Job Discussion Forums

[Futsukayoi]

Hi there, I'm looking for some honest opinions on a slight dilemma I've got. I'm currently working in the Tokyo area as an ALT, but would like to change jobs and work for one of the big eikaiwas (I realize this may seem foolish to some of you out there but that's what I want to do). I have a year of experience with Nova from a couple years back, finished my contract with them, did a good job, and enjoyed the work for the most part (I liked teaching adults a lot more than I do teaching kids in a 'real' Japanese school like I do now). However, I received a bad reference from Nova when applying to one of the major eikaiwas from my home country, and this prevented me from getting the job I was hoping for. So, I ended up returning to Japan with this ALT job I'm at now, and would now like to try and jump ship back to that same eikaiwa that I applied to before (sorry for not mentioning company names etc). I don't know if that's a good idea or not, but I figure since I'm already in the country with a valid visa, apartment, etc, they would be a lot more likely to give me a job since there's less risk/responsibility involved on their end than there would be sponsoring and helping a new recruit from overseas etc (not sure if that's a valid hunch or not).

So anyway, on to my questions... I know for sure that I can't use Nova as a reference for the company I'd like to reapply to, and am wondering if I should just omit my Nova experience from my resume entirely, or just leave it on there and try to explain to the recruiting staff that for whatever reasons I'm requesting that they don't contact Nova for any reference or background checks. Leaving Nova off my resume would leave a fairly big gap on my resume, and would then make it seem like I have no eikaiwa experience at all and have only been in Japan for a few months (I'm not sure how much weight is given to previous eikaiwa experience when applying to a major eikaiwa... difference would be claiming to have one full year of eikaiwa plus a few months of ALT work, versus just the few months of ALT work alone. ) Or, I've also thought about making something up to put on the resume, like say I had a small teaching gig in Thailand or a job at a small school that went under or something to fill in that one year gap, but I'd obviously prefer not to lie on my resume and to the recruiters.
So my question is, what do u think is the best thing for me to do?
1) Be honest and hope they'll agree not to contact Nova
2) Take Nova off my resume completely... or
3) Make up a story about another teaching job I had during that year?

Any advice or opinions would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers
(sorry abt the long winded post)

[Futsukayoi]

a quick opinion or 2 on this would be greatly appreciated.... cheers

[Glenski]

Leave NOVA on the resume.

Don't put references on your resume. Save them for the moment when you are asked to provide them.

Have two references (or more) from non-NOVA sources.

[Futsukayoi]

Thanks a lot for your reply Glenski. Assuming the company will ask for references, and are quite likely to ask if they can contact Nova (since they asked me that when I applied from overseas), what should I say in that situation?

[king kakipi]

You wrote -I have a year of experience with Nova from a couple years back, finished my contract with them, did a good job,
However, I received a bad reference from Nova when applying to one of the major eikaiwas from my home country, and this prevented me from getting the job I was hoping for (sorry, I cannot get the quote thingys to work; computers are not my forte......)


I cannot understand, from the quotes above, why you got a bad reference then.
I would leave Nova on your resume and provide at last two other excellent references. Then, if asked at an interview about Nova, point out that you passed their probationary period, and they seemed happy enough to let you complete a (1 year) contract ("so I must have been doing something right"). Maybe push the point that you have two excellent references but for some reason you believe that Nova will give you a less than desirable reference; then they are the `odd one out`.
Is there no-one at Nova with whom you worked that could act as a referee (rather than just a Head Office one)?
I would also contact Nova to find out what they took exception too.
There are plenty of people on this forum with more recruitment experience than me (I have none!!) but in 15 years as a teacher I had to write many refs for students/ex-students of mine. I always believed that refs had to be positive but true; therefore a ref only stating factual info (dates,places etc) could be interpreted by the reader as being a `bad` reference due to its brevity...............
Good Luck
PS I was offered a job with Nova (and they DID check my references!) but I turned it down. I have now, successfully, pursued other more lucrative teaching opportunities here and they all have accepted just a resume detailing over 10 years` continous teaching experience and my teaching qualifications (and I offered three recent (overseas) teaching `testimonials`); it seems to me that only the Big 4 Eikaiwa seem to be really `into` the references, maybe because they recruit so many young staff with no teaching experince.

[Glenski]

king kakipi has some good points. Let me add mine.

If someone asks to contact NOVA, you have a few options if you want to avoid them doing that.

1. Tell them the person who was your boss is no longer there.
2. Tell them you really enjoyed working there and got along well with students. Say you and (don't de-emphasize the word "and") your supervisor didn't agree on teaching methods, but you were still on good enough terms to finish your contract. In my book, that's a done deal, and it suggests that you may have been slightly overqualified for the NOVA position or the NOVA branch boss was a jerk somehow. And, you said that all without being negative (which is one thing you want to avoid in an interview).

[joncharles]

Even I can follow that advice Glenski... I was with them (NOVA) for three years and ended up on a bad note after being screwed by my AAM. I am using a former co-worker who is now an AT and several former students and friends who are local businessmen in Chigasaki.

Now, how do you get around the "Letters of Reference" requests if you never asked former employers for one? (In all my years I have never needed letters... my resume and reference list was good enough)

[Glenski]