Here is Part 2 of Nova 1996 revisited. This time focusing on things not related to working conditions.
Christmas: Who remembers the Farm Grill? It was a huge all-you-can-eat place in Ginza with a special Christmas menu. Hundreds of Nova teachers from multiple branches congregated there on Christmas day after work. Great times.
Business Model: Nova generated a large percentage of their income from students who paid money upfront and then disappeared. The biggest package was 600 lesson points which had a 3-year limit of just under a million yen. If you bought smaller lesson packages the cost per lesson was much more expensive. So, Nova staff 'persuaded' students to buy the larger packages even if they weren't suitable for the student's needs.
I saw the data from one particular school. And it wasn't uncommon for students to buy say 300 lesson points but use less than 50.
After the Nova bankruptcy, this kind of predatory business practice was basically outlawed.
Recruitment: Nova was growing so rapidly around 1998, the head office instructed their international branches to accept ALL applicants no matter who they might be.
Reputation: Tokyo Classified later to become Metropolis often had ads in the Women 4 Men section that said, 'Nova instructors NOT welcome to reply.'
Rogues Gallery: Here is a list of a few rogues from Nova of the past.
Chancer: A guy called in sick while on vacation in Korea. He wasn't aware that head office could see where incoming calls were coming from. He was fired after returning to Japan.
Fraudster: A guy was escorted out of his Nova branch by suits from head office after being caught fraudulently claiming overtime payments. Basically, he filled in blank overtime forms and hankoed them with a 100 yen shop hanko. His greediness ultimately got him caught. The forms he filled were for 13 lessons from 10:00 AM to 21:00 PM with no break – this kind of shift would never happen in reality. The fraudster kept his fraudulent earning but was obviously fired.
Ogler: An instructor received a complaint from a female student because he was staring at another student's breasts for the whole lesson.
Racist: A white guy made a comment about taking a black guy for 'a drag'. This was at the time of a racist murder in Texas when the murdered victim was dragged along the road by a pickup truck. Not surprisingly a punch-up occurred – in front of Nova's reception area.
Sexual Predator: A guy was fired after being reported by a coworker for repeatedly making sexual comments about an under-aged student in the teachers' room.
Stalker: A guy was fired for following a female student home. He later became an ALT.
Thief: This character mentioned how expensive key money was when moving apartments in a lesson. A kind student in her 70s offered to lend him the cash to help him move. After receiving the loan of 300,000 yen the Nova instructor disappeared apparently back to his home country.
Wild Bill: Who remembers Wild Bill and his exploits?
Yawner: A female instructor received repeated student complaints for yawning in lessons. In her PE it was written, 'You seem to be becoming more professional as you haven't received any complaints in the last month'.
by Professional_Bat_831
