I flew with my mom to Seattle and stayed at the same hotel the interview would be held in. Seattle is beautiful and I'm sad I couldn't stay longer to explore the city. My mom got to explore the whole day I was interviewing. Lucky!
The interview was from 10:00 in the morning until 5:30 in the evening. Quite the exhausting experience! It was split into four sections. They first presented information about the company and what to expect working in Japan. After that we had an English test. Those who passed created lesson plans and performed them. Those who still remained after that were interviewed. I was lucky to make it through the entire process.
The first section had a lot of great information about the company, teaching methods, housing, insurance and what Japan is like for a foreign teacher. The interviewers have been with the company for many years and had great insight to what to expect from Japan and the Japanese people. I learned quite a bit from them even though I have been to Japan before. They had a firm grasp on the culture of Japan.
The English test was moderately difficult. You only need to get 70% correct in order to pass but, out of twelve people, three were eliminated from this round. The multiple-choice test covered spelling, vocabulary and grammar. I think I have a greater knowledge of vocabulary than most people but I hadn't heard of some of the spelling and vocabulary words they had on the test. The grammar section comprised most of the test and asked you to identify incorrect grammar in sentences. On quite a few of the questions I read the sentences over and over and they seemed to have no mistakes. Overall, I'm glad I didn't worry about the test before hand because I think it's a case of knowing what you know and not knowing what you don't.
After a lunch break the remaining nine people came back to participate in the mock lessons. We were assigned to three member groups and asked to come up with lesson plans to present to the judges. Out of the six sections each member took two. They were very specific in the sections they wanted presented so the challenge was adapting the topic to the specifications. My topic was Sports and the question/answer "Can you play (blank)?", "Yes, I can." or "No, I can't." This was very challenging because we were only allowed to use the most minimal of words and charade our way through the rest. It is very difficult to express ability through charades. However, we managed to create a passible plan and presented it to the other groups as if they were the children we were teaching. They were instructed to act like children and to be slow, difficult and distracted. This section was more to test our ability to adapt to learning styles and the unexpected, than it was to test our ability to create a functioning lesson plan. I had a lot of fun pretending to be a child. I impressed the judges with my enthusiasm.
Out of the nine that were left three more were eliminated after the lesson plans, leaving only six to be interviewed. We were interviewed by one of the judges in the same room the other judge was interviewing someone else. It could have been distracting but I had no problem with it. The interview was more like a conversation. We talked about my resume and Japanese culture. I was asked if I would feel comfortable teaching adults because it was obvious I could be silly and teach children. I was surprised by this because I actually am a mostly serious person. I can switch gears easily when I need to adapt my roles. I was silly and energetic because I knew that is the type of person they were looking for. I can definitely be that person but I personality leans toward professional. I will hear back from them within two weeks. Probably sooner.
For those preparing for this interview I would suggest going to have fun. Don't worry about getting in to ECC. If you worry you'll lose sight of what they're looking for. They are looking for someone who is friendly, approachable, energetic, confident and responsible. I hope this helps because reading other peoples' blogs helped me to prepare and feel confident. Good luck!
I'm feeling really good about this so wish me luck!
Did you want a picture of the interview? Too bad. I didn't take one.
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