JET Interview Results

On the morning of April 4th, I received an email with the interview results from JET. To my pleasant surprise, I got placed on the short-list candidates! JET places people in three categories, short-list, alternate-list, and rejection. The first one pretty much guarantees placement in the program. The second is a list for people to get bumped up to short list in case an original short lister backs down. The third is, well.., not really a list, but to try again next year.

Now being on the short list means that I needed to get a lot of paper work in quickly. The attachment I received requested several things. The most urgent ones were the reply and health certification forms. These were due on the 26th of April.

In my case, I had to call for a new doctor (haven't seen one in awhile) to complete the health certification. I read the email on the 4th, sent the call for a physical that same day, got the physical done and over with on the 5th. The doctor visit wasn't so bad at all. It's a small place about 5 mins from home with a small staff. When I came in, I was greeted with a cute assistant sitting behind the desk. After about 5 minutes of filling out new patient information, I was called in by a nurse and they did the basic stuff, height, weight, blood pressure, etc, etc.

The actual physical was done by a student doctor ( I guess physicals are too low for the staff doctors). It wasn't much of a physical, just asking me a bunch of questions on the health form. A funny moment in the physical was when they had to shine lights in my eyes and he got within 1 inch to my face. I almost started laughing because he was really into looking at my eyes..lol. They did find one thing wrong with me, I had heavy wax buildup in my left ear. If you never had your ears flushed, I can explain how it feels. They take this big syringe type device and fill it with a solution. Afterwards, they blast it all in your ear. Imagine having Niagara Falls coming down in your ear, that's how it feels. It also left me a little light headed. All in all, it wasn't so bad. They needed to clear it out because apparently I failed my hearing exam on my left ear. I passed after they cleaned it out.

The reply and health forms were the easy parts. The next thing I had to turn in was the FBI background check, which is due on July 9th. I got this over with on April 7th. I found that when dealing with documents concerning the JET program, you have to read very carefully or else miss some minor detail.

One of those details was how you had to pay. The charge is $18 to send a request, but it has to be a CERTIFIED check, meaning the bank has to check your account to make sure you have the funds available. They also have to sign a form saying you do and have to set that amount aside until the FBI collects. Instead of doing that, I just bought a money order. While at the bank, I had to get a release form signed in front of a Notary Public. It wasn't so bad because the lady I was dealing with was the Notary Public.

Getting the money order and notary signature was 2 of 3 of the things needed for background check. The third part was getting a fingerprint card from the local law enforcement. I've read some difficulties with some people regarding this, but luckily in my case it wasn't so bad. The only difficult part was finding the station.

Our police station doesn't even look like a station, it looks like some random shop in my small town. The only indication of a police station is the tiny sign right at the hidden road to the back of the building. I think I passed it three times looking for it. When I pulled behind the building, I finally saw a sign that said "Oxford Police". I cursed at myself for not finding it sooner as I walked in. I walked through a short hallway before turning left into a big pane of bulletproof glass with the words Oxford Police in dark blue. I could see through to their Mission Impossible setup. For a small town, they sure had lots of stuff. They communicated through a speaker system, no person. So I started talking to the wall like a crazy person asking for finger prints. There was a small box where I had to drop my driver's license and $7 for the card. The wait wasn't so bad because there was a father there and his kid, which proved to be quite entertaining for 10 minutes. After that time an officer opened the door and escorted me in.

I told him that it was for a FBI background check and he seemed to know the drill after that. He even got the same finger print card which I saw in the example on the email. After about 5 minutes that was done and I mailed everything out.

Finally, the last piece of paperwork I had to deal with was the tax exemption form 8802. This form sucked because there was a 15 page instruction booklet on each question. I speak and understand perfect English, but reading these forms is like reading another language. I was able to get through it, but had to have my mom assist and catch all the "extras" I had to do. What I find ridiculous is that this is an application form for another application form. I got this nightmare finished on the 8th.

With all of that paper work done, I should be ready and just waiting for my placement. Until then, I'm going to hit the books and brush up on my already lacking Japanese skills.