[Please note that this information was collected in 2014 to 2015, so it may be outdated.]
The JET Program - and application process especially - is known for being shrouded in mystery. Many people seem to have differing opinions on how exactly the whole process works. I want to present some information which will hopefully shed some light on how the program works. This information comes from a poster at ITIL who is involved in the JET program at an American consulate.
Additionally, I want to note that deadlines have been pushed forward a few weeks as of the 2015 departure, so some of the dates here may not apply anymore.
Early Departure
JETs arrive in 4 main waves from April to August. The two largest groups of arrivals are Group A (end of July) and Group B (beginning of August), who each have their own post-arrival orientation in Tokyo. However, there is also an April arrivals group as well as a Group C (late arrivals and upgrades; mid-August).
April arrivals are early departure participants. Early departures happen for a variety of reasons, but most likely a current JET has left their job before their replacement comes in July/August for some reason. April arrivals have a single day welcome reception and brief orientation in Tokyo before departing for their placements the next day. However, consulates get their information in waves and early departures can theoretically happen anytime between April and August. So while most early departure participants arrive in April and attend the orientation, many others do not.
Applying for early departure does not guarantee any higher chance of getting into the program; it just means that if you do get selected you don't have to wait as long to find out placement and actually leave. As a slightly meaningless reference point, Toronto consulate had around 70 participants leave in 2014 and 8 of those were early departure.
One thing to be wary of when applying for early departure is that you must be ready to leave within a month or less of being notified. If you are single and live at home, I think it would be fairly easy, but for me it was just too much with a family and my own home. I had tons of loose ends which took months to tie up before we left in August, so I can't imagine how it would have been with only a few weeks!
Interviews/The Selection Process
This is probably the most elusive aspect of the JET program. Consulates cannot reveal the exact way they score applicants and determine the shortlist.
There is a lot of potential information about how to ace the interview, but it really is dependent on a lot of factors. However, there are three questions which are essential for a successful applicant to answer:
1. Why Japan?
2. Why JET?
3. Why ALT/CIR?
If you can't give a good answer to these questions, you're probably not going to get in. These should have been addressed already in the statement of purpose, but you should expand on these ideas during the interview. Furthermore, you need to be able to explain why you want to teach in Japan with JET rather than with EPIK in Korea, for example. Be specific - your reasons and motivations for applying to this program are important. Many applicants have studied abroad, have ties to Japan, or have studied Japanese. You need to make sure your motivations are unique and personal in order to stand out.
Personality is another significant aspect of the selection process. The interviewers need to be able to visualize you as someone who could be teaching a group of Japanese students. They understand that you may be nervous, but you still need to be able to sell yourself in person, rather than just on paper.
Interviewed applicants are scored on a point-based system. After all interviews have been completed, the panel organizes applicants into one master list and that list is sent to Tokyo. From there CLAIR and the COs make the final decision. The problem is, having high marks does not guarantee you will be selected; similarly, having middle or low marks does not mean you'll automatically be cast aside.
For example, a consulate interviews 50 people. Out of those 50, the consulate does not recommend 5 of the applicants. That leaves them with 45 people who are being recommended. However, until April the consulate doesn't know the exact number of people who will be shortlisted in a given year, and even then this doesn't include upgrades later on. They can estimate from previous years, but they can't know for certain. Perhaps last year they sent 25 people, and the year before they sent 15. This year they could only send 10. Or maybe 35! Or anywhere inbetween. The consulate can send their list and hope their top picks get in, but if there were 15 people with high marks and only 10 spaces that year, that means 5 people didn't make the shortlist, even though they had amazing interviews. This means that consulates cannot disclose information about the number of participants which will be shortlisted this year. It would be unfair for them to promise 25 spots only to end up with 10.
Getting Shortlist Results
The number of shortlisters is determined by the number of COs who need JETs. Being shortlisted basically means you have a 99% chance of getting a placement. It is extremely rare, but some shortlisters cannot be placed. This is usually due to a medical condition, where the applicant needs to be close to a certain medical facility, but there is no placement which can accomodate their needs. It can also be due to something such as a CO needing someone who can drive, but the applicant refuses to get a license.
The consulates receive their list back from Tokyo around late March to mid-April. They sort through the list and try to coordinate the release of the results so that everyone hears around the same time. In 2014 it took a week or two for all countries to release their results. It can take a while due to time zones, email lag, and individual circumstances. Before they actually get the results, the consulate doesn't really know when they will receive the short list. In 2014 I think there were rumours about when they would receive it about a week or two beforehand.
For more speculating, there is a discussion on acceptance rate over at ITIL.
The 2014-2015 placement statistics (how many JETs per country/per prefecture)
Alternates
For those given alternate status, the wait can be even more torturous than the initial application stage. Many people want to know their position on the alternate list so that they can know if they're close to being upgraded or not. However, this is impossible for the same reasons its impossible to know how many shortlisters there will be or if your score was high enough to guarantee you a spot. Even more so than shortlisters, alternates are upgraded based on specific requirements such as gender, home country, driver's license, language ability, dependents, etc. So if the next 4 people on an alternate list are female with no license and the CO wants a male with a license, that person will be upgraded even though they're 4th on the list. Consulates are vague about the alternate list to protect the candidates.
The number of upgraded alternates varies year to year. For example, after Fukushima, many people with placements in that area dropped out, so there was a large number of upgraded applicants. It depends on how many shortlisters don't accept or break contract. Some years 10% of alternates may be upgraded and other years it might be 90%.
The number of alternates depends on a few factors. Firstly the consulate considers how many alternates were sent the previous year. They tend to err on the side of having too many alternates to make sure their bases are covered in case of dropouts. It also depends on how well applicants did during their interviews. For example, last year a consulate sent 20 people and this year they interviewed 40. They hope to send 20 people again this year. From the 40 applicants they eliminate 5 for not passing the interview. They now have 15 potential alternates. Of those alternates, some may have passed their interview with very low scores, so the consulate cuts 5 of them off the list. The final alternate list is then 10 people.
Similar to early departures, alternates are upgraded in waves. The largest wave comes right after the deadline for shortlisters to submit their acceptance of their placement, usually in early May. The second wave comes nearer to departure, when shortlisters get cold feet and suddenly withdraw. There are smaller waves between August and December, the last possible time for an upgrade. Some new JETs freak out and leave right after they arrive or leave around the holidays, when homesickness hits and they tend to be in low spirits. Upgrades after August or September are rare, but they do happen!
Pre-departure
The process of getting into JET doesn't end with the interview. Prior to departure there are a lot of responsibilities for new JET participants. There is paperwork to fill in and submit, flights to book, visas to acquire, and photos to take. Additionally, you must submit your passport to your consulate in order to get your visa, making it difficult or impossible to travel outside the country between around May to July/August (so make sure its renewed beforehand!). Consulates get a special list from Japan which approves the JET visas (since JETs don't get the typical certificate of eligibility others need to acquire work visas). They usually get this list in late June or early July.
JETs will have at least one pre-departure orientation which is mandatory. The consulate has a responsibility to inform participants about certain procedures and rules. Its also when you will probably get all the nitty gritty details about arriving at the airport, the flight, and post-arrival. In Toronto we had a whole slew of pre-departure orientations, but the only one which was mandatory was a couple hours in the afternoon the day before we left.
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