Job Discussion Forums

[Reetski]

I'm in Auckland, NZ, currently researching ways to get to Japan to teach English.

I'm applying to JET (who seem like the ideal programme), but with their lengthy process I may not be going anywhere for a while....

So I've also contacted GEO's (they don't have NZ offices so I've emailed the Australian one a few times, including filling out an online application) and I've had no response.

AEON seem to be coming into a round of interviews now (again, traveling from Australia to interview NZer's, which they seem to do now and then) so I think I've missed the boat on that one...

NOVA, however seemed to respond immediately; I've had emails and phonecalls from Australia, and I have an interview in a couple of weeks. So far so good...

Now apart from hearing it being likened to as 'The MacDonald's of English schools' and the general NOVA bashing on this forum, I get feeling I should be wary of this company but not sure why?

I would like to hear in more detail exactly how people feel about NOVA and why? Good experiences or bad, fill me in!

Cheers

[ripslyme]

I did a year at Nova and for the most part they did alright by me. The job was to speak in English for 8 lessons a day, 5 days a week. After regional/shift/qualification allowances, etc... I was getting about 300,000 yen a month before taxes.

bad points:
the "weekend" - mine was Tue/Wed. Not really great for hanging out with the locals. At least I had 2 days off in a row, some people had split days off.
the apartment - while it was good in that there were no set-up costs, it was a rip off for what it was. 3 of us each paying almost 70,000 a month for an apartment that normaly goes for 100,000 a month. Fortunately, getting my own place was easy enough (I stayed in the Nova apt for 3 months).
health insurance - but this was quickly remedied by a trip to the ward office

As far as the job itself goes, the Nova books are quite terrible but, from what I gather, comparable to the rest of the eikaiwa industry. The kids lessons are rather lousy as well. The "chibiko" lessons (ages 2-4) are actually pretty good.

The other stuff that people bash on Nova can somewhat vary depending on where you get placed. I worked in both a huge flagship school in Tokyo and a small rural school in Saitama. They both presented unique challenges and I had a pretty good time at both places.

[Apsara]

I'm an Aucklander who worked at Nova for 3 and a half years in 2 separate stints, and although I was very happy to leave when I finally did, my feeling is quite similar to the poster above- it's not that bad for an entry to working in Japan. As a long-term career it is a terrible choice.

First the cons:

It gets very boring after a while- same lessons, with often the same unmotivated students, day after day- you really have to make a huge effort to keep it interesting for yourself as well as the students and after a couple of years I was very tired of it.

8 lessons a day- too much really. It can be quite draining.

Only 10 paid days off per year on your first contract plus the 5 or so days the company closes down at New Year- the lowest of the Big 4 I believe.

Voice room- some people liked it (a minority), I really didn't. Many students expect to be entertained and put little effort, or are too shy to take any initiative in the conversation and when the same students are there day after day you run out of conversation topics after a while.

The textbook- it's 5 years since I worked there but I hope they are not still using the same text. I tended to base my lessons very loosely on the text, and very rarely followed Nova's lesson plan because it was pretty tedious.

Pros:

They always paid on time, the correct amount. Never any problems here.

You leave your job behind when you leave work for the day.

It's not compulsory to do sales-type lessons

Some students have great personalities and are no effort at all to teach.

Possible to swap shifts with other teachers to get several days off in a row to take extra holidays- of course this means you won't have any days off for several weeks afterwards.

The apartment- here is where I very much differ from other people. Okay, together with your flatmates you pay more rent than Nova is paying for the place, but with set-up costs so huge for moving into your own apartment, in Tokyo at least, I can't understand why people always present this as such a rip-off.

My husband and I moved into a new apartment last year- we paid 2 months key money, 2 months deposit, 2 months rent in advance, a month rent agency fee, plus we had to buy more furniture etc- all told it cost us almost a million yen to set up the place. Next May we will have been here 2 years and we have to pay an extra month's rent as a "contract renewal" fee which is just daylight robbery and makes me quite angry.

With Nova you don't even pay a deposit, the place is decently furnished, utilities are included, and if anything breaks/ wears out we just called the housing department and a new one or a repairman was on the way at no cost to us. You could live in a gaijin house instead of a Nova apartment, but I have lived in a couple and they were both complete holes.

The pay was okay when I was there at least- people always give 250,000 yen as the salary, but on top of that there are regional allowances, shift allowances (since most people work evenings and weekends most people get these) and increases for renewing contracts.

When I left, after renewing my contract twice, I was on a quite respectable 315,000 yen a month (Kanto area so highest regional allowance). I often did overtime shifts (by my own choice) so usually got more than that.

While I was at Nova I paid off my $13,000 NZD student loan, went on at least 2 overseas trips a year and saved enough to travel for 6 months after I finished up there (both times), plus I saved most of the deposit to buy an apartment back in my Auckland- the yen was stronger then than now however.

Your experience can depend a lot on the school you are assigned to and who you have as a manager- you can have someone really laid back, or some real anal control freak. It's usually possible to transfer after you've been there a few months.

From my experience I would say Nova isn't a bad place to start out in Japan, or if you are just planning to stay a year. Any more than that and it is worth looking for something more stimulating and challenging, with better pay.

[seastarr]

Best thing about Nova: No homework, when you are done for the day, you are done.

Worst thing: (For me anyway) In my area, we were very short on teachers so anyone who was genki and chibiko trained had to work at a lot of different schools. I didn't like this because I didn't get to know any students really well. It was like being the new kid in school almost every day.

Things to consider:

Why are you going?
If you are going to see Japan, live a easy, different, lifestyle for a bit and have enough money to do what you want to, then this might be the job for you. If you are going to be the best darn teacher you can be and make a huge difference in the lives of your students, then you might be in the wrong spot.

How long are you planning on staying?
If you are going for a year or two, Nova is probably good. The accomadations are alright, although overpriced (but key money is a lot to pay upfront), and the job is easy. Its also a good chance to meet some other English speaking people from other countries. If you are planning on making a long term move to Japan, then Nova is ok for getting your foot in the door. A lot of teachers in my area became ALTs after a year or so of working at Nova.

Do you hate doing the same thing everyday?
If your answer is yes, then this job might not be for you.
It is possible to mix things up a bit and you will teach different students quite often, but there is still quite a lot of repetition in the job because there are only so many good lessons to choose from.

Are you going to learn the language?
If yes, then Nova is probably not the best way to go. You will speak English 8 hours a day, 5 or so days a week. Mind you, if you really put forth a strong effort, you should be able to come out with some Japanese. If you make this your primary focus, then you might be able to do quite well with it. But you won't learn Japanese at work, besides a few words here and there from staff.

Do you like kids?
If no, then keep in mind you will have to teach them..how much will depend on your branch.

Can you stick with some basic rules/guidelines?
By rules, I mean the dress code, the dating/socialization rules, the being at work on time rule, the no Japanese in class rule, the doing your paperwork rules, and the calling in sick rules. None of these are really unreasonable, but there are those that just can't follow them for whatever reason.

If these things sound ok, then you can probably do fine at Nova. A lot of your Nova experience will depend on the school you end up at and your staff and fellow teachers. There are some good ones, and some terrible ones. I was lucky and ended up at a good one. I reccomend going to an area that is less popular (ie. not Tokyo or Osaka). The turnover rates are much lower and people are generally happier at Nova. There were teachers in my area that had been there for 8+ years, I think this is almost unheard of in larger areas. I'm not going to lie, there were days that I hated working for Nova, but I think that is the case with most jobs. It was no worse than some Canadian companies. You are just a number, but if you have a good support staff (other teachers, AAM, BT's and TI's) then it doesn't really feel like that.

As I have said before, people who have had a bad time with Nova seem to be the ones the always comment on their experiences. There are lots of people out there that have had good experiences with Nova.

[ripslyme]

[Reetski]

Hey thanks everyone for your responses. Nice to have a more balanced view of things, and it sounds a lot more positive than I was first led to believe. I'm sure every company has their good and bad points, and as you all point out, a lot of it depends on circumstances anyway.

With regard to my reasons for going - it's primarily to live and work in another culture and all that comes with that. Ideally I'd like to cut a chunk out of my student loan and perhaps do a bit of travelling - and that sounds more hopeful through Nova than I had first thought.

I can't see myself staying in Japan indefinitely, but never say never right? I'm sure if that turns out to be the future for me, it sounds like there are more options than Nova to choose from when you actually get to Japan and have settled in, is that right?

Thanks again for your comments. Muchly appreciated.

R

[Apsara]

[supervisor133]

I had a fairly positive experience working for NOVA, though this was largely due to the Japanese and foreign friends I made while living in Japan. I was also in the lucky boat of starting out with Sat/Sun as days off and then choosing to make it Sun/Mon (my favoured combo for days off in Japan!).

If you are a qualified and experienced teacher (ie CELTA or GradDip Ed) then you will find it very frustrating to work for them. Not being able to institute long-term plans for students' learning can make the job unrewarding though you will still find yourself experiencing victories, especially with kids as you generally teach the same ones each week at a specified time.

Perhaps the best advice I can give is to make friends outside of your immediate co-workers. If your only friends are the people you work with then talking shop so often can really get you down. So whether they are other foreigners or Japanese, make a life for yourself outside of things related to the company. May sound silly but it'll keep you sane!

[Omeo]

[ripslyme]

[yamanote senbei]

Their stock has tanked. Nova is not a healthy company.

http://quote.yahoo.co.jp/q?s=4655.q&d=c&k=c3&a=v&p=m65,m130,s&t=2y&l=off&z=l&q=c

[bornslippy1981]

I worked there almost 18 months, and didn�t find it too bad.

Some of these have already been mentioned, but:

Pros:

- I was always paid on time, and the correct amount. All my overtime was paid properly. Some people I knew at other branches had their OT messed up, and had to wait until the following paycheck to get it.

- My block trainer was helpful. He�d approve all swaps on the same day they were submitted, and when it was for another area, he would stay late to get in touch with that area�s AAM so he could get final approval for my swap.

- All my holiday requests were approved and returned to me on the same day.

- I got my transfer request for the date I requested.

- I moved out of their apartments twice. I gave the 30 days notice that�s required, and had the correct amounts deducted from my salary.

- Some people complain about it, but I had minimal problems in their apartments. It would�ve been nice if the first one I moved into was clean, but the AT was one of my roommates, and he had kept the place a mess. However, I lived a total of 2 months on my own, and my rent didn�t change. It was pretty nice having a 3LDK to myself during that time.

- There�s a lot of overtime. It�s easy to get it if you call the number, or tell your trainer you want it for one month. I don�t like dealing with the heat in summer, so I killed the overtime throughout it. I was able to send home 400,000 Yen between June and August.

Cons:

- The lessons get boring after a few weeks. With some creativity though, you can find ways to make them interesting for yourself, and the students.

- I have dreams (nightmares?) about Voice. It�s usually the same one. Basically when I was there it was the same jokers in Voice every Saturday. I�d ask, �What do you want to talk about,� and they�d say, �Anything okay, you decide.� I�d choose a topic, and then they�d say, �I don�t want to talk about this. I want to talk about something different.� In my dream (nightmare?) it�s the same people from Saturday Voice who come to a diner where I�m a cook. I say, �What do you want to eat,� and they say, �Anything okay, you decide.� So, I cook each a different meal, and serve 10 dinners at the same time. They all take one bite and say, �I don�t like this. I want something different.�

- It can be hit or miss with your roommates. I wasn�t too bothered, as I went to an university where I didn�t know anybody. My roommate freshman year turned out to be somebody I still keep in touch with. However, I�ve heard war stories about people�s Nova roommates. My first was horrible, but I could deal with it.

- The textbooks are poorly written. Basically they were written by ATs and trainers who got a few days off to figure out a way to plagiarize without getting caught.

- The kids lessons are garbage. You�re given 8 cards/week, and have 40 minutes to entertain/teach/baby sit. Sometimes the lessons are in the �voice room,� which means there is nothing kids related on the wall. I�m always amazed by the advertisements that show posters with kids sitting around a table, or spinning an arrow. There is nothing like this in the branch. You�re lucky if there�s a chart with numbers on the wall, and if you have a ball, it�s going to be thrown at your head while the kids mother�s sit outside and giggle. Also, the teacher is never consistent, so every week the kids see somebody different. Finally, the workbooks and dialogue is useless. When kids are 12, they�re still saying, �What is your favorite food,� and tracing letters. I do that with some of my classes now, and the kids are 4.

Anyway, take a lot of what you read with a grain of salt. Some people have good experiences, some don�t.