Job Discussion Forums

[SEndrigo]

Hey Hoser,

Not only real estate loan sharking, NOVA has its hands in many other things as well, such as mobile phones and health insurance. In fact, one could say that NOVA is not actually a school, but a front for many other side businesses and I bet they make more money from those other businesses than they do from the language schools !

But now I suppose the NOVA apologists will come in all guns blazing and tell us we're wrong, that NOVA is a good company and it's all what you make of it.

Yeah, and the Gestapo were nice people, too.

[Zzonkmiles]

SEndrigo,

Regarding the NOVA and AEON housing policies, they are both unfair in my opinion. AEON's policy is good if you do not plan on changing jobs and are not searching for another apartment. After all, 42,000 yen a month for rent is a very good price. NOVA's policy is fine if you are not changing jobs and don't have a roommate. While few people want to have one or two roommates, NOVA does provide listings to their teachers for single-occupancy apartments and you are free to browse through them and apply to switch your accommodation.

For me, I only stayed in my NOVA apartment (I had two roommates) for about 6 weeks before I moved out and found my own place. This apartment was reasonably clean and was literally a 1 minute walk away from the station. However, I wanted to live on my own. Yes, key money is generally a fact of life with searching for a new place to live in Japan, but there are several rental agencies and landlords that offer low or no key money accommodation, such as the place I moved to in my second month here. You can find out about these places by word of mouth or by checking out some local publications, such as the Kansai Flea Market. As for me, I stayed in my non-NOVA apartment for almost two years. If I had been working for AEON during this time, I would have wasted more than 800,000 yen because of paying double rent.

So in this regard, NOVA's housing policy was much better for me because the policy was only effective and applicable for as long as I was living in NOVA's accommodation. AEON's housing policy is effective and applicable for as long as you are an AEON employee. Big difference.

As for why people sign up for NOVA in the first place, one main reason is that there simply aren't so many options for coming to Japan in the first place. You have maybe the Big 4 and JET. (99% of people are not going to land a plum gig at a private university from abroad.) So if one of those schools/programs rejects you, you don't have too many choices left. NOVA's the biggest one, so it needs the most teachers. NOVA could also guarantee my placement in Osaka (if I chose to work at the MM Center, which I did). And also, at least until recently, NOVA offered the highest salary of the major eikaiwas. I was making over 290,000 gross each month before I quit. These reasons were all good enough for me to sign on with NOVA and keep me there for almost two years.

I consider myself to be a competent, qualified, and accomplished teacher. I had some experience before coming to Japan, but NOVA augmented this experience for me. I signed up for lots of additional training (kids, testing, grammar courses, etc.), which helped give me more new skills. Once NOVA outlived its usefulness, I moved on and traded up. Now I have a much better gig at a technical college. No sense in me staying at NOVA longer than I need to and running in place, right?

Obviously, NOVA has its problems. And there was a lot of crap that went on there that made me want to pull my hair out at times. Some of it was from NOVA's policies, some of it was from the trainers and admin, some of it was from immature coworkers, some of it was from my students, and some of it was from the very nature of eikaiwa in general. But NOVA was a good stepping stone for me that helped me get my current job, as it allows young teachers and aspirants to develop and hone their skills in a generally risk-free environment. Obviously, you have the fratboy crowd there too, but I'm only addressing myself in this particular post.

I'm certainly not a NOVA apologist by any means. However, simply saying NOVA is evil and worthless and branding all its employees and teachers as being incompetent, desperate, or slackers isn't helpful, nor is it entirely true. It's also a bit offensive. But you're entitled to your opinion.

[stillnosheep]

[SEndrigo]

Hey Zzonkmiles,

Of course, not EVERY Nova teacher is a slacker.... and you are definitely not one of the people I mentioned in my previous posts. My comments weren't meant for you, but for the hordes of fratboys and Nova apologists (and there are quite a few here in Japan).

I am sure even Nova has some good teachers in its ranks...though, if they are smart, like you, they'll find something better and move on.