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brenna88
Joined: 22 Nov 2006
Posts: 2
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 Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2006 4:55 am Post subject: Help!!! |
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Hi Everyone!!!
I am a newbie here and I have a few questions. It seems like there are a lot of people with bad experiences with companies such as interac. I have an interview with them and Nova next month. Which one would be best? Also, would it be a better idea to look for a job myself? There seem to be plenty of posting on this and other websites. The only problem is that this kind of makes me nervous because I don't really know a whole lot about the jobs. Hopefully someone out there can help me......
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JimDunlop2
Joined: 31 Jan 2003
Posts: 2286
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2006 5:08 am Post subject: |
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You are asking about two companies who usually offer very different kinds of positions.
NOVA is, generally speaking, a private English school -- a place where people of all ages go to try and learn English. They tend not to be very good to their employees, even though there have been enough teachers who have had a faily good experience with them. They are a large chain -- a McSchool.
Interac, on the other hand, concentrates on providing teachers that will work in the Japanese public school system. They are essentially a temp agency for teachers, and are the scum of the earth. Interac can DIAF....
Anyway, read through the stickies, and do a little bit of lurking on the forum... A LOT has been said about these companies and there's much to be gleaned from some of the old threads. Use the Search function to find answers to specific questions. There's a lot more to working (teaching) in Japan than just NOVA and Interac. They are just two among MANY places to work for. |
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Apsara
Joined: 20 Sep 2005
Posts: 2142
Location: Tokyo, Japan
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| Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2006 6:30 am Post subject: |
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What people don't often seem to focus on with answers to the "which employer shall I go with?" questions is the issue of what kind of students you will have.
If you go with Interac for example, you will be teaching in the Japanese school system, with children of various ages.
Nova does have kids classes, but the majority of your students would be adults.
I don't know about other people, but this was a major issue for me- I have never wanted to be a school teacher, and the idea of standing in front of a classroom of teenagers scares the living daylights out of me. I did it for one day when I was invited as a guest to a school event and I hope never to repeat the expereince! Kudos to those of you who do it every day and enjoy it  |
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Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
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| Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2006 1:10 pm Post subject: |
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| I don't really know a whole lot about the jobs. |
Innocent question, brenna. Have you read the FAQs here yet? |
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Venti
Joined: 19 Oct 2006
Posts: 171
Location: Kanto, Japan
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| Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2006 3:50 pm Post subject: Re: Help!!! |
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| brenna88 wrote: |
Hi Everyone!!!
I am a newbie here and I have a few questions. It seems like there are a lot of people with bad experiences with companies such as interac. I have an interview with them and Nova next month. Which one would be best? Also, would it be a better idea to look for a job myself? There seem to be plenty of posting on this and other websites. The only problem is that this kind of makes me nervous because I don't really know a whole lot about the jobs. Hopefully someone out there can help me......
Thanks |
Referring to the above bolded type, do you mean come to Japan and then look for a job? If so, then know that there are few who post here that would recommend coming without securing a job beforehand. If money is not a concern (meaning you have access to quite a bit of it at the time you leave your home country), then it may be beneficial to you to come and look. But, unless your parents (or some other benefactor(s)) are rich and willing to shell out large amounts of cash to support you, get a job before you come. At the entry level (of ALT and eikaiwa school positions), there isn't a huge difference between jobs. If the ALT thing interests you, apply to JET first and go with a company like Interac only if you can't get into JET.
As for NOVA and Interac, I've worked for both companies and, while I didn't have a bad experience with either, I wouldn't go back to either one unless I had no other way to work and remain in Japan. I found work as an ALT to be much more enjoyable than working in an eikaiwa school and Interac always treated me fairly. They were even generous on several occasions and helped me out with some expenses (no loans - just help) even after I had been with the company for awhile. You're more likely to get stuck in a rural area with Interac and a larger-sized city with NOVA, but you'll most likely be a lot busier working at NOVA.
Anyway, don't come without a job if you can land one back home. |
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