Dec 3

JetWit Diary 12.03.10

JetWit Diary, Return on JET-vestment, Uncategorized Comments Off on JetWit Diary 12.03.10

JetWit Diary is a new feature by Steven Horowitz (Aichi-ken, 1992-94), founder and publisher of JetWit. Steven is available on a consulting basis to assist organizations with any membership building, social media consulting, creative communications and writing needs.

JET and the Local Government Challenge

In light of recent information about Aichi’s decision to forgo prefectural JETs and awareness that, in contrast, Hyogo and Kobe seem to be very supportive of JET, and after a suggestion by JETAANY President-to-be Monica Yuki that perhaps it would make sense to focus our energies on the the prefectures that are the most JET-friendly, I thought it would be a good idea to figure out statistically which prefectures or contracting organizations are making the most use of JETs.

To that end, further below (after the “Read More” break) is a list of the contracting organizations with the most JET ALTs.  (FYI, a “contracting organization” is a prefecture, city, board of education, etc. that allocates budget towards hiring JETs.)

In the meantime, I think it would also be very helpful to get a sense of why some contracting organizations continue to support and hire JETs while others do not.  So I’d like to request that any JETs and JET alums out there (especially CIRs) get in touch if you have any perspectives based on conversations or other interactions.

• Email responses to:  jetwit [at] jetwit.com
  

Generally speaking, of course, I’m well aware that tight budgets have a lot to do with the attrition.  But it might be helpful to dig a little deeper and know why JET is prioritized above or below other budget items.  Also, what factors might cause a contracting organization to change the way it views or prioritizes JET?  And perhaps any ways that some prefectures may have found to extract more value (short and long term) from having JETs that helps justify the expenditures.  e.g., Perhaps some prefectures have found successful ways to incorporate JETs into strong sister city relationships that continue to benefit the prefecture/city over time.

On a related note, thanks to conversations with knowledgeable JET alums, I now understand a bit more about how the relationship among budgets, the JET Program and dispatch companies such as Interac.  The central government used to provide a certain amount of funds to the local governments to hire JETs.  Now, as I understand it, the funds may be used to hire ALTs.  This means that the local governments can (and increasingly seem to) choose to hire ALTs via a dispatch company rather than JETs.  (There’s a whole separate issue on the legality of public schools hiring contract employees via dispatch companies, about which I know very little, but I don’t think it makes sense from a JETAA perspective to focus on that.)

JetWit Job Listings

JetWit is starting to get more and more job listings.  That’s because

1. We don’t charge to post job listings and circulate them to the JetWit Jobs Google group (because I never want to create barriers to JETs and JET alum access to job opportunities); and
2. We’ve gotten a few more U.S.-based Japanese staffing companies to see the light, i.e., that if they’re not posting their JET-relevant jobs on JetWit, they’re missing a huge opportunity.  (Though I do encourage them to make a contribution if they’re happy with the results and want to make sure that JetWit continues to exist for their benefit.)

If you know any staffing companies with JET-relevant job listings, tell them to email jetwit [at] jetwit.com and we’ll get them out to the community.

That’s all for this edition of JetWit Diary.  Have a Happy Chanukah and enjoy your bounenkais.

Yoroshiku onegaishimasu,

Steven Horowitz (Aichi-ken, 1992-94)
Brooklyn, NY
jetwit [at] jetwit.com

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Special thanks to JET alum Kevin Meek of CLAIR Tokyo for pointing me to the data on JETs.  FYI, there’s a more complete and interesting (and publicly available) chart of JETs, ALTs and CIRs broken down by prefecture, city, etc., a few pages into the JET Pamphlet (PDF) published by CLAIR.

Contracting Org.———# of ALTs

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