Job Discussion Forums

[nachosamurai]

Just hoping to make some contacts with other MM employees so that I can have some "insider knowledge" as it were, and hopefully get a more accurate view of what's in store for me.

(And I am definately going, even if you guys tell me its actually a slave labor scam, so don't worry that you'll be contributing to me ducking a contract or something. Plane ticket is paid for and I am psyched to have an adventure living and working in another country and culture... albeit the "working" part sounds to be right boring... not quite so adventurous, that part.)

Hopefully some MM folks post here regularly? Look forward to meeting some future friends

[Inflames]

Enjoy MM. The MM center is actually pretty good and most of the green tags are decent. The trainers are actually pretty good too. Just hope that you get similar shifts on the same floor as some of the people you trained with (or that started at the same time). I think it's better than a branch because you have kids training after you're off probation (branch is right away).

btw there's a pretty big post on the MM Center that's still fairly up-to-date here somewhere. NOVA's not that bad, you'll just be bored of it by like the third day after OJT. You'll almost certainly have consecutive days off (definitely not involving a saturday or Sunday) and you'll likely have a half day either before or after your days off (so most people that have Tuesday/Wednesday off will have a half day on Thursday). And most students are decent (but watch out for nonprogressives and habitual complainers, although if someone has officially been marked as a nonprogressive you can have them removed from your schedule if you're on probation). Most students are intermediates. But don't expect to have free classes often (only really when a M2M no-shows but you have to wait the entire time. Group lessons almost never no-show). The MM staff will fill lessons very quickly.

[24601]

Can't add much to above, except if you work nights your days off likely will NOT be together until at least you're off probation.

Love it. Piss easy, making stupid amounts of money, all the overtime one could want and more. My trainers have been awesome, very "real" and no problems at all.

On the other hand I work nights and I've been told days is an entirely different and more stuffy culture.

[Rorschach]

MM isn't that bad, from what I've heard its a lot better than branch in terms of workng conditions. There is a lot of grumbling around the floor but it amounts to little more than people having to work 8 lessons a day. I've worked there for a long time now and feel I can work there at least another 2 years. I recommend the day shift once you get the chance to change your shift - you lose a bit of money in terms of allowance but the early shift allows for a better quality of life (finishing at 3pm/5:40pm is a damn sight better than finishing at 10:40pm/7:20am).

[nachosamurai]

On the abbreviation.. What's M2M? I'm unfamiliar with that.

If anyone still has that MM center post, I'd really appreciate a link... I tried doing a few searches before I even made this post but didn't find anything that discussed it in much depth or detail.

Much thanks for the responses, sounds like a really good deal

[Inflames]

M2M is man-to-man. Basically the student buys all the seats in the lesson. For beginner lessons they suck because the student always finishes the material in like 10 minutes and you can't do a roleplay or have a conversation with them to kill time. They can also show up at any point in the lesson (only 17 minutes for a group lesson).

If you work a night shift you won't have consecutive days off (one will be Wednesday night/Thursday morning). As for shifts, it depends as to what you want to do. I've got an evening shift and I know a lot of people (basically 7:30 starts) that would love an evening shift - you can actually go out at night and do stuff in the afternoon before work. Days are fine as green tags don't bother you unless there's a problem. Some people complain about green tags, but that's frequently because they came into work looking like crap (haven't shaved in like 2 days and could barely tie their tie) and got told to look better next time.

Here's the post.
http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/job/viewtopic.php?t=6421&highlight=nova+multimedia

[yamanote senbei]

Working at Nova isn't that different than working in a factory, Nacho, except that you have to shave and wear a tie at Nova. Nova MM is even more like a factory. If you want to have closer to a normal life, I'd suggest getting out of MM and into a branch.

Have you read this?

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/hard-lessons-in-broken-english/2006/03/14/1142098460885.html?page=fullpage

[Rorschach]

I wouldn't bother reading the above article nacho. It does point out what's bad with Nova but it is largely a beat-up article. If you keep your expectations realistic you should do fine at MM, it's not nearly as bad as some people make out.

[yamanote senbei]

I disagree. It's an important article for all potential Nova employees to read. Everyone who works for Nova gets screwed by them and the only way to deal with it is sue them or quit. Why is Nova running recruitment ads in the Kansai Flea Market? Because more people are quitting than there used to.

In fact, new Nova employees are cheated even before they arrive in Japan. How? The JMA insurance that they are signed up for is fraudulent.

[Rorschach]

[Apsara]

I didn't get screwed working at Nova. By the time I left I was just about climbing the walls with boredom, but at no point did I feel I got screwed.

That SMH article is a very dodgy one in my opinion, and I hope it hasn't put too many people off coming to Japan- sentences like "The whole teaching-English-in-Japan thing is a complete fraud and the experience can be quite bitter" and "Recruits expecting excitement find monotony" are just ridiculous- the WHOLE teaching-English-in-Japan thing is a fraud?! That would come as a surprise to many of us, and as for recruits not getting the excitement they expect, well, it's a job, not a bungy-jump, nobody says it's going to be a thrill.

One of the people who was supposed to have been screwed by Nova, Kara Harris, worked at the same branch as me for about 18 months, and I don't think her original complaint was that serious- she was having to sign her 6th contract (after I left so I don't know the full story, admittedly) and wanted to be made "permanent", something I haven't heard of before, and when they refused her- what was her problem with signing contracts?- she took it to the union. While I was working with her she generally had a problem with being told what to do, and if she was that unhappy with Nova, why was she about to finish her FIFTH contract, meaning five years at Nova?!

OP, you've had enough relatively positive answers to your post to see that that article is very one-sided, Nova is not the hell-on-earth they paint, except for Voice lessons perhaps, which at the MM centre you won't have to do- lucky you!

[SeasonedVet]

The thing about articles like that and comments like that where things are said to the effect that you should NEVER work at that school or you should AVOID that school at all costs, can be a bit much sometimes.
In that article the person recommends China over Japan and if Japan then not the school in question. Whereas I read in another post that somebody was recommending NOT coming to China because of bad experiences that happened.
Before I ever came to Japan I read lots of bad stuff about some of the Eikaiwas here. However I came, I tried, I found out, and I was able to say for my self what was true and false but even that is relative because it depends on lots of stuff like which school it is, which branch it is, which manager you get, etc etc etc.
So everybody WILL NOT have the same experience. So if you and I have completely different experiences how can I then shout out "Never Come Here" or "Never Work For This School"
I would be deterring others from their chance at an experience if I did.
I say point out the bad stuff and point out the good stuff too. And let people know that it depends on many things if you will have good or bad experiences.

[Hoser]

[yamanote senbei]

[markrendl]

I've been working as a teacher here in Japan for 18 years. I've worked at the MMC for six months now. I must say Nova has treated me quite well and professionally, a lot better than some of the other places, in the time I've been with them.

You will not likely have consecutive days off when you start and are on probation, but the company's very good about switching your days off once you're off to whatever one's you like. I had my requested switch approved within a week of submission and was on the schedule of my choice a month after finishing probation.

You can arrange selfswaps with yourself, freely swapping your days off around upto 5 times a month. For example, if you had Monday off, you could chose to work then and take one of your regular work days off instead. Some do this pretty regularly, working one of the regular days off for say 3 weeks, then taking 3 days off the last week of the month to have a five or five and a half day break.

I work the nite shift and love it as I'm kind of a vampire by nature. It's less hectic, the money's better and there are virtually no kid's classes.

I admittedly had my doubts about working at Nova initially. You hear a lot of negative things about them here in Japan and even more on the net. However, I had several friend working at the MMC who gave me very positive feedback on the place, and I was interested in online teaching and working nites, so I decided to give it a go. I've not been disappointed.

There are a lot of Nova bashers around, both on and off-line, take what they say with a good pinch of salt.

Best of luck

markrendl