be contacted by the JET Program if you have been selected to interview.

How to check your status:
1. Have your ID number handy.
2. Download this PDF File, “2012 JET Interview Candidates”
3. Look for your ID number.
4. If your number is here, you have been selected to interview; if your number is not located on this list, you did not pass the paper application screening stage.
5. If you are selected to interview, the Consulate/Embassy that you requested as your interview location will be contacting you directly to schedule your interview no later than Monday, February 6th (at this time, your interview location is final and cannot be changed). If you have not heard from your interview consulate by COB (Close of Business) on February 6th, please contact your interview consulate. Please do not call your interview consulate before then.

If you are not selected to interview, you may find the following information helpful:
The following are the most common reasons applicants do not make it to the interview stage of the selection process:
- Application review scores are not high enough to be awarded a limited interview slot
- Application materials are missing or incomplete (i.e. unofficial transcripts, missing original signatures, missing Physician's Form (when necessary), appropriate proof of US citizenship, etc...)
- Applications are received after the deadline

Please do not call the JET Program Office to discuss the status of your application. All decisions are final as all application reviewing is now complete.
If you would like to discuss how to better prepare your JET application in the future, please contact us again after April for assistance.

The Japan Exchange and Teaching Program seeks to help enhance internationalization in Japan by promoting mutual understanding between Japan and other nations. The program also aims to improve foreign language education in Japan and to encourage international exchange at the local level by fostering ties between Japanese youth and foreign youth.

The objectives of the program are being achieved by offering JET Program participants, (hereinafter, participants) the opportunity to serve in local government offices as well as public and private elementary schools, junior high and senior high schools.

The program is conducted by local authorities and other organizations (hereinafter, contracting organizations) of Japan in cooperation with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and the Council of Local Authorities for International Relations (hereinafter, CLAIR).
(*see Roles of the Government Entities)

The program started in 1987 with the cooperation of the governments of the participating countries. As of July 2011, there were 4330 participants in the program from 39 countries (see Table 1).

As the JET Program has achieved an excellent reputation over the last 25 years, it is of great importance that this high level of respectability be maintained. Participants are invited to Japan as representatives of their countries. Therefore, they are expected to be responsible in all of their activities, especially those concerning the promotion of mutual understanding between nations. It is desirable that participants be adaptable and have a positive interest in Japan.

Participants are appointed by a contracting organization for a one-year period. The cost of transportation from the participants' country of origin to Japan, as well as remuneration, is funded by taxpayers of the contracting organization where the participant is employed. Because participants serve as civil servants of their contracting organizations they are required to uphold appropriate behavior. Withdrawal from the program after placement assignment or early termination of appointment shold be avoided as it greatly inconveniences contracting organizations.