Home / Main / PAFAQ 7
Are regional meetings and Mid-Year Seminar compulsory?
Yes, yes they are. These are official meetings and you must treat them as official meetings.
This means:
1. Be on time. Believe it or not, JET is a real job and we expect the same kind of professional conduct any company back home would.
2. Dress suitably. Mid-year seminar and orientation for new JETs are "formal business attire". This means suits if you have them, if not be as smart as possible. The regional meetings are "business casual" - i.e. whatever you wear at school is fine...as long as that's not jeans, shorts or tracksuit bottoms. The meeting comprises part of your working day so you should not change into whatever you feel like before you go!
3. Be courteous You may be asked to bring a lesson or idea to a meeting, or to prepare a presentation. Please, be courteous and professional to your rep or to the PA when dealing with this kind of business. Complete any tasks you receive to the best of your ability and submit them on time. We receive complaints each year that someone should be exempt from a certain task, or that a certain part of a meeting does not apply to a particular JET's situation. Try to remember that regardless of how you personally feel about a task, there is no excuse for behaving in a manner which is rude and disrespectful. We are all professionals and we are all adults. I do not mind fielding questions, concerns and complaints, but I expect that any issues a JET has with a task be presented to me or to the reps in a way which is appropriate for business, so we can handle it from one professional to another.
4. Attend all parts of the event. That means no sneaking off early or coming only to the parts which you feel apply to you. You might be out of your office for the day/afternoon but that doesn't mean it's free time for you.
This probably comes off somewhat harshly, but we feel that it needs to be said. Many JETs complain that they are not treated seriously in their jobs however behaviour such as the above plays a large part in treatment that you receive. It may not feel like it at times, but JET is a real job and you're being paid a not unsubstantial amount of money to do it, so please take it seriously and go about your job in a professional manner.