Professional Development

For those of you with an eye toward the future and what your next career move will be after JET, here are some ways you can gain new skills while in Japan.

Within the JET Programme / Community
Apply to be a Conference Committee Member (CCM), Regional Advisor (RA), Yamagata AJET President, or part of the National AJET Council. Applications for CCM & AJET are usually on a yearly basis, with RA and PA positions being a two year stint.

Conference Committee Member s (CCM)
Committee members are in charge of planning and organizing several seminars throughout the year. These seminars include the New JET seminar, the Skill Development Conference, and the regional seminars. CCM usually has 8 members with the ALT PA heading up the committee. Applications generally open in January.

Regional Advisor
A Regional Advisor, or RA, is responsible for supporting all JETs with everyday inquiries and problems. They are also required to hold monthly events. In an emergency RAs can provide moral support, information, and access to a network of other knowledgeable JETs. RA applications come out during the winter.

Yamagata AJET President
The AJET President (or Presidents as people occasionally run as a group) work as the AJET representatives of the prefecture. They plan events such as the Yamagata Halloween Party, the end-of-year farewell party and the Zao Ski Trip (which JETs from all over Block 2 attend). The AJET website with applications can be accessed here.

National AJET
Under the AJET block system, Japan’s 47 prefectures are broken up into 11 blocks of 3-4 prefectures, each of which has an elected Block Representative. In addition, there are two elected CIR Representatives for JETs working as Coordinators for International Relations. AJET Representatives work to support their communities by representing the concerns of local JETs to the National AJET Council, fostering networks between them and planning great events. Applications generally open in March and close in April. For directions on how to apply, please the website here.

Volunteer
There are many benefits to volunteering. Not only can you become more involved with and connected to your community, but you can also gain valuable experiences and skills along the way. Volunteering says a lot about a person and their qualities and employers love to see those qualities in potential employees.

Futabaso Volunteering
Volunteers visit the Futabaso children's home once a month. They play games with the children and do other fun filled activities. This is a great way to bond with your fellow JETs and spending time with the children is always it's own reward and a barrel of fun to boot. I've never had a bad experience doing this. You can check the Futabaso Volunteering Facebook Group and the JETs who organizes it always posts in the Yamagata JETs Facebook Group.

Eigo de Hanasou
On the third Saturday of every month from 14:00 - 16:00 at AIRY in Kajo Central in Yamagata. Help out your friendly neighborhood CIR by volunteering to participate in various English activities and discussions being held for local members of the community who want to improve their English. This is a great way to meet people in the community, befriend your CIR, and develop your ALT skills. Contact the AIRY CIR for more information.

AJET Peer Support Group
AJET PSG is a confidential and anonymous listening and referral service run by JETs for JETs. PSG is open to all current JET Programme participants every night of the year, from 8:00 pm to 7:00 am - a period when other services such as the Tokyo English Life Line (TELL) are not in service, and when Prefectural Advisors (PAs) are often unavailable. Their service is free, and can be contacted at 050-5534-5566, or via Skype at AJETPSG. They accept volunteer applications from Early February to Mid-March. For more information, click here.

National AJET
Check National AJETs website for volunteering opportunities all over Japan, both within the JET community and without. For more info and to see what's currently happening, click here.

Study Japanese
Nothing impresses an employer more than multilingualism! Since you are spending at least a year in Japan, you might as well have something to show for it when you leave.

Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT)
Study for and take the JLPT. If you are looking to stay in Japan after JET, many employers will require you to have a JLPT certification. Even if you are looking to get a job using Japanese outside of Japan, this certification will be a must. For more information on the JLPT, you can visit the National AJET website here that has a super handy FAQ and all the links and resources your heart could desire.

Japanese Language Classes
Many of the international relations centers offer Japanese language courses. Contact your local CIR or PA for info. Classes are often offered by International centers. There are courses offered in Yamagata City by AIRY that people can sign up for. In the past, some ALTs in the Shonai area were able to sign up for tutoring through the local culture centers (i.e., Sakata Bunka Center). Your supervisors may have information on this if you ask.

Education
There are many opportunities out there for you to study and further your education and develop your skill set while still in Japan.

English Teaching Development
If you want information on TEFL/TESL or CELTA certs, click here and to learn about the JET participant discount on TEFL courses, click here.

Online Classes
Many universities are now offering online courses for free. Whether you are looking to get another degree, or a certification, here are some links to get you started.

www.edx.org - This is an amazing website that partners with accredited universities around the world (such as Harvard, Berkely, TUDelft, Stanford, etc.) and you can take them all for free. There is an option to pay money to get issued a certificate of completion. They also offer professional certificate programs or MicroMasters Programs that you can pay for and get issued certifications or course credit towards a Master's Degree at participating universities. There are a wide range of topics and many of the courses are self-paced.

http://www.openculture.com/freeonlinecourses - This website is an absolute gem! It is one huge database for all open source cultural and educational materials out there. They have ebooks, audiobooks, movies, textbooks, language lessons, MOOC (certificate courses), etc. It is a treasure trove of free public-domain openly available content. Take a gander at it, you will regret nothing.

ALT Training Online - The team behind ALTTO hosts a number of monthly zoom events, as well as blogs. They also have free classes aimed at ALTs in Japan. These courses are divided by topic (eg. listening, CLIL, vocabulary, etc), and they are written by both university professors and experienced ALTs.

Tuition Free Universities
Germany, Norway, and Finland all have tuition free universities. They offer many degrees in English and they are available to international students. (Keep in mind you will still have cost of living expenses, but no tuition.) Study Portals has a comprehensive list and search feature |tc-EUR&start=0&length=10&order=relevance here to help you find the program you want.

Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg is offering a Masters of Arts degree in World Heritage Studies. Established in 1999, the international Master’s programme World Heritage Studies at Brandenburg University of Technology in Cottbus is the first graduate programme in the world to design its curriculum around the UNESCO Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. The programme seeks to convey cross-sectorial knowledge with a focus on managerial skills needed for the identification, preservation, management and presentation of cultural and natural heritage sites.