wow, thanks a lot bakaKanadajin, really useful info. The thing that concerns me the most, is the scheduling. If i could, i would like to be in a location near Tokyo. But with the type of schedule you said there is now, how would i be able to see the great things of Japan?...Is it still possible to go on over night trips with this kind of schedule?...I know you get some vacation time but on my days off I mean.
I also heard that you cant interact with students but teachers you are allowed.
Thanks Emperor, already read it before I posted
I don't know how much leverage you have in determining your schedule beforehand, I'm fairly certain everyone gets dropped into the same bucket and schedules and placements are issued strictly at the discretion of company needs. So in other words you can't really request a sweet schedule for yourself.
There are whats called 'shift swaps' available, so that means if you know someone willing, you can work for them one week (and forego one of your days off) and then have a three day weekend during another week when they work for you. The swap must be done within the same month however, and you have to wait 2 months until you're off your probationary period to start doing them. After getting off probation you're also entitled to two weeks of paid holiday, which is nice.
Also, I'd advise you to go over there with no less than 150,000JPY, the cost of living is fairly high near Tokyo and if you take the NOVA loan your paycheck gets garnished for up to 6 months afterwards, so you don't even make a full paycheck until well into your year. Pay comes on the 15th of every month, once a month, so you have to budget wisely. So, as you can imagine, you'd work from whatever time you arrived until the end of that month.. say July 7th until July 31st. Then the new pay period starts, and you're paid for July on August 15th. So thats July 7th - August 15th where you're living on your own cash. Then on September 15th.. you'd get your pay for the period of August 1st - August 31st. So, again, go over there with some money from mom and dad or some savings if you can, the NOVA 'loan' bites. At least theres no interest.
Other random tips:
- whichever company you go with, get started on your gaijin (landed immigrant) card as quickly as possilble and get TWO blue sheets from your local ward office (temporary status forms) so you can open a bank account and get a cell phone as quickly as possible. Cellphone needs a credit card too I think.
- don't get the phones NOVA offers at orientation, they kinda blow and there are way cooler ones downtown. Go with Vodaphone if possible though, most NOVA teachers go with Vodaphone so it'll be cheaper and easier to e-mail and text them.
- if you can, avoid Shinsei Bank, they're user-friendly and have English services but I found I rarely needed to speak to anyone, and more importantly it was difficult to access my money at times because you cannot use other banks on the weekends. It's not all Interac-like and connected like it is here in Canada, over there you can only use other banks (for a fee) during the week before 9pm. At all other times, to use Shinsei you MUST find a 7-11 and they can be a hassle to track down in unfamiliar parts of town. They only have 3 actual branches, they're an internet bank basically.
Personally, I think NOVA is a great way to just dive-in and see Japan for someone who wants to do it easily and quickly, I had a great time. BUT you have to work to make your own 'Japan' experience, i.e. do shift swaps, put your holiday requests in early (they black-out certain periods around Christmas if you don't put them in early enough). And honestly with the new schedule it is very different, those half-days were essential to me being able to do the things I did (train in marital arts, take Japanese classes, etc.) If they don't offer A34 anymore that would be a huge factor in whether I'd consider going back with them again in the future.
In essence NOVA is generally not interested in whether you're enjoying your experience or not and don't do much for you in that departmen regarding changing branches, shifts, schedules, etc. However, what they do offer isn't so bad. These are of course observations I've made after arriving back here, that's not to say it wasn't a positive experience I'm just being the devils-advocate here. The key is, YOU'RE IN JAPAN!!