ORIENTATION AND TRAINING
Q&A SESSIONS
Q&A sessions are non-mandatory events hosted by local chapters of the JET Alumni Association in conjunction with the JET Program Office. These sessions are an excellent opportunity for new JETs to speak with experienced alumni who can provide advice on preparing for departure, life in Japan, and job duties as a JET.
PRE-DEPARTURE ORIENTATION
Each departure location in the U.S. holds a mandatory orientation for all new JET Program participants prior to departure for Japan. This orientation is designed to prepare new JET Program participants for their upcoming travel, life in Japan, and the expectations of their new roles. Please note that there will be no Pre-Departure Orientation for those already residing in Japan. Instead, they will proceed directly to Group A’s Post-Arrival Orientation in Tokyo. For more details on this situation, please see the 2025 Application Guidelines
POST-ARRIVAL ORIENTATION
The JET Program’s parent agency, the Council of Local Authorities for International Relations (CLAIR), organizes 3-day orientations – one for each wave of departures. Participation in the post-arrival orientation in Tokyo is mandatory for all new participants. This orientation provides seminars that go into detail about how to successfully perform your duties on the Program. For more information on this orientation, please see here.
ONGOING TRAINING
After the Post-Arrival Orientation in Tokyo, participants travel to their placements and have some time to settle. Within a month of arrival, each prefecture will hold a local orientation to address the unique characteristics of working and living in that prefecture. In addition to this local welcome orientation, each prefecture also holds an annual Skill Development Conference between the months of September and February to ensure that JET program participants continue to develop their skills and share insights with other participants.
At the national level, CLAIR hosts a variety of conferences and seminars throughout the year to support JET Program participants in their professional development. An annual schedule of all JET Program conferences can be found at JET Programme International.
JET INTERNSHIP PROGRAM
The JET Internship Program seeks to meet the needs of JET Program participants who want the opportunity to advance their post-JET career opportunities in Japan and Japanese companies looking for global personnel. It is our hope that JET Program participants can utilize their internship to develop a greater awareness of the working world, attain a better understanding of the kinds of global personnel Japanese companies are seeking and actively use this for the benefit of their job-searching activities after finishing the JET Program. For more information on this program, please see here.
JAPANESE LANGUAGE COURSES
Each year, JET Program participants have the option of taking one of three online Japanese language courses. These courses are free to participate in and are separated into Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced levels, which correspond to levels N5, N4, and N3 of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT). The teaching materials used in these courses encompass a variety of situations that JET participants will likely experience at some point during their time in Japan. For more information, please see here.
GRANTS FOR JETS
JET Program participants can apply for two kinds of grants: a partial-cost TEFL certification grant and a JLPT grant. Both of these are aimed at helping participants improve on their professional skills and achieve a higher level of performance within their workplaces. For more information on these grants, please see here.
AFTER JET CONFERENCE
The After JET Conference (AJC) is held in the Greater Tokyo area each year in February or March. CLAIR aims to enrich the lives of JET participants after they leave the JET Program by drawing on influential alumni and internationally-minded Japanese businesses to provide insight into the many exciting paths you can take after completing your time on JET. In addition to information about job-hunting in JET participants’ home countries and in Japan, seminar topics also cover pursuing further education, how to deal with reverse culture shock, and other aspects of life after JET. For more information, please here.
CAREER FAIRS FOR JETS
CLAIR hosts career fairs for JET participants in Tokyo, Osaka, and Fukuoka. Additionally, career fairs may be held outside of these three cities depending on available resources. CLAIR developed these career fairs with the cooperation of local and foreign chambers of commerce to respond to both the interests of JET Programme participants seeking employment in Japan and Japanese companies/organizations seeking multilingual, global personnel. For more info about these career fairs, please see here.