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PAULH
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Posts: 4672
Location: Western Japan
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 Posted: Sat May 07, 2005 1:02 pm Post subject: |
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| Good as gold ZZonk. Keep'em coming. |
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Rorschach
Joined: 25 Mar 2004
Posts: 130
Location: Osaka
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| Posted: Sat May 07, 2005 3:12 pm Post subject: |
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| Zzonkmiles wrote: |
I do not know why NOVA started offering these reduced lesson contracts, but I would imagine it has to do with the fact that NOVA is not as profitable as it once was. Keep in mind that your overall salary will decrease if you take one of the reduced lesson shifts because you'll be teaching fewer lessons each month, and as a NOVA employee, you are paid by how many lessons you actually teach. Also, the 39-lesson a week contract seems suspect, as 40 is a nice round number. I do not know if NOVA is trying to get out of having to provide some special benefit associated with the number of working hours you have each week, but this is something future instructors may wish to check up on their own. |
It has to do with Shakai Hoken. The Japanese government has finally cottoned on to the fact that Nova has been dodging their commitments as a Japanese company by not paying into the scheme. By reducing an instructors schedule but one lesson a week it brings them under the 25 hour threshold (above this and a teacher is classified as being full time). Currently a regular instructor teachers 26 hours a day (breaks between lessons and lunch are not factored in), that's enough for the government to crack down. My theory is that Nova would be loathe to pay into the scheme, whatever an instructor pays Nova has to match that payment. So if an instructor pays 30k month Nova has to match that and they never get it back. At least an instructor can reclaim something like 80% of how much they contributed in total when they leave the country.
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| So things have gotten a bit more strict on the teaching floors and it's a lot harder for you to escape the bureaucratic element of NOVA because you can literally see these floor suprevisors eyeing the floor during the lessons just waiting for someone to break the rules. |
I think this has been a change for the better. It means I no longer have to take my concerns into LS on the 15th floor. On the downside, the supervisor on my floor is rarely at his post because he does so many overnight shifts.
Just on the kids lessons, I can see how they will get monotonous really fast. There are some good games but there are all computer-based and there is little to encourage a kid who has played said games a 100 times before (it will be like this in a few months). Nova has the right idea about mixing up the topics month to month but they should encourage new kids teachers to be move creative. The most important part of teaching a kids lesson is the whiteboard, it allows for some measure of creativity.
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| Contract renewal bonuses have also gotten a lot smaller. |
I was surprised recently to learn that some older instructors have received 10000 and 7500yen raises. It surprised me because Nova capped last year's raises for a good instructor at 5000yen (unless you were going for a green tag). One guy was saying that it may have something to do with the high attrition rate amongst older instructors - too many of us are leaving at the same time leaving Nova in a hole. Smells like Nova is trying to hold onto some of us for a while longer while they rush younger instructors through training.
I agree with your final appraisal of the whole Multi-Media Centre experiment. Work has been tense recently because so many people are dissatisfied with the conditions. I guess I'm one of those people. The work itself is great, very easy if a little boring. However, Nova seems to treat its instructors with more than a little contempt. Getting down to it though, I won't complain - I signed on the dotted line and I was expecting it. I've been there 21 months now and I'll be looking for further employment in the very near future as well. Good to hear you got a decent job Zonk. |
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Mark
Joined: 23 Jan 2003
Posts: 500
Location: Tokyo, Japan
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| Posted: Sun May 08, 2005 7:29 am Post subject: |
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Thanks for the extensive info about the MM Centre, Zzonk. I also think this should become a sticky as it would be invaluable for someone considering working there. It'd actually be quite nice if we had stickies for all the major employment options. There aren't that many of them, and it would be really helpful for newbies.
Just out of curiosity, how'd you land your semnon gakko gig? Networking? Advertisement? I'm in my second year of eikaiwa and I'm looking for a way out other than accepting a dispatch ALT position, so I'm curious about your switch. |
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The Barbarian
Joined: 03 May 2005
Posts: 21
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| Posted: Sun May 08, 2005 5:26 pm Post subject: |
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| To spare us any more replies of that length - just ignore NOVA, GEOS and AEON and get your qualified arse to Malaysia. Interestingly, there are very few jobs advertised in Malaysia, the Phillipines and other user friendly places....so why bother with Japan unless you have issues? |
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Zzonkmiles
Joined: 05 Apr 2003
Posts: 309
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| Posted: Mon May 09, 2005 12:03 am Post subject: |
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| Mark wrote: |
| Just out of curiosity, how'd you land your semnon gakko gig? Networking? Advertisement? I'm in my second year of eikaiwa and I'm looking for a way out other than accepting a dispatch ALT position, so I'm curious about your switch. |
Actually, I was very lucky. I found this particular job on a popular website called Ohayo Sensei (http://www.ohayosensei.com). I had some free time one afternoon and just decided to visit that site and check out the ads there. Most of the ads are for the Kanto area (Tokyo, Chiba, Kanagawa, Yokohama, Saitama, etc.) instead of Kansai. But I did find an ad advertising vacancies at senmon gakkos in Osaka and Hyogo.
Because so many people know about this website, I figured there would be a billion other people who saw the job ad too. But I got my cover letter and resume together and promptly sent them to the address provided. The worst that could happen was that they would ignore me just like 95% of the other schools who posted ads that I responded to.
Anyway, about 10 days after submitting my resume and cover letter, I received an e-mail from the school inviting me for an interview, which was conducted entirely in English. The interview consisted of traditional teaching philosophy questions (how to deal with unmotivated students, what is my role as a teacher, etc.) and general work/teaching experience questions (have I taught large groups of students before, why did I come to Japan, what kind of teaching experience do I already have, etc.). They also required me to give them a 15-minute teaching demonstration which they informed me about in their initial e-mail. There were three grammar points I could choose from, so I chose the one that was most similar to one of my bread and butter lessons at NOVA.
At the end of the interview, I voluntarily provided original graduate and undergraduate transcripts as well as my original diploma and passport/visa so they could make copies of them. They did not ask for these documents specifically, but I brought them anyway for two reasons: 1) It would show that my academic and immigration qualifications were indeed legit (i.e., I have a real bachelor's and master's degree that they could indeed see was real, as opposed to one they had to "take my word for," thus augmenting my credibility), and 2) It would show that I was trying to make their lives a bit easier because they wouldn't have to contact me again to furnish this extra information (which simply further distinguished me from other applicants).
I thought the interview went well, especially since the director and assistant director I met with were smiling and laughing during the teaching demonstration and were nodding their heads in approval when I responded to their questions about my teaching style and philosophy.
They contacted me about 10 days after the interview to inform me that they wanted to recommend to the whole senmon gakko that I should be hired. But first, I had to complete a second interview. This second interview was more of a compatibility test in which I would meet the vice president of the senmon gakko and some of the other faculty there. I also met the incumbent teacher who I'd be replacing. At this interview, I made sure I asked the incumbent teacher intelligent questions and I took several notes, which the interviewer noticed. Also, because Japanese ability is required for this position (seeing that there's only one English teacher at the school), I was very careful to use polite Japanese with the vice president (even if my keigo was raggedy) and was polite to the regular office ladies and other staffers I met.
I was then allowed to talk with the incumbent teacher one-on-one as he gave me a brief tour of the school. It seemed like a very good fit and I could tell that this school was not trying to hide anything since they allowed me to do this. Actually it seemed like a dream come true, seeing that this school was everything NOVA wasn't. But I kept my excitement to myself and was simply pleasant. The interviewer then met with the incumbent teacher for about 10 minutes at the end of him guiding me around and wanted to make sure that he was indeed leaving his position.
After their little conference, the vice president showed me an information booklet about the senmon gakko. I asked him if I could keep the booklet, which caught him by surprise (pleasantly), probably because the entire booklet was written in Japanese. But I thought that would make a good final impression.
As I was riding the train back to the main school, the interviewer asked me what I thought about the school, the position, and the conditions. She said everyone seemed happy to meet me and said they wouldn't mind working with me. And that's when she offered the position.
When we got back to Osaka (the school is in Hyogo), she (the interviewer) was telling me about the other applicants. She said she had received more than 100 resumes, which didn't surprise me. But I felt so lucky because with such a large applicant pool, there's always that risk of someone being just a little bit more qualified than you.
So that's my story. My advice to anyone considering changing jobs or handing an interview is as follows:
1. Make sure your cover letter is personal and addresses a specific person. Stay away from those "To Whom It May Concern" openings. If no contact person is listed, at least list the department name.
2. Make sure your resume is factual, easy enough for a non-native English speaker to read, and relevant. If your work experience is not related to English teaching, writing, supervisory work, etc., leave it out of the resume.
3. Do not ask about the salary and vacation time off the bat. Asking about it too soon is a good way to disqualify yourself, as it makes it sound like you care more about the benefits of the job than the job itself.
4. Dress conservatively for the interview. For men, if you are interviewing with a Japanese company or a Japanese school, a black suit with a white shirt and colorful (but conservative) tie is a good way to go.
5. Do a dry run to the interview site before the day of the interview. Even if you think you know where it is, you have to factor in changing trains and things like that. DO NOT be late for the interview. And if the interview says 1400, that means it starts at 1400, so you're expected to be there before that.
6. Learning Japanese may be difficult, but being functional in the local language will open up a lot of possibilities for you. It will also distinguish you from the majority of other English teachers here. In my case, Japanese ability is required for this position. But you should not just learn Japanese for a job, it will help your quality of life in Japan in general.
Good luck. |
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joncharles
Joined: 09 Apr 2004
Posts: 132
Location: Beijing
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| Posted: Mon May 09, 2005 1:21 am Post subject: |
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[quote="PAULH"][quote="Wolf"][quote]
[quote]July 22nd, 2003
This year, in Tokai alone, three NOVA teachers have come to us for help in the face of the threatened non-renewal of their contracts. Do you like the way NOVA uses its contract renewal evaluation system to get rid of teachers without a valid reason? Can you be sure a manager won't decide one day to bring up bogus complaints about YOU to ensure you aren't renewed?quote]
This is what happened to me. After my eveluation I was scheduled to have the meeting with my AT the following week. It was cancelled and each week for the next two months I would ask about it and got silence from the AT. Thirty days out from the end of my contract I got called to the Yokohama Honko branch and was told I had a bad evaluation and they were not extending a new contract.
Later, I sat down and had a few drinks at a local place when the AT came in. He was already a bit plastered and he sat down at my table and apologized to me. He had given me a good eval, but the AAM tore it up and rewrote it. Then my AT was told not to say anything to me until the Tokyo Office could make a decision. Maybe it was a coincidence, but I found out later that three other teachers over 40 in my area were also not given contract extentions. I also had five days where I got sick (sinus infection) and maybe this had something to do with it. There is a lot more to this, and I called the union about it. However, since I was not a member I was told there wasn't much they could do. Now I am very happy I am actually doing some real teaching although it is still an eikaiwa. |
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foster
Joined: 07 Feb 2003
Posts: 485
Location: Honkers, SARS
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| Posted: Mon May 09, 2005 3:52 am Post subject: |
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WOW Zzonk! Well done.
(A) Congrats on the new job. Yeah you!
(B) Good work on the MM updates. I left there 2 years ago on the old contract. Some days, I would work 8 lessons, others....2 or 3. I think this one sounds more fair. I also heard from one of the greenie tags who I am friends with that the TRAINERS have been worked to death as well. Poor Melissa. She is ready to SNAP!
(C) I thank you for *trying* to be fair and non-judgmental about Nova. Your posts have been good and informative. Nova is a good victim for pot shots (some deserved, some not).
Gambatte! |
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Jizzo T. Clown
Joined: 28 Apr 2005
Posts: 668
Location: performing in a classroom near you!
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| Posted: Tue May 10, 2005 12:48 am Post subject: |
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I worked at MM back in 2003 and I must say that as far as the working atmosphere went, I was miserable. Many (if not most) of the people working there were not in Japan to teach, and they made things harder for the rest of us by calling in sick 1-3 days per week. The work was fantastic, but the people made the job hell. ANYWAY...you can check out this group for all of the negative stuff you want to hear about NOVA.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thetruthaboutnova/
I just finished working for EF China, notorious for the amount of hours their teachers work, and it was a much more professional environment. Yeah, we worked our arses off, but I grew as a teacher by five-fold. |
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Rorschach
Joined: 25 Mar 2004
Posts: 130
Location: Osaka
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| Posted: Sun Oct 29, 2006 6:51 am Post subject: |
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| *Bump for nachosamurai. |
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furiousmilksheikali
Joined: 31 Jul 2006
Posts: 1660
Location: In a coffee shop, splitting a 30,000 yen tab with Sekiguchi.
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| Posted: Mon Dec 18, 2006 7:54 am Post subject: |
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| Questions about the MM centre seem to come up a lot. |
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marinboy
Joined: 23 Dec 2006
Posts: 10
Location: osaka
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| Posted: Tue Dec 26, 2006 8:19 pm Post subject: Is it possible to move from the MM to a 'normal' branch? |
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I'm thinking of working for Nova in the Multimedia Centre - I was wondering if I don't enjoy the MM centre could I transfer to one of the branches?
Or would working in the MM centre make it more difficult getting a job for an alternative company/school? |
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Miyazaki
Joined: 12 Jul 2005
Posts: 635
Location: My Father's Yacht
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| Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2006 8:44 pm Post subject: |
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This is a pretty good thread.
How's Zzonkmiles doing these days?
Still at the senmon gakko? |
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Zzonkmiles
Joined: 05 Apr 2003
Posts: 309
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| Posted: Sun Dec 31, 2006 8:20 am Post subject: |
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| Miyazaki wrote: |
This is a pretty good thread.
How's Zzonkmiles doing these days?
Still at the senmon gakko? |
Yes, I'm still in Japan and still working at the same senmongakko. However, I will not be renewing my contract when it expires in March, as I will be leaving Japan. I'm currently in my fourth year here and I have had a wonderful time. But now there is not much left for me to accomplish in Japan, so it's time for me to move on with my life and take the next step. I have no regrets about coming to Japan at all, and I will surely be back, seeing that my wife is Japanese. However, it is not my desire to be a career English teacher, even if it's at a university or senmongakko. I have other aspirations that I can only pursue back in the United States. So it's time to undertake these new challenges. (I could pursue some of these options in Tokyo, but I'm not interested in moving there.)
It's amazing what a few years of perspective and experience in Japan will do for you. I don't consider myself to be a Japan veteran or an old-timer by any means. But I do think I have been here long enough to have a decent understanding of life here and how to survive. I want to leave Japan on a high note, so I'm leaving now, rather than later when it's "too late" and I've become jaded or restless. I can already sense how some things that I used to find refreshing, cute, or interesting are now becoming mundane, annoying, or downright irritating. So even though I'm still quite happy with my life in Japan now and the genuine Japanese friends I've made, I know it's time to leave. Maybe I'll start another thread about this later. |
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rai
Joined: 19 Jun 2005
Posts: 119
Location: Osaka
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| Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 10:17 am Post subject: |
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Very cool posts, OP! I was at Nova about six years ago, when they were just starting the MM stuff. We all thought it was completely absurd, and assumed it would fail miserably. Wow, we were REALLY wrong!
I was always curious about what it would be like to work in that kind of environment, but not curious enough to try it, so thanks man! |
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furiousmilksheikali
Joined: 31 Jul 2006
Posts: 1660
Location: In a coffee shop, splitting a 30,000 yen tab with Sekiguchi.
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| Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 6:29 pm Post subject: |
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| rai wrote: |
Very cool posts, OP! I was at Nova about six years ago, when they were just starting the MM stuff. We all thought it was completely absurd, and assumed it would fail miserably. Wow, we were REALLY wrong!
I was always curious about what it would be like to work in that kind of environment, but not curious enough to try it, so thanks man! |
Zzonk has given us a great post on the MM centre and I think that it is a thread worthy of sticky-status (this is often said but perhaps true in this case).
As for the MM centre being a failure I have heard this a number of times. Isn't it true that the MM centre almost bankrupted NOVA and they had to be bailed out by their parent company? I don't have any sources for this and if this was Wikipedia it would say "citation needed" here. Does anyone have one? |
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