First of all, I want to preface by saying that I'm very happy for everyone who got shortlisted, and this is in no way meant to be a criticism of JET. But considering that most people who apply to JET will be rejected, and some of us are on our second or maybe even third or fourth rejection despite genuinely trying and taking hundreds of hours to improvements to our applications, I think it's perfectly understandable that some of us might want to start considering other options for teaching in Japan.
Even though JET is the gold standard for ALT work because it's government-run and is objectively the best way into Japan, we all know that it's notoriously competitive, and there were probably thousands of qualified, if not overqualified applicants this cycle who would’ve made great ALTs who got rejected simply due to the sheer competitiveness of the program and the number of applicants. After all, only 1/4 people who apply actually end up in Japan; those aren't exactly great odds.
I've seen quite a few comments on this sub and others like [r/teachinginjapan](r/teachinginjapan) that say how the dispatch companies are such a nightmare to work for that if you don't get accepted into JET you shouldn't bother trying to teach in Japan at all. This breaks my heart a little bit because I've wanted to teach in Japan ever since I was an undergrad, and if the only viable option is JET (which I've been rejected from twice) then I worry that I might not ever able to do it.
JET is the best option, but if you're willing to accept the downsides of working for a dispatch company, mainly lower salary (which seems to be the main complaint for the dispatch companies), less support and you only intend to do it for maybe a year or two, is it really that bad? If I don't make it into JET again next year should I set my sights towards different countries like EPIK in Korea or give up on my dream of teaching abroad altogether?
by InquisitiveLemur98