Job Discussion Forums

[april]

Here�s the story � I worked for Nova for 18 months and returned to my home country where I have been for the past year. Because I am going back to Japan to live early next year, I made a phone call to Nova asking what is the procedure if I want to return to work for Nova again. They took my details and said they would contact Tokyo office to check my work record and get back to me in a few weeks.

A couple of months past and I didn�t hear from them. I didn�t follow-up because I gained employment with another company since then. Surprise - one day I received a 3-line letter from Nova saying that after reviewing my work history they are unable to offer me further employment. This bewildered me because I received glowing appraisals and references from them and no smudges against my name, or so I thought.

I rang my local Nova office, where the letter was generated, for an explanation. I was told �Oh we don�t know why. Tokyo just tell us �no� without any explanation, so I can�t help you.� Unsatisfied, I asked �Hypothetically, what reason would someone receive this letter?� and I was given a few explanations, none of which apply to me: didn�t finish the one-year contract (I did), late for work (I never was), too many sick days (I had 3 in 18 months), unsatisfactory work performance (I received mostly excellent in my appraisals), student complaints (I had none, in fact, students requested me). And no, I wasn�t angry, just surprised and very curious to know what I had done wrong. It was a big slap on the face because at times in forums like this I had actually defended Nova saying they aren�t that bad.

Not gaining any answers there, I rang Nova in Tokyo. They said they would get back to me. They never did. In the meantime, I remembered �an incident� I had with someone from foreign personnel in the last few days I was in Japan. He rang me and accused me of owing more rent, which I denied and argued back. I know it was bad of me, but I did use a few choice swear words. The phone call lasted less than a minute and nothing more came of it because I paid the extra rent.

This is the only reason I can think of why they would reject me. So I sent Tokyo Nova an e-mail asking straight-out if this is the reason why they refuse to reconsider me for re-employment, and if so, please do the decent thing and allow me the chance to defend myself rather than having a personal conflict with one person go against me.

Do I really need to say that I haven�t heard back from them?? Well no matter because things have worked out for the best for me anyway, although I am still very curious. I wonder if this is a Japanese �thing� or only Nova operates this way. If it is the reason why they won't re-hire me, I can�t imagine in my home country that having an argument with someone would mean you can�t work there again.

If people can gain anything from my story, probably it is this - don�t piss off people who have access to your personnel file!!!

[foster]

April;

I am not surprised...not at all. I know some people who were re-hired(mostly AT's) and they had to jump through hoops.

Yes, your little altercation with a foreign personal guy may have set it off. It is amazing what the office staff gets away with and what the lowley teaching staff do not. I to was reprimanded because I voiced an opinion to one of the local staff members. I would bet that would seal my fate of not returning to Nova, should I become a Sado-Masochist and wish to return to H-E- double Hockey Sticks.

I hope your new employment is better and treats you the way you deserve to be treated. I have yet to receive my letter of service/reference from Nova and I left 5 months ago. Fack em I say.

If you really want to know, contact them once you get to Japan. Maybe visit the office face to face. Who knows?

Good luck!

[Gordon]

I think they did you a favour and not return your phone call or message. This way you are working for someone else. Personally, I love working somewhere new, better to learn new things and techniques.

Glad you're coming back.

[Wolf]

Don't let it bother you. It's not like NOVA's opinion of you has anything to do with your actual ability to teach, your professionalism, or reality in general.

[canuck]

Nova doesn't wish to hire teachers with experience, let alone hire people back. I had a friend that finished 3 years with Nova, never was late, never took any sick days, just let his contract expire with notice. He came back to Japan, and they wouldn't give him a job again. They told him that they didn't want to discuss the reasons behind it.

Nova wants teachers to come from abroad, borrow money and live in their appartments. They get a cut on the flights, the cell phones, the rent etc.

Nova is

[april]

Thanks for the feedback guys. After this incident I am relieved I am not back working with them! Still, their behaviour is more than disconcerting.

[ScottishMike]

Also Nova aren`t hiring until March at the earliest. They`ve overhired, and their pathetic business practices are catching up with them.

One thing April, glowing references? The only references I`ve EVER seen from NOVA amounted to "yeah, (s)he worked here from xx to xx, and?"

[Mosley]

april, kiddo... NOVA is the lowest of the low... the fact that you got particular hostility from NOVA's head "office" proves that you were a good teacher & a dedicated employee. Carry on, to hell w/those *beeps*...,

[Vince]

As the other posters have said, it isn't worth worrying about. NOVA is a mill that makes its money by mistreating as many people as they can. They generally don't respect their teachers and, despite their rhetoric about professionalism, prefer to see them as flunkies. The problem is theirs, not yours. They're not worth looking back on.

[april]

Thanks guys. I'm just glad that I wasn't pinning all my hopes of returning back with Nova; contacted them only as a fall-back, which I didn't need, thank goodness!

Scottish Mike - I was just as surprised as anyone when I got my reference letter from Nova. After I finished my last day at work I spent 2 weeks holidaying around Japan and the letter was waiting for me when I arrived back in my home country. It was 3 decent size paragraphs long, the first explaining my position and dates I worked; the second outlined my primary duties; the third paragraph gave 'extra' details, for example "April's participation in these programs was valued and client response indicates classes were dynamic and challenging." So even if it was a copy and paste standard reference letter dished out to the thousands of ex-teachers, it is still a great piece of paper to have in my CV...better than that crappy 3 line "thanks but no thanks and we're not gonna tell you why" response I got from them recently!! And that also leads me to believe that it was the argument I had with that guy which went against me. The letter was generated before the argument occured, so it has to be it.

[ruggedtoast]

I think if you swear at people in your personnel office that will pretty much guarantee they wont want to hire you again - regardless of what your work performance was like.

If you worked for a small company and you swore at your boss you wouldnt expect him to hire you again would you? Well, its the same.

[Mosley]

You're obviously someone who's a)in NOVA "management"(LOL) or b) never been abused(i.e. employed) by NOVA.

[TokyoLiz]

As far as I know, Japanese companies don't hire back former employees. I asked my students many times at the Vancouver international English schools where I worked, `So, when you go home, I gues you'll go back to your old job, eh?` to which they always replied no.

The students told me that it is very unusual for a company to take a former employee back. Leaving the firm is like leaving home - you don't go back because you're breaking the senior/junior relationships with people.

Has anybody else heard of this?

[Glenski]

[Gordon]

My university has a policy of never re-hiring past employees, foreigner or Japanese. This has nothing to do with contracts as competent teachers are generally allowed to stay as long as they want.