Job Discussion Forums

[PAULH]

The vast majority of people who come to Japan teach English. Most stay for a year or two, then move on. Now at this point it's necessary to inject a little reality into the stories going around out there. From the late '80s a lot of books and anecdotes have come out about how YOU can earn BIG MONEY in JAPAN!! THREE jobs for every applicant!! No experience necessary!!! The schools are practically camped out at your arrival gate RIGHT NOW just waiting to SIGN YOU UP!!!! There are pieces of gold in the street just lying there for you to take them!!! And every time the stories are recycled they get even more exaggerated. Well, I hate to yank those glowing dollar signs out of your saucer-shaped eyes, but the reality isn't quite so wonderful. Things were NEVER that rosy, not even in the "Bubble Days" of the late '80s/early '90s; and tens of thousands of other westerners have read those books too and they're already here in Japan. In fact, there is such a glut of labor that nearly every school simply pays minimum wage, which is 250,000 yen per month. (Income taxes will eat up about 10% of that before you get it). That is enough to be relatively comfortable in smaller cities, but in the big cities that is barely scraping by. And many schools these days can be choosy enough to demand that applicants have a Master's Degree in EFL/ESL, or several years of teaching experience, or both.

This is not to say you can't get a job, or you must have an IQ like Einstein. The truth is, teaching English at a conversation school is more entertaining than educating. And if you are a young, single woman, you have an automatic advantage. In fact, going to the job interview in a tight suit and high heels might just double your chances. Why? Because the Japanese MEN who run the school would rather have a western woman around, the vast majority of teachers are men, and the students (mostly women, who self-segregate themselves through high school) would feel more open with a woman than a man. In any case, a positive attitude, an outgoing personality, and having a lot of interesting stories to tell are all important factors.

Likewise, being in Japan is a big boost--it shows you're committed and ready to start immediately. Personal contact is very important in Japan. Some big chain schools recruit abroad or allow you to apply through e-mail, and it is still possible to land a job by mailing out a mountain of resumes, but by and large for better jobs the people in Japan taking the face-to-face interviews will have an edge. Most of the larger chain schools that hire outside Japan do so because they have soiled reputations among teachers in Japan. Once the word is out, they are the workplaces of last choice and taken for a quick visa while looking for a new school. On the other hand, getting an apartment in Japan is often a tough grueling experience. Some long-term expats say that 4 out of 5 places just refuse foreigners period. Being accepted at a big chain school can help out a lot, since they provide accommodations. But if you quit or change jobs, you will of course be instantly evicted. The Nova chain in particular draws a lot of fire since they bed you in with 1 or 2 other teachers, but all the teachers pay full rent for the place. Nearly all schools run on a one-year contract system. Afterwards if you renew your visa, you can get up to a 3 year visa.

Finding a job depends really on many factors -- experience, connections, your personal appeal, and simple luck. Timing is also important -- many westerners think they'll just fly on over in mid-summer, just before the beginning of the school year. Perfect right? WRONG! The Japanese school year starts in April and hiring season is usually January through March. If you miss this critical window, getting a job will be that much harder. There are always some schools posting want-ads in the Monday edition of The Japan Times throughout the year, but since nearly every school runs on one-year renewable contracts starting in April, this begs the question as to why they're looking for a teacher. Either they scored in getting a new influx of students, or they hired and fired an incompetent teacher, a teacher decided to call it quits, or they treat their teachers like used toilet paper and they're looking for a new sucker. In the last case you'll find a job all right but you'll also be getting much more than you bargained for. Working for a big chain school may or may not be better than a small school -- it all depends on the management. Teacher treatment can vary from being treated like a valued asset to a necessary evil. So by all means try and find out how often the teacher turnover is. It's simple -- better schools keep their teachers longer. If you find a place where very few or no teachers stay on a second year, it's almost certain you've found a school you should stay far away from.

Here is a quote (author unknown) from a net forum a few years ago, but still holds true today. It offers a humorous look at the promise and reality of the eikaiwa experience:

For the vocationless graduate with a penchant for travel, the call of TEFL is strong. For the penniless member of the same breed, unable to afford an RSA certificate, beware! A teaching job in Japan is yours for the taking, if you?e prepared to, well...SELL YOUR SOUL.

Perhaps some will feel this is going to far. It is certainly true that there are some plum jobs amongst the cherry blossoms. And yet, without having an insider? view of the Japanese job scene, it is very likely that you will end up mesmerized by the rampant, glossy, advertising of the giants - Nova, Geos, Berlitz and the American-focused Aeon. These companies are the corporate face of the English teaching market in Japan and prey upon those of us who casually flip through the Guardian Education supplement of a Tuesday. Jostling for our attention in the classifieds are numerous small ads promising great opportunities in Turkey and Russia. Forget them. Allow your eyes to drift towards the reassuringly oversized and sophisticated box that promises: An Amazing Cultural Experience? and international promotion and career opportunities? and best of all TEFL experience is an asset, but not essential?. Wooo hooo! Lets go! And so many do.

In such a way I was lulled into sending an application form to one of the Big four?. A couple of months later I found myself staggering towards a big sign in Narita International Airport - ?ave a nice time in Japan, but don? break the rules? it both welcomed and cautioned. The barely registered twinge of uneasiness I felt on reading this slogan was a sensation I was to become familiar with in the following weeks and months. No, actually I take that back. The twinge of uneasiness at the airport was like an orgasmic shudder when I compare it to what awaited me at my new job. If I say I was misled by the London recruiters about my new life and work in Japan, I don? think I?e quite covered the magnitude of the situation. The following parable gets closer to how it was:A recruiter of a big English-teaching company is hit by a bus and dies. She is met at the gates of heaven by St. Peter who says, owing to an administrative hitch, they are unsure where to place her - heaven or hell. Instead she is to be given the choice herself by spending a day in each and then deciding.

Arriving in hell for her Easter-day, she is met by the friendly faces of colleagues from her company, dressed exquisitely in designer casuals. They greet her warmly and show her around hell, which is a beautifully landscaped country club with golf courses and tennis courts. She has a fantastic day playing sports, dining on lobster and steaks, dancing and getting drunk with her friends. Everyone laughs at her jokes and she even gets to meet the devil himself, who is, dare she say it, ?inda cute?. It is with great sadness that she leaves in the evening.

The following day she spends in heaven. Here she hops from cloud to cloud, plays harps and generally hangs out with the angels. Again she enjoys herself very much. St. Peter asks her for a decision the next day. After great deliberation, she chooses hell over heaven. ?o hell you will spend eternity?, St. Peter decrees.

When she arrives the country club and golf courses are gone. In their place is a filthy, desolate wasteland. Her friends are still there, but they are dressed in rags, picking up garbage and putting it in sacks. The Devil comes up and puts his arm around her. "I don't understand," she stammers, "yesterday I was here and there was a golf course and a country club and we ate lobster and we danced and had a great time.

Now it's a wasteland of garbage and all my friends look miserable.? The Devil looked at her and smiled evilly. "Yesterday we were recruiting you; today you're staff."

It wasn't all barren landscapes and torture. After all, I honoured my first year's contract, and I know many more who stayed longer (mostly, but not all freaks). Admittedly there were others who only lasted a couple of days. With over 340 schools to fill with some 4000 recruits from overseas, NOVA is the biggest single employer of foreign staff and Geos is hot on it? footsteps. Take it from me, their insatiable thirst for fresh faces is less to do with growth, more to do with a high drop-out rate as new teachers discover, to their dismay, the true meaning of the Japanese work ethic.

Though I would never outwardly encourage a person to apply for this kind of job, I wouldn't dissuade them either. I'd just warn them a bit, that's all. It's like those guys who perform acts of self-mutilation on stage - you know, sticking swords down their throats and grinding their faces in broken glass. Their claim is that, as they expect and prepare for the pain, they don't perceive it as unpleasant. This is the name of the game if you want to work for Nova et al. Prepare yourself for the worst and you might just be able to keep a Zen head above water. The beginning is the worst. Three days of training is all I apparently needed to become a professional teacher; less really, as all teaching practice during this paltry training period was performed on live, full-fee-paying clients. The fourth day was the first full working day. ?aunted? would cover how I felt, as a previously qualified and experienced teacher of English to the foreigner. Needless to say, I can't speak for the majority of new teachers - utterly inexperienced or qualified to teach anything at all. That first day, and every consequential day thereafter, consisted of eight 40 or 45 minute lessons. Between each class was a ten-minute interval. During this blink-of-an-eye pause, it was our duty to evaluate each of the previous student's performances, give them a mark, hunt for the files of the next class, choose a new lesson, plan it, give a few whimpers of dismay, and go teach again. This factory line approach to lessons - the antithesis of good teaching, as I knew it - is the key to big bucks. The high quantity of classes taught at the school, along with a blanket teaching style, is apparently the winning formula to attract the Japanese public. Fast food English, you might say.

For anyone with ideals about being an original and conscientious teacher, this kind of job is not for you. The strict lesson structure you are trained to use is not to be tampered with. Superiors at my school would often keep an ear open on neighbouring classrooms to ensure the right words were being said; the right lesson stages happening at the prescribed times etc.

On the other hand, for those who need a job and are happy to put aside innovation and imagination for the duration of their contract, you could be on to a winner. As far as I know, all you need is a regular heartbeat and a university degree - a requirement of the Japanese immigration authorities rather than your employer.

On a more positive note, you are helped with accommodation and basic set-up difficulties. Hell, I was even given a company futon. There is ample opportunity to make and save money as long as one doesn? become too much of an alcoholic (it is worth noting that you will become a bit of one, however hard you try). I lived comfortably for the first time in my adult life and was able, on leaving Japan, to travel for a year. Extra incentive for men is that you will almost certainly experience a renaissance in your love life. The foreign male is viewed as quite a hot commodity amongst many Japanese women.

I must add that all of the above are possible with many of the smaller schools too. A little web research is necessary to find out about them - their pleas for new teachers are rarely seen in the British broadsheets. With a job at an unenfranchised school, you will have more opportunity to experiment with materials and teaching methods. It is possible you will be the only teacher, in which case, your chances of cultural and social interaction with your students are much greater. The contract I signed stated that any interaction with students outside the school would result in suspension or dismissal. Many an evening I would be twiddling my thumbs or getting drunk with my English speaking colleagues, whilst my housemate, employed at a tiny independent school, would be flooded with endless invitations from her adoring students.

Working in Japan can be an amazing cultural experience, and all the rest of it. It can also be a pain in the arse. Ultimately it is up to us penniless graduates to do the necessary enquiries and not succumb too quickly to the over-polished promises of the English teaching giants.

It is very important to try and find out what place is somewhere you'd like to be. Talking to other teachers (especially outside their workplace) who're at the school you're looking at can give a lot of insight. Is the boss a petty Napoleon? How much can you modify a lesson to meet the student's needs? How much notice do you have to give to end the contract early? What happens if you get sick? Do you get the minimum legally required 10 days a year off? Will you ever get a raise or bonus? How much time do you have to prepare for clases? Will the school pay your commuting costs? Will they pay some or all of your health insurance? And will you be working on national holidays and weekend nights? The contract is another good sign. Many schools require 20-25 class hours per week, but these days some larger school chains require a grueling 30 hours or more. Some schools try to virtually run their teacher's lives, requiring them to be there 40 hours a week, even when they aren't teaching classes. Will you be called on to do endless contractual "as other duties require", like spending hours trying to wheedle students to sign up and pay for another year? Some might also try to prohibit you from getting part-time work or private tutoring (which is really how you make ends meet in Tokyo or Osaka). Some schools might welcome your ideas on teaching and materials, others may just shove their own curriculum down your throat. Given a choice, it would be better to hold out for a better school. If you come all the way over to Japan to work, why not have a positive experience instead of a nightmare??

[PAULH]

EDIT

[PAULH]

The Reality of Nova

If you�re interested in Japan and/or teaching and don't know where to get started, Nova offers you an easily accessible doorway to Japan by giving you a visa, a place to live, and a steady income. If you later decide to take teaching to the next level, your time at Nova could springboard you to something better. Many Nova teachers go on to public schools, other private companies, etc.
To understand Nova, you must first accept it for what it is - a huge corporation whose main concern is profit. With reasonable expectations, you can get what you want, the opportunity to experience Japan, and Nova can get what it wants, the money your ability to speak native English provides.

The Nova Routine

Teaching at Nova is not difficult, but it's often very hectic. The average day consists of eight lessons of 40 or 45 minutes each with anywhere from 1 to 4 students per class. There are ten minutes between each class mainly used for writing file comments for the students in your previous class and preparing for the next class. These ten minutes go very quickly. Having to be "on" all the time leads to fatigue over the course of the day as there is very little down time.

The Interview and Qualifications

Nova will hire just about anyone who has a college degree (in any subject) and is a native English speaker. For the interview, you will go to your nearest Nova office, or, in some cases, they are able to schedule an interview closer to where you live. The interview is conducted in a group format, during which you'll be shown a video about the company, then asked a few questions individually. Normally it takes a month or two to find out if you�ve been accepted then usually about three or four months from the time of the interview to the time of your departure (which is the minimum amount of time you can expect from any company).

Accommodation

When you arrive in Japan you are met by a Nova representative who will take you to your new apartment. The Nova apartments are no frills, but adequate. In most cases you'll have your own room and two flat mates (which is nice because it allows you to have some "partners-in-crime"in a strange land until you become more comfortable).
The rent for a Nova apartment is reasonable considering its percentage of your income, but is much more expensive than other Japanese apartments. Once you're settled you have the option of moving out of your Nova apartment and finding your own place. In Japan, finding your own place can be difficult, but "gaijin houses" are available in urban areas.

Training and Teaching Methods

New teachers are given about four days to adjust to Japan before the three days of training begins. The training is adequate, but intense. You�ll feel a little nervous and unprepared when your training is over, but whatever else you need you'll learn through trial by fire.
Although Nova doesn't offer the students much in the way of personalized attention, the methods are quite effective. In time you�ll see amazing progress in the students.

The text is very outdated and the lessons can quickly become repetitive and boring for the teacher.

Students schedule their classes whenever they have free time and there are no regular schedules, which means that every class will be a different mix of students you know well and students you've never met before, separated by ability levels.

Money and Saving

The money Nova pays is about the same as every other English school in Japan - roughly Y250,000 per month (about $2,200 US) and is more than enough to live comfortably while in Japan. The pay is a little higher in big cities, but the costs are higher too, so the pay is comparable wherever you may go.
It's possible to save while working for Nova, but if you want to experience all that Japan has to offer, it's best not to worry about every little yen you spend.

Schedule and Vacation

The Nova workweek is the normal 40 hours with two consecutive days off. Days off are never both Saturdays and Sundays as those are busy days when many students come in.
There are two shifts, one at 10:00am, and the other at 1:20pm. More teachers are assigned to the 1:20pm shift, which ends at 9:00pm, because evenings are more popular with students. The earlier shift allows teachers to get more mileage out of their free time. By the end of the late shift, there isn�t much time left in the day to enjoy the evening, since some train lines stop running as early as 11:00pm.

Nova does not give time off for national holidays. After six months at Nova, teachers are given two weeks of vacation time to be used whenever they like. Combine this time with unpaid days and shift swaps and some long vacations are possible. Nova is good about granting the vacation time requested as long as it�s requested long in advance - this is true of any request made to Nova.

Nova Policies

Nova does not allow speaking Japanese in class as they want the students to be totally immersed in English.
Teachers are not allowed to socialize with students in any way outside of class. And, although sometimes it would be nice to socialize with students, it does avoid a lot of problems such as teachers using their classes to pick up on students. By doing language exchanges or hanging out with the Japanese Nova staff, there are opportunities to socialize with Japanese people.

Coworkers and Location Requests

Not only is it fun to get to know the students, but it's also part of the experience to get to know your coworkers, the other Nova teachers. You�ll meet a lot of characters from all over the world (mostly from Australia, England, and Canada) and Nova teachers often socialize together at karaoke parlors and izakayas (Japanese style restaurants).
When you're hired by Nova, you'll be asked where you'd prefer to work, usually in very broad terms, such as, if you would you prefer urban, country, or rural locations and sometimes they can work with you on specific requests. It's best to choose something in the middle, staying away from the big cities, and trying to work in a smaller school. Small schools are much more casual than the larger ones because big school bosses are usually the type of people who want to climb the corporate ladder and will do everything �by the book. Also, in big cities there are a lot more older teachers who are teaching in Japan, not for an adventure, but because they need the work for some reason. Teachers in big cities are much more busy with personal activities and less likely to band together with other teachers and socialize. This all depends on whether socializing while in Japan is important to you.


Being a Gaijin in Japan

The experience of living in a foreign country always comes in three stages :
Stage #1: Euphoria - Everything is so new and exciting. Even going to the supermarket is an adventure.
Stage #2: Depression - This is mostly caused by missing Stage #1 as it fades away. This stage is short, but very intense.
Stage #3: Acceptance - In time you become comfortable in your new surroundings.
It's very easy to get by in Japan without speaking much Japanese at all. Many Japanese people can speak at least basic English and many signs are written in both English and Japanese. It's also very easy to pick up the language while there, and even a very basic knowledge of words such as Who (dare), What (nani), When (itsu), Where (doko), Why (nande), and How (doyatte) can be very usefull. Some gaijin who've lived in Japan for more than ten years can barely speak a word of Japanese (which is not recommended).

As long as you approach things with an open mind, view unfamiliar circumstances as a challenge and an opportunity for personal growth, and don't expect everything to be just like home, you should do just fine. Don't order a steak that had to travel across an ocean when you can eat excellent seafood that was caught earlier that day.

Other Opportunities in Japan

Don't go to Japan thinking that teaching might lead to other opportunities, such as international business, foreign diplomacy, etc., because, although there are many opportunities to teach English in Japan, there are very few other opportunities for foreigners, even ones who speak Japanese well.

Conclusions

So, is Nova the best English school to work for in Japan? Probably not. There are many other large companies to consider (such as Berlitz, Aeon, Geos, ECC, JET, who surely have their good and bad sides as well) but Nova is a good place to get started and they usually treat their employees fairly. The main benefit of Nova is the ease of entry.
Should you make a career out of working for Nova? No! Small private schools and public schools often offer their teachers a lot more, such as, more vacation time, more pay, more control over class content, and a less hectic work day. If you're only planning on staying in Japan for a year or two or you just want to get started in Japan then move on to a better company, Nova is a decent option. If you intend to stay in Japan and/or work as a teacher for many years, you should eventually move to a school that's going to give you a better deal.

[Zzonkmiles]

Good post, Paul. But here are a few corrections and clarifications.

NOVA has lowered its starting salary for new teachers. The new base salary is 220,000 yen/month. These salaries were lowered after the health insurance fiasco a few months ago. You can go to the NOVA webpage at www.teachinjapan.com and look up the salary information there.

Also, NOVA instructors only get 10 paid holidays per year. You have to work 6 months in order to get these holidays and if you want to use them, you have to apply for them at least 4 weeks in advance. NOVA does allow for shift swaps, which means you work for another teacher on his/her day off and that teacher works for you on your day off. This results in trading a 1-day weekend for a 3-day weekend or working 12 days straight in order to get a 4-day weekend.

And finally, NOVA has updated its textbooks. They no longer use the outdated "Quest," but rather "Diplomat." All the schools use this new book, including the MM Center. It's a huge improvement over the previous text, but grammar essentially is not taught at NOVA anymore. Now "pieces of conversation" are taught, such as "asking for favors," "expressing opinions," "exchanging e-mail addresses," and "ordering food in a fast food restaurant."

The NOVA vacation package is not so good, compared to other schools in Japan. And it might seem a bit unfair when a student complains about your lesson, even though the complaint seems totally bogus. But the two most important things to remember about NOVA is that NOVA is a company, not a school. And NOVA has customers, not students. If you plan on staying in Japan for a long time, it's best to use NOVA for the training it provides and then trade up a year or two later. NOVA is fine for the short-term visitor who will go back home in about 8 months. Working at NOVA for more than 2 years will likely destroy your sanity and make you quite bitter. Choose wisely.

[Currawong]

A good rule for Nova work: Avoid the large "honko" schools if you can - work as far away from the middle of the city as possible. I did my training in Shinjuku Honko - a place of unspeakable evil and madness, but worked 40 mins by train out of the city. The difference is huge. I was told in the countryside that schools were heaven - no lessons, only "guided conversation" all day.

The lessons weren't as mind-numbing if one made an effort to pick up ideas from other teachers (including doing lessons in other schools) on different ways to do them.

[womblingfree]

[PAULH]

[womblingfree]

[PAULH]

[womblingfree]

[womblingfree]

[PAULH]

[PAULH]

Stuck for ideas on what to teach in your NOVA lesson?

try these for size.

[sallycat]

errrrrm, paulh, slight problem. that article refers to a textbook and resources that nova no longer uses. so it's not going to be any use at all for current nova teachers.

[PAULH]

OOPS sorry

I dont teach at NOVA but found it on a NOVA website