Job Discussion Forums

seamonkey · Joined: 18 Feb 2006 Posts: 29

Hi, im in a tricky situation at the moment. I was offered a job with Nova which I have to accept or decline in the next few days.I have to fill in all the forms for visas, health insurance etc and send them off too.
The thing is, I have an interview with GEOS in 10 days. I think i would prefer to work for GEOS, but i dont want to put all my eggs in one basket and turn down the NOVA job in the hope that i will get hired by GEOS.
Do you think it is a bit cheeky to accept the NOVA job and then in two or three weeks if I get offered a job with GEOS, phone Nova and tell them i dont want to work for them anymore. Has anyone done this?

DarkMagus · Joined: 21 Mar 2006 Posts: 30 Location: Manchester, NH

You could probably accept and then, if you get a better offer, tell Nova you can't go through with it!

That's probably pretty sketchy though.

Hey, by the way! Can you read my question in the thread I created about NOVA background checks/hiring process? Seems like you're a step ahead of me, I'd like to know about your experience with Nova. Thanks !!

seamonkey · Joined: 18 Feb 2006 Posts: 29

I'm in England, so maybe they do it a bit different over here. After my interview i had a letter in the post saying that they want to offer me a job, and i have 7 days to accept or decline the offer. There was also a lot of forms to fill in about visa's , medical insurance etc. This all had to be filled in and sent back to Nova a few days later. There was also a disclosure application form that i had to fill in and send off to some place in Scotland, it costs �13.They should send me a disclosure form that shows my criminal history, which i then have to give to Nova, to prove im not a crook.

PAULH · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 4672 Location: Western Japan

angrysoba · Joined: 20 Jan 2006 Posts: 446 Location: Kansai, Japan

As Paul said NOVA won't be upset for too long if you change your mind while the visa process is going on.

There is, however, some important differences between NOVA and GEOS.

On GEOS' plus side the students you teach are YOUR students, you see them on every week at the same time on the same day. This means that you can get to know them better then your students at NOVA. You can also socialize (in fact you are pretty much forced to socialize with them). If you work for NOVA, especially in the larger schools you don't get to see your students so regularly. You may teach a student one day then have your next lesson with them six months later.

On GEOS' minus side you are far more invloved with sales. During 'book fair' you get put on some league table to show how many books you have sold. You are also hounded to sell new contracts to your students.

Angelfish · Joined: 18 Jan 2006 Posts: 131

Also, with GEOS you'll get your own apartment, whereas with NOVA you'll be sharing with 1 or 2 other people.

Plus, GEOS pay your health insurance for you (not deducted from your salary), I'm not sure about NOVA, but I think your salary is lower to make up for the health insurance payments they make on your behalf.

Sour Grape · Joined: 10 May 2005 Posts: 241

I don't think anyone would think too badly of you if you accepted the NOVA job and then turned it down. if you told Nova immediately, you would probably be messing them around much less than a lot of people do.

Thirteen quid is a small outlay if it improved the quality of your time in Japan. That said, I haven't heard anything better about Geos than I have about Nova, but I've never worked for either.

Good luck at the interview.