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Omeo · Joined: 08 Feb 2005 Posts: 245

I just got home from my Nova interview in Minneapolis and I'd like to relate it for the benefit of other thinking about applying. They really should archive all these interview summaries in one place so they're easier to find. Anyway, here goes:

This interview was actually pretty short compared to what I had expected. It started at 9 a.m. and I was out of the hotel and on my way home by 12:30. There were 13 other applicants there, which was about double what I would have guessed. The interview was held by two American women; one being from the office in Chicago.

We started out with a game of Bingo. We were all given sheets with a sixteen-square grid and each square had a characteristic in it. We were to find someone else to whom each characteristic applied and write their name in the square. The characteristics were things like "Drove longer than you to get here.", "Drives a Japanese car.", or "Likes Karaoke."; things like that.

Next we had the info session. They told us a lot about the company. We learned about the salary range and a few things about the cost of living. We then played the 'Price-is-Right' game where they have you guess how much various things cost in Japan.

After that, we played the picture description game. We each had to talk about a picture they showed us for 45 seconds. I was under the impression that we could only look at the picture for 5 seconds and then had to turn our backs to it and describe it, but we actually got to look at the picture the entire 45 seconds plus the 5 seconds before we started. I had to talk about a picture of a sumo wrestling match. I completely made up most of what I said.

After that, they told us about the children's classes and we got to look at the books they use to teach children. We then played a children's game where they split us up into three groups and the instructor would hold up a card with a picture or some carrots or something on it and say "These are carrots. What are they?" and we had to yell "Those are carrots." She then put the cards face-down on the floor and the person at the head of each of the three lines had to do some kind of dance or silly walk to the cards and find the one she told us to find and hold it up. She took the card and say "This is candy. What is it?" and we yelled "It's candy." After that, we got to look over an example of the adult lessons and hear how they're taught.

Next, we had a pre-interview quiz. The quiz was 15 minutes-timed-and began with two essay questions. They asked why we were interested in Japan and what makes us think we'd be good teachers. There was also a section checking our grammar knowledge by asking us to spot a mistake in a bunch of sentences. Finally, there was a section about appropriate responses to questions and comments a student might make.

After that, we had the interviews. I was one of the first to go because I showed up early after having spent the night at the hotel. We started out with a brief discussion about my work preferences. I told them I don't mind teaching the night shift at the Multi-Media Center since I'm basically nocturnal anyway. They actually didn't ask about where I'd prefer to be stationed. We did the lightning round;the interviewer asked about 18 questions. I didn't stumble too much; I actually did a little better than I expected to. I was nervous about that part since I'm not usually a quick thinker. She asked about a highly stressful situation I've been in and I told her about moving to San Diego and how I was broke the whole time I was out there and even homeless for a month. She asked me more about being homeless and how I handled that. I told her it was really bad, but I made it out alive and how I ended up joining the Army and what the whole situation had taught me. She asked me about a time I'd been reprimanded at work and working with difficult co-worker and difficult customers.

She then got out a sample lesson about two friends talking about a terrible vacation one of them had gone on. I did alright the first time. I got a little confused at the end because I thought I was suppose to role-play the conversation with her, but I was only suppose to read it to her and ask her some questions about it to check comprehension. I also didn't look at her the whole time I was reading the conversation , so if she'd been confused by any of it, I wouldn't've noticed. We talked about this and I did it again, much better this time. When it was over, she asked me if I could see myself doing this for real students in Japan and I said "I certainly could." and she said, "So could I. You did a really good job; especially the second time."

I think I made a good impression. I expect to receive an offer in the next couple weeks.

What advice would I have for other hopefuls? Have some examples of difficult situations you've faced and how you resolved them; inside and outside of work. Do as much research as you can about the company and the interviews. Read as many of these summaries as you can find. Read up on your grammar. Smile. I don't think I could offer a whole lot that others haven't said before, really. Good luck.

Reetski · Joined: 24 Oct 2006 Posts: 6 Location: Auckland

For the record, my interview in Auckland, NZ was exactly the same.

ripslyme · Joined: 29 Jan 2005 Posts: 481 Location: Japan

The interview has changed a bit since my interview back in 2004. Thanks for posting!

canuck · Joined: 11 May 2003 Posts: 1921 Location: Japan

furiousmilksheikali

Omeo · Joined: 08 Feb 2005 Posts: 245

furiousmilksheikali:
I meant it would be nice if they were all under one sticky at the top of the forum by the FAQs.

Canuck: How on Earth could telling her how I survived a HIGHLY stressfull situation be bad? Adjusting to life in Japan should be cake walk next to that because at least in Japan I'll have a place to live AND a decent job.

Omeo · Joined: 08 Feb 2005 Posts: 245

furiousmilksheikali:
I meant it would be nice if they were all under one sticky at the top of the forum by the FAQs.

Canuck: How on Earth could telling her how I survived a HIGHLY stressful situation be bad? Adjusting to life in Japan should be cake walk next to that because at least in Japan I'll have a place to live AND a decent job.

furiousmilksheikali · Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2007 1:09 am Post subject:

canuck · Joined: 11 May 2003 Posts: 1921 Location: Japan

Omeo · Joined: 08 Feb 2005 Posts: 245

Okay, I think I understand. I should tell you, though, that we established that the situation that lead to my eviction was not my fault, but rather the fault of my roommate who had withheld rent money from the landlord over a much needed repair for the bathroom ceiling. This all happened before I moved in, which I also told her.

Also, I certainly wasn't trying for the sympathy angle. I said it was tough, but I didn't drone on at length about how awful it was. I was simply attempting to illustrate my ability to adapt to new and stressful situations, which is what she had asked me about in the first place.

canuck · Joined: 11 May 2003 Posts: 1921 Location: Japan

Omeo · Joined: 08 Feb 2005 Posts: 245

How does showing that it wasn't my fault work against me? She asked about it. I don't think I gave her any details she didn't ask for.

southofreality · Joined: 12 Feb 2007 Posts: 579 Location: Tokyo

Maybe she asked because she wanted to see what kind of excuses you'd make. I'm with Sheik and Canuck; you never should offer up information like that at a job interview unless directly asked about it. I'm sure the NOVA interviewers didn't ask you about being homeless.

Someone should start a poll to see how many people think Omeo will get the job or not. If the majority guess "not" and Omeo doesn't get the job, maybe he/she will follow the advice given here at the next interview. It would certainly go to show that some sound advice can be gotten from long-time posters here.

I'm not wishing bad luck for you, Omeo. I just don't think the homeless story was a good idea. I hope you get the job. But, if you don't, you have some good advice from the people here for your next interview.

canuck · Joined: 11 May 2003 Posts: 1921 Location: Japan

Omeo · Joined: 08 Feb 2005 Posts: 245

You're right. She didn't ask me about being homeless. She asked about a highly stressful situation I'd been in and how I handled it. I told her about how I'd moved out to California when I was young and foolish and ended up being broke the whole time which lead to me mentioning my being homeless for a while. I still think I did a good job of establishing that the situation was beyond my control. I wasn't too defensive about it. I DID also mention that I'd lived in South Korea during my time in the service and how I enjoyed that.

I don't see how you could get an accurate poll considering how little people know about how well I did through the entire interview. I apologize for being defensive about this, but I actually thought I did a good job and now I'm not so sure. She did say she could see me being a teacher.