|
Korean Job Discussion Forums
"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Teachers from Around the World!"
|
| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
theperfectend
Joined: 20 Oct 2012
Location: UK
|
 Posted: Sat May 25, 2013 5:02 pm Post subject: Terrible experience with eslstarter |
 |
|
Long story short: errors made with my interview led to my application to EPIK being withdrawn. eslstarter are blaming it all on me even though they are aware that I did everything correctly.
*and I cant seem to get the images to work
I thought it was a great idea to send my application through them because they would check it was all ok etc, and it was free so I figured why not!
BIG MISTAKE!
It all started to go wrong around April - I knew I was supposed to get an interview slot sent to me "early to mid-April" for an interview around the end of April. Come the end of April, I hadn't heard anything, so I emailed the guy handling my application, Phil (I'm starting to believe he may be the only person at this company?? ALL my correspondence is replied to by him).
So I emailed on April 18th asking why I hadn't got an interview, he replied at 10:25am to say it hadn't been sent through yet, then miraculously at 11:20am he emailed me through my interview time. What a coincidence that it was sent through less than an hour after I had asked him about it, eh? Seems very much like he had just forgotten all about it.
ANYWAY, my interview was for May 3rd at 1am (GMT), I was on skype from 10:30pm just to check everything was working, but nobody ever added me or called. I waited around til 2am but still nothing, so I emailed my pal Phil immediately.
At around 8am he emailed back to say it was odd and he'd look into it. By May 9th I'd still heard nothing back so I emailed him and once again he immediately sent through a new interview date.
(I know, I know, I should have given up on them by now, but hindsight is a wonderful thing)
My new interview was for May 13th at 7:50am (GMT). When I logged into skype I found someone from EPIK had added me on the 8th but it was hours after my interview slot and then sent me messages saying that if I wasn't going to turn up I should have let them know.
So, once again I sat and waited and once again nobody called. This time Phil was actually on skype at the time, so I messaged him 20 minutes after my interview was due to start to say nothing was happening.
Here is the conversation:
[img]https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/294963_924764303087_668117735_n.jpg[/img]
[img]https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/964433_924764352987_783253337_o.jpg[/img]
So, he knows I was there, he knows I showed up. I waited for a response. There was none. I was super busy with a family wedding etc so I only managed to get back to him on May 22nd to ask when another interview would be scheduled and his only response was
"Hi Emily,
I've checked with the coordinator and they have withdrawn your application.
I am very sorry about that.
Please just let me know if you might be interested in one of our other programs.
Best wishes,
Phil"
Cheers, Phil! No explanation or anything! I asked why and he said it was because of the "interview situation". Hmm... that situation that was not my fault and was totally out of my hands. Great, thanks. He said that he won't help explain anything to EPIK because they won't change their minds anyway.
This, at least, was proved true when I emailed EPIK with all my evidence and rather than replying to me they sent it all straight to eslstarter. I posted on their (eslstarter) fb page and twitter but they deleted everything that they could and keep telling me it was my fault and my responsibility even though Phil knows that this is not true.
So this huge tale was to put it out there that eslstarter are a shit company that fucked up my application that I worked on for months. I spent a lot of money on getting all my documents together and it was all for nothing. And to top it all off, they are calling me a liar and treating me like dirt simply for asking for an explanation as to why this happened.
Go elsewhere! |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
YTMND
Joined: 16 Jan 2012
Location: You're the man now dog!!
|
| Posted: Sat May 25, 2013 6:11 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Quote: |
| I spent a lot of money on getting all my documents together and it was all for nothing. |
Even if the recruiter is the best on the planet, I always get contact info for the school. This way if you are waiting 10 minutes past any agreed time on Skype, you can call them up directly. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Airborne9
Joined: 01 Jun 2010
|
| Posted: Sat May 25, 2013 6:45 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| YTMND wrote: |
| Quote: |
| I spent a lot of money on getting all my documents together and it was all for nothing. |
Even if the recruiter is the best on the planet, I always get contact info for the school. This way if you are waiting 10 minutes past any agreed time on Skype, you can call them up directly. |
Well this was EPIK so it probably wasn't a school calling her, most likely a coordinator or whoever and even if she had asked i doubt anyone would have given her their details to her. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
YTMND
Joined: 16 Jan 2012
Location: You're the man now dog!!
|
| Posted: Sat May 25, 2013 8:18 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Airborne9 wrote: |
| YTMND wrote: |
| Quote: |
| I spent a lot of money on getting all my documents together and it was all for nothing. |
Even if the recruiter is the best on the planet, I always get contact info for the school. This way if you are waiting 10 minutes past any agreed time on Skype, you can call them up directly. |
Well this was EPIK so it probably wasn't a school calling her, most likely a coordinator or whoever and even if she had asked i doubt anyone would have given her their details to her. |
That is no excuse. Think about it.
A = School
B = Middle man
C = Teacher
A talks to B which talks to C
BUT!! Wait a minute, maybe B doesn't talk to C
A = School
B = Middle man higher ranking
C = Middle man lower ranking
D = Teacher
A talks to B which talks to D which talks to C
Now we have room for gaps. Person A and B do not want to be bothered.
Ooops, this gets complicated doesn't it?
A = School higher ranking
B = School lower ranking
C = Middle man higher ranking
D = Middle man lower ranking
E = Teacher
Alright, now we have a clearer picture.
A talks to B which talks to C which talks to D which talks to E.
A and C do not want to be bothered. So, B works for A and D works for C. E works for E 
That is right E works for E. This means you have a desire for a secretary someone whom you can latch onto. You adopt person D to do this legwork, but they work for C.
Now, what happened was this E person was sitting around waiting for B to call them, or maybe it was A.
Maybe D did their work and it was B who goofed up. It was B's day off at work and D didn't know about it. So, E gets angry, demands to talk to C, and C sees nothing wrong. Their D did the work.
We don't know what happened. The point is, we need to get a school's number. We need to find B's number.
There is ALWAYS a B number.
Repeat after me folks:
There is ALWAYS a B number.
There is ALWAYS a B number.
There is ALWAYS a B number.
There is ALWAYS a B number.
There is ALWAYS a B number.
There is ALWAYS a B number.
There is ALWAYS a B number.
There is ALWAYS a B number.
I visited a school Thursday and they didn't tell me where it was located. However, I had A's phone number and I had the recruiter's number (in this case, it doesn't matter if it is person C or D). I called up A, and then A sent B down to meet me.
If I did not have the phone number, I wouldn't have the job. I don't care what excuses you throw out. If you don't have the number, you don't have the job. If you want to waste your time and get documents and not get a phone number, you deserve what you get.
Be wise, get contact info of the person you are going to have an interview with. If you don't you are either innocently naive or you are stubbornly idiotic. Take your pick. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
nicwr2002
Joined: 17 Aug 2011
|
| Posted: Sat May 25, 2013 10:41 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| That's the whole point of having a recruiter. How are you going to get the contact numbers of A and B when you don't have access to them? I really dislike EPIK and think their application process is ridiculous. Because of a recruiters mistake, this person will now, most likely, never been considered for a position again. There are better ways to work in Korea other than EPIK with better pay if you are willing to live outside Seoul. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
YTMND
Joined: 16 Jan 2012
Location: You're the man now dog!!
|
| Posted: Sun May 26, 2013 12:16 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Quote: |
| Because of a recruiters mistake |
You completely missed my analysis. Anything can go wrong at anytime.
The head of these offices don't want to speak with us. They have assistants.
After being screened and "ok'd", then we are allowed to meet them. This is how it works. The secretary at the front entrance.
If however, that person has the day off, then what happens?
I highly doubt EPIK heads will talk with every teacher, they have someone hired to do the legwork.
This involves interviews. When I had my interview it was not the final stage. This means they have different people you talk with.
We need to realize this and get phone numbers of both sides. The recruiter only works for the school
The recruiter does NOT work for us. If we lose time or money, it matters nothing to school and recruiter. Remember this.
Get the school's number. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Daelim
Joined: 18 Jun 2011
|
| Posted: Sun May 26, 2013 3:08 am Post subject: |
|
|
Are eslstarter a Korean recruitment firm? Are they native English speakers?
This sounds like a typical Korean stunt where they don't know there bum from their elbow half the time.
Stick to native English firms, there are many and you're likely to get much better service from them.
And sorry about your application... EPIK is a hard nut to get into these days and to be rejected for this must be hard to take. I sympathise completely. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
theperfectend
Joined: 20 Oct 2012
Location: UK
|
| Posted: Sun May 26, 2013 9:01 am Post subject: |
|
|
They are English - based in Yorkshire.
I mean, i guess i was just naive and thought EPIK was a good, safe choice. I didnt really think of going anywhere else. Mostly im just angry that hes saying i didnt show up when he knows that is untrue. Reject me, but dont call me a liar. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
young_clinton
Joined: 09 Sep 2009
|
| Posted: Sun May 26, 2013 9:16 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Best to go into public schools via a recruiter independent of EPIK and GEPIK. That would mean you would have to find a job outside of Seoul and some other large cities. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Lucas
Joined: 11 Sep 2012
|
| Posted: Sun May 26, 2013 5:43 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Quote: |
My new interview was for May 13th at 7:50am (GMT). When I logged into skype I found someone from EPIK had added me on the 8th but it was hours after my interview slot and then sent me messages saying that if I wasn't going to turn up I should have let them know.
|
I guess they (EPIK) were busy/got delayed speaking to other people. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
nicwr2002
Joined: 17 Aug 2011
|
| Posted: Sun May 26, 2013 8:57 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| YTMND wrote: |
| Quote: |
| Because of a recruiters mistake |
You completely missed my analysis. Anything can go wrong at anytime.
The head of these offices don't want to speak with us. They have assistants.
After being screened and "ok'd", then we are allowed to meet them. This is how it works. The secretary at the front entrance.
If however, that person has the day off, then what happens?
I highly doubt EPIK heads will talk with every teacher, they have someone hired to do the legwork.
This involves interviews. When I had my interview it was not the final stage. This means they have different people you talk with.
We need to realize this and get phone numbers of both sides. The recruiter only works for the school
The recruiter does NOT work for us. If we lose time or money, it matters nothing to school and recruiter. Remember this.
Get the school's number. |
Right, but most newbies have no clue that this is the case. They think that the recruiter is doing everything in their power to get them a job. When I first came here I certainly had no idea that recruiters were out for number one. I didn't think to treat them like a car salesman. All I'm saying is that I believe EPIK needs to have a little compassion, because the company that recruits for them is usually the first impression a newbie has of Korea. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Guajiro
Joined: 04 Dec 2008
|
| Posted: Mon May 27, 2013 8:31 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| theperfectend wrote: |
They are English - based in Yorkshire.
I mean, i guess i was just naive and thought EPIK was a good, safe choice. I didnt really think of going anywhere else. Mostly im just angry that hes saying i didnt show up when he knows that is untrue. Reject me, but dont call me a liar. |
No point being angry. That's not going to get you into a public school. Apply to a recruiter that works directly with provincial or metropolitan offices of education. Canadian Connection, Korvia, Korean Horizons and WorknPlay come to mind.
Whether the job is with EPIK or direct with the office of education, it's basically the same public school job.
Best of luck! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
