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Has anyone ever worked for or heard of the division of AEON called "Amity." Is this better than JET or NOVA?? |
Travel Info I have interviews with Amity and NOVA. Amity pays more, but NOVA is a bigger company. Does anyone have any experience with these companies?? Any advise? Travel Tips As said, Amity is the children's branch of AEON. One thing to note about AEON: they will short you on your paid holidays. I knew people who worked for both AEON and Amity, and they only got one week of paid holidays. Two weeks is the ~law~ in Japan. Evidently, the company justified it by saying that they were giving the National Holidays off too, so... Geos... I guess it depends what part of Japan you're in, cause I worked for them in Kansai, and it was horrible. Yes, you can socialize with the students at Geos... in fact, you're contractually obligated to do so! You HAVE TO go to the parties, which are held on your day off. And then they'll try to weasle out of paying you for it. That pretty much sums up Geos right there... they'll try ot weasle out of paying you. I also worked for Nova, and while things there may have changed, I found it the better of the two (between Nova and Geos). It's blacklisted because they used to fire people for socializing with students. See... there's a provision in the contract that specifically says that you are not to socialize with the students. People read the contract, then sign the contract, and then go out and ~breach~ the contract by hanging out with students... giving them free English lessons. The union argued that Nova did not have the right to fire people for what they did in their own time. But overall, I found it to be best, business-wise. They at least had managers and (Japanese) staff in all branches, unlike Geos. Source(s): TMS Other Travel Tips I currently live in Japan and came out here to teach for NOVA. AEON is a somewhat known company out here, but NOVA is much more popular. But, I say popular, not better. I cannot speak about AEON since I have never worked for them or have never met anyone who has. I was supposed to go for an interview for them and had to change my time and they were very rude about it so that gave me a bad vibe so I opted for NOVA. As far as NOVA, however, the initial 6 months or so were wonderful. They got me settled into Japan and so that the transition was very simple and enjoyable. They had an apartment waiting for me once they picked me up from the airport and had schedules and everything that you would need available as soon as I arrived. They set up a bank account for you at orientation, as well as helping you out with getting a cell phone, among other things that would be difficult if you don't speak Japanese. The thing about NOVA though, is after a few months of having fun with friends from all over the world, learning new things from students, and going out to drink or sing karaoke, you realize how selfish of a company they can be. I had problems getting shifts covered at times, planning a vacation through them can be a bit stressful if they send you to a small school, and the lessons can get REALLY redundant and boring, to say the least. Admittedly, it was one of the easiest jobs I've ever had, and the money is okay. But it is not a job I'd recommend you have for more than say, 2 years tops. Nova is very big on selling lessons to students and pushing them to keep coming back. They will also make you teach little kids, even if you don't want to. I loved that part since I was an education major, but there are TONS of teachers who hate kids and shouldn't have to teach them if they don't want to. But Nova will make you. It's not a horrible company to work for, like I said, but just make sure you don't stay for too long at that company because it can get really monotonous and you will realize that you are just a number to them. I have actually heard really good things about GEOS (another language company). They allow students and teachers to mingle outside of the company, whereas Nova could suspend or relocate you if they catch you just hanging out with students. The students at Nova were really sweet though, and the friends I made were awesome. Just research the companies you are interested in and don't really look at th money aspect. You can always teach private students on the side. That's where the real money is! Hope this helps. Let me know if you need any more info! Let me just say that NOVA is on the General (Workers) Union black list. To me that is all I need to know. Check out the black list here http://www.japan.survival-links.com... Many people I know have only said bad things about NOVA. I lived in Japan for 3 years. I worked for Amity for my first year there. All of Amity's students are children. This is what you need to think about. Amity is a good company but head office wasen't as helpful as I would have liked them to be. JET will place you in a JH or HS. NOVA will mainly be adults. Amity is all children. Think about who you want to teach. |
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