Amity Interview Process - Whew, It's A Doozy!!

Hey everyone! I am starting a blog strictly dedicated to applying, getting hired and living in Japan for a YEAR as a English teacher! I am hoping to help give insight to anyone else interested in living this great adventure!

Application: Applied in mid-December and heard back within about 48 hours! I was invited to an interview (in Chicago) for Friday Jan 22nd, 2010!!

Needed at Interview: Each applicant is required to create a 30 minute typed lesson plan and present 5 minutes of it to the other applicants sharing the interview day with you. Applicant turnout varies; 23 people showed up on my interview day which was more than I was expecting.

There will be various additional documents (like application, etc) that you will fill out before the interview day and turn them in when you arrive.

The first 3-4 hrs of interview day: There is an informational meeting on EVERYTHING about Amity. You will learn about what’s expected of you as a teacher, how the salary, bonus, bills, etc. will work. You will learn more than you could possible think of! If you come with questions, odds are they will be answered before you can ask. They will also present a couple of videos of Amity teachers (a day in the life of…) which is always entertaining for the curious.

Tips for Lesson Plan: Remember you will be teaching “conversational” English so the goal is to get the students to “verbalize” everything you are teaching.

The lesson plan should be done in three parts:

(1) Introduce/teach the items (like “monkey”, can everyone say monkey? ”monkey!”), include a reference to the item like what the monkey sounds like or how he moves.

(2) Create an activity they can do to practice the new words (like you make the movement of a monkey then ask them which animal it is).

(3) Think of a creative way to quiz the students on what they have learned and practiced during the activity.

(4) Bonus part: If you can include a catchy song where they repeat the animal names, etc. Amity will love you forever! I didn’t include a song because I was unaware that Amity liked songs that much until they told us so. So overall, this is optional. I got the job without it, so you could too!

IMPORTANT NOTE: be creative and enthusiastic!! Get the students as involved as possible!! Even if your lesson does not flow well you will get brownie points for engaging the students and being enthusiastic.

ANOTHER NOTE: Put effort into your materials! The effort you put in and really engaging the students is crucial! Those two points saved me! My lesson did not include the “introduce/teach” part in the beginning of the lesson which made me feel 99% sure that I was not going to get a call back because of it. My stomach and psyche was feeling the pain when I left the interview.

After The Lesson Presentation: You will be done for the day, and you will be happy you are! Whew! They will call everyone back that evening to let you know whether you will be invited to a second interview the next day.

I went to have a drink with two girls in my presentation group and they both got calls back before I did. They both did NOT get a second interview and along with being sad for both of them my stomach grew a thousand brand new knots in it!!!

One of the girls presented their lesson with a box of flashcards and flipped through them doing different activities/songs which seemed to flow really well! She introduced the items in the beginning which is what I completely forgot to do, and knew it as soon as she went. This is wear the belly ache started.

The other lady had taught English in Japan previously, and during her presentation she used homemade flashcards with numbers on them and did songs and made it very interactive! Both lessons were smooth. I thought for sure they both had it in the bag and as it turned out they didn't.

It was an ironic result in my mind. It made me wonder what they were really looking for. Due to this unexpected turnout I thought it would be beneficial for me to share this experience with others.

So, like I said earlier…put effort/creativity into your materials and engage the students!!

2nd Interview: The interview started by them asking me to rate my lesson presentation on a scale of 1-10. Then they asked what I thought my strengths and weaknesses were. So I explained what I thought and why.

Next they gave me their rating and what they thought were my strengths and weaknesses. To my surprise we had the exact same response! I only rated my lesson one point lower than they did.

Then the fun begins!!! They SPRING into a surprise lesson (not too surprising since I heard about it online).

They give you all the materials (flash cards and paper/easel) and tell you what they expect from you.

You have 10 minutes to prepare a lesson without them in the room, then you will have 10 minutes to present the lesson to them. This is where I broke a sweat (haha!). Next, I tackled it the best I could. I had to present “places” like amusement park, pool, beach, etc. It went alright I guess since I got the job, but I can't say it was fun, haha!! When that timer goes off at the end of the 10 minutes you are the happiest person ever, because it's OVER!! After that getting hired is out of your hands! The hard part is officially done!

Once I realized I had survived the pop-lesson, they went over more details about the job such as; typical schedule, approved attire, asked me if I preferred a big city, suburb or countryside. I said no countryside and that if I could be on the coast that would be awesome, and if not I didn’t mind.

They asked for a few of your top city choices; I ended up getting my last choice, Hiroshima! I was glad I not only got one of my top choices, but that it was also on the coast! However, I’m not sure if it works out that way every time so don't get upset if you end up in Northern Japan trudging through snow to get to work;)

Once Home: The first thing they do is check your references.

If you can get letters of recommendation from four professionals/professors and submit them during your interview that will speed up the process since they won't contact them, they will consider the reference check complete.

I had to wait on the other three to respond to an emailed survey from Amity. If they had any trouble contacting people along the way they let me know and asked for assistance. Amity keeps you VERY informed as the process takes place. Once the references are cleared, then a background check was done (which you pay for - $24).

I was informed of the job offer on Thursday February 4th, received location/departure information on February 5th. So it only took 14 days. I received a digital copy of my hire packet on Friday, February 5th, and just received the official packet from FedEx yesterday (Feb 11th).

The packet contained a book on Japan, a magazine with Japan maps/attractions inside, the Amity policy manual, and employment contract. I am now in the process of completing this information, getting 8 passport photos for the Visa (Amity will get the Visa for you), a copy of my passport and then sending everything back to Amity. Once they receive the packet they said they will be sending me helpful guidelines on booking my flight.

I leave May 14th (Fri) for Kure, Hiroshima!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Stay tuned for posts along my journey!