Job Discussion Forums

[kovac]

Hi Ive recently been offered a position at SHANE and NOVA, now having looked at lots of Websites..Im beginning to gather both schools dont have a good reputation..especially after seeing scumbags in Japan .com...but saying this its an opportunity for me to work and experience Japan..so does anybody have any advice as to which one to choose between ???

I see it as....

Shane -

Pros
6 weeks paid annual leave
Single occupancy accomodation


Cons
9hrs a day with a possible one and half hour travel time
Expensive accommodation & additional housing expenses


Nova �

Pros
Reasonable rent
Shorter work schedule

Cons
Shared occupancy accomodation
Only 2 weeks paid holidays

Would really appreciate anybodys input who has worked for either school !

Many Thanks

[Sunpower]

Go with NOVA.

More NOVA schools located in Japan than Shane. So, if you want to transfer to another area of the city you're in or another Prefecture, it's quite possible. A lot of teachers move around Japan with NOVA.

As well, ifyou want to work a lot of over time on your day off to save for that trip to Thailand or Vietnam, you can do so easily - especially in Tokyo and other large Japanese cities because there are so many NOVA schools.

Nova doesn't require that you travel from school to school. I talked to a Shane teacher last Fall in Tokyo who told me that she had to travel between schools. I don't have any more info than that on Shane. I have read a lot of negative info on both schools.

I would NOT RECOMMEND that you get NOVA ACCOMODATION. Get yourself into your own place wether it's a gaijin house or your own private apsrtment.

So, BRING LOTS of MONEY!!

Remember, any way you slice it, both of these big companies will be similar in how they manage their employees.

Lots of control over their employees, what they say, how they behave, how they dress, how they teach, etc, etc.

GABA, NOVA, SHAN, ECC, GEOS, AEON, etc, etc all run a very tight ship and this can make it a bit stressful at times. I think some of these companies even provide you with a Black Suit that you have to wear at work. I've actually talked to some of these teachers (GABA I think) last Summer in Shinjuku.

I personally prefer smaller schools that are less regimental and allow the teacher to exercise a little more discretion in lesson preperation and how I dress.

But in terms of getting set up in Japan - Take the NOVA job decide if you like it, save some money and then find something better if it doesn't work out.

[EJS2T]

Shane is rubbish, don't go near it unless you plan to use them to get you into the business, and from then on you consider yourself a free agent.

[nakanoalien2]

Kovac - the ideal situation would be if anyone posting has worked for both companies. I worked for Nova and also for a small private company (ICC).
A couple of points:

-I agree with Sunpower - both schools are chains and likely to run a tight ship. Their purpose is business in the form of "edu-tainment". That is a different purpose from say JET. They have to be good at gaijin importing, which means they are probably both good at getting you smoothly into an apt. and bank acct so that you can be at work in just a few days after you are in-country.

-With NOVA, commuting time is usually less than 45 mins

-Nova potentially offers 3 types of accomodation (actually it is not so much an offering as it is whatever is available to Nova). 1) Gaijin houses (you'll get your own room but it is hostel style). 2) Your own apartment - I have known many teachers to have this. 3) Shared apartment.

-Nova has an exploitative holiday and sick system. 10 Paid vacation days. If you want to take even just 1 day off you are supposed to give 30 days advance notice. A couple of national holidays around new year and then you work all other national holidays. No sick days. If you suddenly call in sick you will not be able to substitute a paid vacation day. You simply will not get paid for that day. Nova frowns on sick days and if you call in past a certain deadline you will also receive a salary deduction (so you lose a days pay +).

-The positive thing about Nova is that if you have no experience in Japan, they are very efficient at setting you up. You really need not do much yourself.

[EJS2T]

Thanks for your recent post detailing pros and cons at NOVA. As far as Shane goes, they are nothing like this. Everything from their arrival and orientation procedure, to providing accomodation and bank accounts is halfass. My DOS ran away within 8 weeks of me arriving, leaving myself and about a dozen others in a mess as far as holidays and overtime were concerned. The head office receives one of the infamous "calls from Narita" (the international airport) regularly, more often after the quarterly bonuses have been paid out, but for a DOS to run away is quite indicative of the third-world style of management. I must have been especially unlucky, because a few weeks later, a newly-appointed ADOS did a runner. The nautical metaphor that springs to mind is actually "like rats off a sinking ship", rather than "running a tight ship". The funniest thing is the book of maps they provide teachers with, showing them where every single Shane school is! Why would anyone need to know where 250 schools are? Because you are liable to be called at seven or eight o'clock on your day off and ordered to get to any one of these schools to cover for someone else's "illness". However, the maps are the worst maps in the world, because they are just too old. The reference points used (shops, even roads) have changed or may no longer exist. That's how far behind they are.

[Sunpower]

Last Fall, I talked to a girl who worked for Shane and she didn't seem too impressed with the outfit.

They must be on a big hiring drive right now - lots of posts popping up about Shane recenlty.

[Mike L.]

Alright, I was hooked on the "map" one. I will post.

I have a little Shane story too!

A few weeks ago I had to take a couple of newbies to their Shane branch for some "important" meeting. They had been in the country for 5 days and were totally lost. Kind of dazed like deer in the headlights but in wander mode.

The map they had was crap. It was old, had Sakura Ginko on it (that one closed 2 years ago) and no Japanese although the Shane sign was in Katakana. They could have penciled in some Japanese to help them.

They were both very woried about trouble from the managemnt about being 10 mins late for this important "meeting."

In my 5 min of knowing these poor souls Shane looked to be disorganized, imcompetent and vindictive by the sounds of it.

In my opinion, based on personal experience, the whole business end of teaching English in Japan, in terms of quality, management though not always in pay, is s**t anyways.

[Dean T]

i passed the Nova interview .........(not hard to do apperently) been told that i could have told them im a axe murdering cross dresser and still got the job aslong as i have my degree ........
anyways they asked me too send them my original degree so that they could go too immigration only problem was they asked me this 19 days after telling me i was hired ........ this peeved me a little......then i spoke too a friend who is very happy at nova cos of the OVERTIME opportunities......anyway he told me that when they took his degree they lost it !! and somebody managed to find it 7 weeks later behind the coffee machine in tokyo.....
so i decided hmmmmm with time running out on a holiday visa, i will just go back too oz and submit my degree at a embassy in Melbourne........
as it turns out ....i got a phone call from a very very small company with 20 teachers on its books. they interviewed me , told me i had the job the next day....took me too immigration that day, gave my degree back to me that day and then i flew out of the country too korea too make sure my visa didnt run out, came back in the country and im working away........i have 7 hour working days 2000 yen per hour (plus travel money), and actual teaching time averages about 2 hours of those 7 hours ........
the rest of the time im planning lessons, talking too japanese english teachers, helpinng them plan classes, talking or playing with students and reading, writing and searching the internet.....then 4pm comes and i go home..........no stress fair money, i dont have a supervisor on my arse, i fill in a weekly report and send it too my boss......i have tea with the mayor of the city......i have struck gold.......
my company has a contract director with a board of education in many cities so we AET at Junior high, we teach elementary and kindergarten....i work in 10 schools and im enjoying it
i dont have weekend work, so i can do whatever i like on weekends........
which includes privates. in my case i work saturdays for a few hours for a corporate company 3000 yen per hour (no travel money)

[Sunpower]

[EJS2T]

Well done! You have found a great job! Enjoy your time in Japan.

[Dean T]

thanks guys , im making the most of it .

my boss has her company in Nagoya (she is a very nice woman aswell) she has teachers in tokyo, toyahashi, Nagoya, and Gifu < prefecture.

[kovac]

Hadnt visited my post for quite some time..in that time I had accepted the Shane job...weighed up the pros and cons between NOVA and Shane and decided the holidays were the deciding factor...but after seeing all this...mebbe Ive made the wrong choice !?!?

*sigh* well at least it gets me out to Japan...anybody know where I should apply to once Im there and in the schackles of shane !?!?

[EJS2T]

What's your schedule like? See how many hours you've got. If it's a light schedule, that's good. That way you get trial lessons- where students see what the class is like, one-on-one. That way you get to start your search for potential private clients right away. Start as soon as you get into your accomodation, you have two things to do- figure out how much it costs you per week to travel to all your regular destinations. They don't tell you to do this, so make sure you do it. The amount you claim the first time wil be set for the rest of your time there, so don't get it wrong. After that you have a little time to find cheaper alternatives (bus, walking, getting off at a different station and walking part of the way, cycling). It all adds up week after week. Next, find out where the nearest Gaijin House is, and whether it is conveniently located. Shane won't make allowances for you moving, so think carefully. Moving to a Gaijin House will mean you don't have to worry about bills- phone, international phone, gas, electricity, water. You will also meet a lot of other foreigners, and have the opportunity to make good contacts. Almost 50% of the residents are young Japanese men, so you won't be isolated from Japanese society, in fact it will be better than living on your own in a small apartment in Saitama! Where can you find regular work? Use your days off wisely. DON'T spend them doing extra work for Shane, especially at the beginning. If you do what they want, they will have new teachers working six-day weeks for the first four or five weeks. This means that you will be too exhausted to do anything like looking for work, until it is a bit too late to get out- your cash will be exhausted by the second week, and you will be DESPERATE for your first pay. The amount of money they advise you to bring with you is way too small, and they do this to make you more dependant on them during the first two months, and to make their salary look reasonable. You can only leave your Shane apartment at certain times of the year, according to the contract.

If you do end up in Shane accomodation, do not let them hand over the apartment till you have made note of EVERY problem there is in it. They will be extremely thorough with you when you leave the apartment, so don't let them take you for a ride.

When you do resign, make sure you do things properly. Shane have been taken to the Employment Court, and they have lost at least once, and they are quite willing to go there as often as it takes. They know that only 1% of the teachers have the guts to even contemplate going that far, so they will try to rip you off. Do your time, serve out the rest of your sentence, and things should go smoothly.

Your work visa is issued to YOU, not to them, so they can't take it away from you. See scumbagsinjapan for more information. Most of the Shane contract is in contravention of Ghengis Khan's Laws for the Humiliation of Servant Scum, let alone Japan's labor laws, but unless you are willing to take them on in an epic battle, do what you agreed to do by signing the contract.

[melmel666]

it doesn't stop surprising me how people could follow career advice from posters such asd 'EJS2T' - obviously a real person. If you take his 'advice', you are already buggered as there is no way you can have a good time if you are continually thinking you are being shafted with your contract. Shane, like most other schools in Japan will give you all the info upfront - weigh up the contract, pros and cons - as you already did - go with the flow and enjoy your time in Japan. Please remember that these schools are run for profit and are not Cuban socialist cooperatives . Work hard, keep your side of the deal, the school will do likewise and get the most out of your time in Japan. Tokyo is full of disgruntled teachers who believe that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, but when they jump over into next door's garden, they find a similar situation and get even more pissed off.

Actually, I heard that Nova forces teachers to work 24 hours and the school managers lock them in the resource cupboard if they refuse to work overtime. They even cut off your left foot if you try to break your contract. Far-fetched? Well, not as far-fetched as some of the claims on cumbagsinjapan.com. Please read http://www.crisscross.com/scumbagsinjapan/ for the story on these racketeers who have never worked for any of the schools and simply get their stories from one or two disgruntled ex- (ie sacked, lazy, incompetent and troublesome) teachers. The site is currently offline AGAIN as they have lost so many court cases and has now been pulled by FIVE hosting companies.

Take all comments with a pinch of salt and enjoy your time. You'll find Shane the most flexible of the larger schools. My friends worked there and loved it. Teaching kids is great fun - if it's your thing - and the students in Japan are so warm and friendly. Working occasional 6-day weeks is part of your contract, so you can't refuse it - everyone works exactly the same (about once a month I think), but you usually have a month's warning. You get prep time included in your timetable (which I didn't at Nova) and lovely long holidays, as opposed to NOVAcation.

You probably made the right decision, so stick with them and ENJOY Tokyo.

[Pompeyian]

Opps. Mistake post.