Job Discussion Forums

[pbatz]

Like i mentioned, i am thinking of going with my boyfriend to teach in japan through nova and any feedback, advice, etc would be greatly appreciated

[codedals]

The NOVA website is has plenty of information--check out the FAQ section. Also, do a quick search here and you will find more than enough information about the company.

[Gypsy Rose Kim]

It is the kind of job where you get out of it as much as you put in. Remember that if you take a job with them. It's easy to coast there and have nothing to show for it. It's also not difficult to use NOVA as a stepping stone to just about anything else you want to do with your life. Really, anything. But you have to have a plan and you have to work hard and be sharp.

[JonnyB61]

Pbatz
If I were you I'd get on that search button and get on it quickly before Canuck get's hold of you.

[slowdive606]

I think it's a little sad when people fret about other people not using a search engine. As for NOVA, the job can be fun if you have the right attitude, and you can learn more about yourself and others. In the year I have worked for them, I have only met one person who had serious issues with working there, but I also think she had issues with life itself in the first place. I don't know anybody who has long term ambitions with NOVA, including myself, as it is true that there are better jobs out there. I would recommend that you do a search on NOVA and gain as much information as you can, although I don't care that you haven't done so already. And it's also worth remembering that people who are happy with their jobs are unlikely to spend the time writing about it on the internet, so you may find a lot of negativity written about NOVA, but don't look to deeply into it, it's about your attitude, not others. I was worried about NOVA before coming to Japan, but I have had very few problems, although I do think that some managers are a little underhanded. NOVA gives you a great opportunity to come to Japan, so use it as a gateway to better things.

[pbatz]

thank you for your replies.
of course, i have done plenty of searching on the internet about nova and have found out tons of stuff already. i simply wanted to ask the question myself and see what people had to say, thats all. Honestly, the bad things i hear about it don't faze me at all.because it seems people complain about the beaurocracy (bad spelling) and how one is just a number, complaining how the job is mindliess, etc. it is what one makes of it and what you want out of it.
anyway, like i said, what i was a little concerned about was the couples accomodations. i mean, i wanted to get an apartment just me and my boyfriend, which seems like it is possible, so thats good.

[jademonkey]

I worked at Nova for four years. I'm still sane. It's not that bad, and for an entry level "graduate" job, it's fine. They set you up, pay you well for what you do (in that it's unskilled labour) and allow you to get your feet before finding a better job if you stay long term, or just stay a year or two and don't get *too* bitter.

[Hongkonghippo]

NOVA is the bottom of the barrel and will make every other real job you get seem a million times better.

A spade is a spade.

[Gypsy Rose Kim]

NOVA seems to have a good reputation with people who do the hiring for other places. I applied to only two places in Japan because I was pretty picky. Both of them told me they look very favorable on people who were at NOVA for more than one contract and received good evals.

Do with that what you will.

[Gypsy Rose Kim]

NOVA seems to have a good reputation with people who do the hiring for other places. I applied to only two places in Japan because I was pretty picky. Both of them told me they look very favorably on people who were at NOVA for more than one contract and received good evals.

Do with that what you will.

[sethness]

I think what Gypsy Rose said has to be run through a little interpretation:

Nova is famous as a bottom-of-the-barrrel employer, offering 40-hour-a-week contact contracts compared to 25 hours for almost every other employer. Consequently, Nova usually recruits directly from overseas, hoping to get employees who don't yet know that the deal's not great.

Once arriving here, the NOVA teachers live with other NOVA teachers, paying rent to NOVA. Friendships with students -- indeed, any social contact with them outside school-- is forbidden. So you end up with very lonely people who don't speak Japanese, being forbidden from using students as a bridge to the community.

Anomy, depression, frustration... pretty commonplace amongst new NOVA recruits. In fact, NOVA teachers quit (on average) about 6 months into their contracts. Many go home; many simply find a better employer and transfer to another English school.

Hence, what Gypsy Rose says is probably true: recruiters would respect someone who's been able to overcome the NOVA anomy problem and hang on to a NOVA contract until its completion. It's a sign of sticktoitiveness, not necessarily a sign of wisdom or smarts.

Also, keep in mind that NOVA has been in the news recently for refusing to reimburse students who want to quit. The government went as far as considering shutting Nova down-- pretty extreme for Japan. Nova is, clearly, more of a money-mill than a decent place to learn or teach English.

My favorite example concerning Nova teachers is this: I know one NOVA teacher who didn't know what a verb is. Her degree had nothing to do with languages. I also know a man who was turned down by Nova-- he had a degree in early childhood education, and quickly became the director of studies at a quite-famous English school after coming here.

Frankly, if i were you, I'd use Nova to get a visa for working here-- but dump them for a better employer after you arrive.

[Gypsy Rose Kim]

Thanks so much for clarifying what I wanted to say.

Except that wasn't what I meant at all.

[ironopolis]

[stillnosheep]

Ooops. Not quite true.

The police investigation into Nova is not simply into their practice of not re-embursing students who wish to quit, nor even of their practice of not reimbursing full-rate fees to students who have already 'enjoyed' cut-rate lessons (aka buying a six-pack, drinking one and wanting 83% of yr money back) but of Nova hard-selling expensive up-front payments from customers, then promptly closing the branch and refusing to re-imburse for lessons not given (aka fraud).

Nova's stock price (and capitalisation) has dropped 60% in the last year. Make of that what you will.

They are notorious as the worst of the big 4 eikaiwa (which is saying something in itself!) in terms of how they treat their teachers. Horror stories abound starting with their charming practice of renting rooms in shared apartments to teachers at rents up to 80% higher more than the company pays for the rooms as opposed to some other eikaiwa who will subsidise rents in high rent areas.

[TwinCentre]