2 Weeks Left!
The Amity Interview
There are several blogs and forums online that discuss the Amity interview process, such as how to prepare and what to expect when you're on the chopping block yourself. I wanted to take some time to share what I did in my own interview that resulted in me getting offered a position.
The interview process itself is pretty simple. You fill out the form on their website, detailing any teaching experience you have had in the past, and ending with a 500 word minimum essay entitled "Why I Want to Teach English to Children in Japan." I heard back from Amity within a few days of submitting my application. If they accept you, you'll get invited to attend a group interview. Be prepared to travel if you are not in Los Angeles or Toronto; my interview was in Atlanta, GA which is a 10 hour drive from where I currently live. Thankfully I had my awesome mom to drive with me, which made the trip a lot more bearable. :)
To prepare for the group interview they have you fill out another application, gather any reference letters you might have, and then ask you to prepare a sample English lesson for "beginning students." If you've never taught before, this can be really kowai (scary)! Even though I've tutored in the past, I don't have any experience teaching English, so I didn't really know where to start. This is where research comes in handy.
On Amity's website it states "In an effort to utilize the most comprehensive methodology for second language acquisition for children, Amity adopted the Model Action Talk method, better known by the acronym MAT. MAT is a dynamic method developed by Ritsuko Nakata, a noted author and EFL children's teacher." Bingo! A little more research led me to some Nakata-san's website which had more explanation about how the MAT method works, and even provided some sample lessons. Basically, the MAT method involves teaching children vocabulary, then a sentence that uses that vocabulary, then a question that prompts that sentence. Repetition is key, as well as games/songs, and speaking at a natural speed. Here are some awesome video clips I found online of Nakata-san teaching her method at a seminar:
(You can also find more clips HERE)
Using this method as a guide, I created my own sample lesson. My vocabulary was about colors, my sentence was "It is [color]," and my question was "What color is it?" You can do this lesson any way you want to, using any vocabulary. I liked my question and sentence because even though it was really simple, in later lessons the students could substitute different vocabulary or more complex sentence structure (e.g. "What day is it?", "It is Tuesday" or "Do you know what time it is?" "It is 4:30pm."). Try to associate a hand-gesture with each vocab word, even if it doesn't really fit (how do you gesture "red"?), you'll need this later!
I made color flash cards to practice the vocabulary, and created a race game, inspired by a few of the sample lessons on Nakata-san's website, in which the students had to say the sentence that corresponded with the right color card, and then ring a bell. Competition and points are always fun in a classroom! No matter what lesson you create, make it FUN! During the group interview, people sang songs, did activities, and played games. The more interactive you make it, the better. Also, you have to create a whole lesson which should be the equivalent of a half-hour's worth of material. You only have to present 5 minutes of it, but you have to turn in the entire lesson plan with your application. If you only submit 5 minutes worth of material, you probably won't get a call-back.
The group interview began with an information session about Amity, what was expected of teachers, and what a typical day would be like. They also had a question-answer session. Afterward, there was a break, and we divided into groups for the sample lesson. Each person got 5 minutes to present part of their lesson, and the other interviewees acted like the students. Help eachother during the sample lessons, especially since you'll want the help of the others when it's your turn to present! After the lessons were all presented, we went back to our hotels. The recruiters called back people they wanted to see again for a personal interview the next day (I was one of them! ^_^)
The personal interview is loooooong, and rather nerve-wracking since now you're one-on-one with a recruiter. They ask you to self-rate your lesson performance from the day before, and tell you where they felt you did well or lost points. They go over more details about the job, ask for your location preferences, or if you have any complications that would keep you from being able to go overseas or completing a contract (pets, illness, family members close to death), etc, etc, etc. They show you a sample of clothing that is "work appropriate" and ask you to rate your current clothing. TIP: Wear a suit! I brought 2 suits to Atlanta, but my day-2 suit's hem came out as I was getting ready that morning so I had to switch to a black skirt (knee-length) and collared blouse, which looked pretty awesome and very professional... but after looking at the "business wear" sample sheet I felt under-dressed. Best to wear a full business suit to both days of the interview.
Then comes the scary part...the surprise lesson! You have 10 minutes to come up with another sample lesson on the spot (again totaling 30 minutes, 10 minutes presented) to go along with the vocabulary and sentence the recruiter gives you. They leave the room and you get to work. Of course if your original lesson was modeled after the MAT method, all you need to do here is substitute vocab and sentence, and do the same lesson over again! Teach vocabulary (gestures!), then sentence, then question. Ta-da! The recruiter pretends to be the student, and may act shy or try to speak in Japanese. Just smile, be enthusiastic and encouraging, and go with the lesson's flow! You don't have to teach all 30 minutes in that first 10, so be careful not to rush. If you spend the whole 10 teaching vocabulary and working on pronunciation and gestures, that's fine, but it will probably go faster than that. :) After the sample lesson, you're basically all done!
If you make it through the personal interview, you'll be contacted within a few weeks (in my case a little over a month) with an offer of employment! If you have your college diploma, you'll send it in and get a placement, if you're still in school, you'll get placed after you receive and send them your diploma. That's it! Omedetou (congratulations)! You're going to Japan!
SO in summary, my tips are:
- Do some research before your interview. Learn about the company and what they expect you to do and understand by reading online.
- Use the MAT method as a guide for creating your lesson plans. Not only will it show them that you took the time to study researched their company, but it will show that it won't take as much to train you if you're already on board with their methods! Plus it's a pretty solid system.
- Make your lesson FUN! I guarantee you, if you have a boring lesson where students must sit quietly and raise their hand all the time, you won't get the job. Amity is really into teachers being active and enthusiastic, so be prepared to expend lots of sweat and energy!
- Make sure you create and ENTIRE lesson, not just the 5 minute presentation. 30 minutes is a good goal.
- Help other people during their presentations. Not only will it insure that they will help you on your turn, but you're also getting noticed more by the recruiters. Make them remember your name and face.
- Wear a suit! Look nice, neat, and clean during both interview days. Pack an extra set of clothing in case of wardrobe malfunctions
- Don't rush your lesson. Even though it's only a 5 or 10 minute presentation, take your time. You'll appear calmer and more professional.
- SMILE!!!!!
Some other people who have written about the interview process are HERE and HERE. Enjoy! :) Hope this helps!
Getting my Shopping Done
I spent this past weekend shopping with my mom and sister for my "Japan stuff." Even though I don't have a more specific departure date than "this fall," I like to have things in order and getting some of my supplies has been a huge stress relief! The best thing out of everything that I got are my suits! Four lovely wonderful suits, both pants and skirts, and a whole ton of silk scarves to accessorize them. :) I probably should have waited to get the official "Amity Employee Handbook" along with my placement information, but I have pretty good taste when it comes to business wear (and my mom was there to help me!) so I'm not too worried. All my suits are in demure colors (black, brown, navy, and grey), the skirts are knee-length, and they have no "revealing" necklines. Even so, I feel pretty swanky wearing them! :P
I also got some vitamins, handkerchiefs, extra makeup, new socks and undies, and all the little bits and pieces that I will need for the six weeks prior to my first paycheck. I had to cut down my book collection to 6 titles, which hurt a lot (I'm really attached to my books...), but they were too heavy otherwise. I've packed away anything that I am not currently using in my GIANT suitcase. I'm hoping that it won't weigh too much for the airplane, since anything over 50lbs is $60 extra, and anything over 70lbs is $200! :( But, we'll see. If it's too heavy, I'll donate some of it to the person in line behind me, lol...
Something weird that I've been told to pack is mac and cheese! Apparently it's difficult to get in Japan. I'm wondering if it's just that whole packages are hard to find, or if the actual macaroni noodles are the difficulty. I can make pretty good mac n cheese from scratch if they have macaroni shaped noodles, but I'll probably pack one or two boxes just in case. :)
