Nova!
Been waiting years for an app like this. It’s made landing jobs so much easier. The UI is also beautiful!! It’s a must download for all freelancers.
Can’t submit application
I’m using iPhone 13 mini and I can’t scroll up and down on the application, which is a problem when there’s overflow content, and the submit button on the “is there anything else we should know about you” page doesn’t do anything.
Edit: after cancelling the app / going forward and backward in the application process it started randomly working. Buggy nonetheless
Edit: after cancelling the app / going forward and backward in the application process it started randomly working. Buggy nonetheless
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CHANGING THE GAME
Nova has brought to us what creatives have been yearning for!
Still waiting for Application to be processed
I’ve been a professional photographer in L.A for years and I submitted my application and I’m still waiting for it to be processed. What’s the hold up?
Scam?!
Been waiting for weeks now on my application to be accepted. Not sure how else to interact with this app other than waiting for something to happen? How can I send in my referrals when none of my friends have been accepted to Nova? Is there an actual app behind the application review screen? Looks like we will never know…
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shaky application process, shaky execution
amending my initial review from before my application was accepted. previous complaint was: i went a week without being accepted. more on that later.
the TLDR is that this app has potential. but it is filled with so many glaring missteps that i can barely call it functional, and all the “creatives” that have been hyping it up aren’t even able to point out what they like about it, just that “it’s great and it works.”
the first thing to mention is the launch has been possibly one of the worst and sloppiest i have ever seen in a startup. if you’re going to hype yourselves up as much as these guys have, and then gatekeep your own app with an application and referral system, you need 100% transparency on what your onboarding process is for users. a journalist friend of mine spoke to one of the Nova team and was told that the initial wave of users were actually part of a closed beta. given the degrees of separation from my source on that, take it with a grain of salt, but it is baffling to me how hard they fumbled getting people onto the app. and if it is a closed beta, SHOUT IT FROM THE ROOFTOPS.
there was an early bird instagram exclusive application window, and the only people who were being accepted were instagram accounts with blue checkmarks or large followings. mostly directors and creative directors. every comment on their recent posts is something about not being accepted. i dmed them about it and was immediately allowed in, but the majority of people were left in the dark. it felt cliquey more than anything.
one if my previous complaints was that, while waiting for your application to be approved, you could select a race (from a very limited, single option only list) and indicate if you were LGBTQ. my worry was that those bits of info would be used on our profile somehow and affect the hiring process. turns out it was just for them to pick who to approve, cuz once your application is accepted neither of those options exist in the app anymore.
the jobs board and profile are the obvious selling points of the app. and both do what they’re supposed to. profiles are a little bare bones, with several fields being locked off to user input (“please email us to add representation/former clients”). the huge thing profiles are missing are pins/spotlights. all projects on your page are sorted by the order you uploaded them. not great, but easily fixable.
the jobs board is the most fleshed out feature, but i raise an eyebrow at some of the positions that are listed and available to search for. compliments due where compliments are due: it has everything you can think of. but it seems like these positions were pulled from a studio binder list of “every job on a movie”
some of them are crazy odd specific, like underwater camera operator, b cam 1st ac, and some of them are beyond vague (what even is a “visual researcher”). it’s here that nova team outs themselves as a camera and marketing leaning team. there are maybe 10 camera positions listed. it’s crazy.
wanna know how many sound positions there are? three. designer, mixer, and operator. nova, you NEED to have definitions next to each of these, because you will soon discover that a sound operator is NOT A REAL THING (and is in fact detrimental to real sound mixers, as being credited as a sound operator disqualifies a project from counting towards IATSE membership days. maybe boom operator is what you’re thinking of?), and your user base is using it interchangeably with sound mixer, which in turn is also being appropriated as a sound designer.
there are like six other positions in sound i can think of off the top of my head. it might seem nitpicky but i just don’t see how you came up with this list of jobs.
anyway, those are my impressions. you have a solid foundation but it looks like you’re running around with your head in the sand. take it out and talk to some below the line freelancers, and see how they use the app. the “creative directors” are just using you guys as clout portfolios instead of a jobs board.
the TLDR is that this app has potential. but it is filled with so many glaring missteps that i can barely call it functional, and all the “creatives” that have been hyping it up aren’t even able to point out what they like about it, just that “it’s great and it works.”
the first thing to mention is the launch has been possibly one of the worst and sloppiest i have ever seen in a startup. if you’re going to hype yourselves up as much as these guys have, and then gatekeep your own app with an application and referral system, you need 100% transparency on what your onboarding process is for users. a journalist friend of mine spoke to one of the Nova team and was told that the initial wave of users were actually part of a closed beta. given the degrees of separation from my source on that, take it with a grain of salt, but it is baffling to me how hard they fumbled getting people onto the app. and if it is a closed beta, SHOUT IT FROM THE ROOFTOPS.
there was an early bird instagram exclusive application window, and the only people who were being accepted were instagram accounts with blue checkmarks or large followings. mostly directors and creative directors. every comment on their recent posts is something about not being accepted. i dmed them about it and was immediately allowed in, but the majority of people were left in the dark. it felt cliquey more than anything.
one if my previous complaints was that, while waiting for your application to be approved, you could select a race (from a very limited, single option only list) and indicate if you were LGBTQ. my worry was that those bits of info would be used on our profile somehow and affect the hiring process. turns out it was just for them to pick who to approve, cuz once your application is accepted neither of those options exist in the app anymore.
the jobs board and profile are the obvious selling points of the app. and both do what they’re supposed to. profiles are a little bare bones, with several fields being locked off to user input (“please email us to add representation/former clients”). the huge thing profiles are missing are pins/spotlights. all projects on your page are sorted by the order you uploaded them. not great, but easily fixable.
the jobs board is the most fleshed out feature, but i raise an eyebrow at some of the positions that are listed and available to search for. compliments due where compliments are due: it has everything you can think of. but it seems like these positions were pulled from a studio binder list of “every job on a movie”
some of them are crazy odd specific, like underwater camera operator, b cam 1st ac, and some of them are beyond vague (what even is a “visual researcher”). it’s here that nova team outs themselves as a camera and marketing leaning team. there are maybe 10 camera positions listed. it’s crazy.
wanna know how many sound positions there are? three. designer, mixer, and operator. nova, you NEED to have definitions next to each of these, because you will soon discover that a sound operator is NOT A REAL THING (and is in fact detrimental to real sound mixers, as being credited as a sound operator disqualifies a project from counting towards IATSE membership days. maybe boom operator is what you’re thinking of?), and your user base is using it interchangeably with sound mixer, which in turn is also being appropriated as a sound designer.
there are like six other positions in sound i can think of off the top of my head. it might seem nitpicky but i just don’t see how you came up with this list of jobs.
anyway, those are my impressions. you have a solid foundation but it looks like you’re running around with your head in the sand. take it out and talk to some below the line freelancers, and see how they use the app. the “creative directors” are just using you guys as clout portfolios instead of a jobs board.
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way to make an app that gatekeeps jobs
by not letting people onto the app now
Superb 🎨💫
I discovered Nova on IG last Christmas and have successfully been hired on multiple gigs from their postings on IG! I’m loving the new community on the App, it’s very user friendly and connects creatives all around the world. If I am traveling to Europe or Asia and need to find creatives, the search makes it so easy to find everyone and it’s linked to their social and website. The message section makes it super cool to communicate with Job hiring or networking. Great App!
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Great for Independently Wealthy DPs and Creative Directors
everyone else? good luck getting your application approved. I’m sure this is a fantastic app but none of my friends nor I working in other fields have had our applications approved despite submitting early. it already feels super cliquey to see the same genre of creative hyping these guys up on social media while i’ve been locked out for five days, there are facebook groups with less security than this that still accomplish the same level of exclusivity and anti-spam. not a great look for a job search app
the other two things i wanna point out are some of the only other interactive options i have which are the race selector and LGBTQ indicator.
if you’re gonna prompt us to choose a race, and just one, you’re going to need some more specific options. if you’re asian, you have to decide between South and East, which, if you’re literally any other kind of asian, you know makes no sense.
the LGBTQ indicator is a fine idea, and I haven’t seen how it interacts with your public profile, but it does open up an uncomfortable conversation about hiring based on sexual orientation. you can make a similar argument for race, but I feel like this is a tad touchier and even as a member of the LGBTQ community I worry about the precedents that it could set, but again I don’t have access to the app and don’t know if it even matters.
you guys are doing god’s work making this app, and I’m certain that it will change how creative industries operate, but someone seriously needs to call you out on this application process
the other two things i wanna point out are some of the only other interactive options i have which are the race selector and LGBTQ indicator.
if you’re gonna prompt us to choose a race, and just one, you’re going to need some more specific options. if you’re asian, you have to decide between South and East, which, if you’re literally any other kind of asian, you know makes no sense.
the LGBTQ indicator is a fine idea, and I haven’t seen how it interacts with your public profile, but it does open up an uncomfortable conversation about hiring based on sexual orientation. you can make a similar argument for race, but I feel like this is a tad touchier and even as a member of the LGBTQ community I worry about the precedents that it could set, but again I don’t have access to the app and don’t know if it even matters.
you guys are doing god’s work making this app, and I’m certain that it will change how creative industries operate, but someone seriously needs to call you out on this application process
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Thank you!!
Love everything the Nova team has given the freelance creative industry! Would love to see some things implemented into the app soon :)
As a producer, our agency will fly contractors out from all over the US and it would be great to be able to post a job listing that shows up in every city so we’re able to see everyone available across the country.
Same goes for when we are looking to hire multiple positions for a gig - would love to be able to post that we’re looking for more than just one position.
🙏🙏
As a producer, our agency will fly contractors out from all over the US and it would be great to be able to post a job listing that shows up in every city so we’re able to see everyone available across the country.
Same goes for when we are looking to hire multiple positions for a gig - would love to be able to post that we’re looking for more than just one position.
🙏🙏
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