Korean Job Discussion Forums

vchampea · Joined: 02 Sep 2011 Location: USA

I'm posting to get some advice about applying to jobs in Korea. I recently got back from a nightmare teaching job in Thailand. I've read employers can be exploitative to their teachers in Korea, but it is a very serious problem in Thailand. I got particularly unlucky. I'm not going to describe the situation at length; I'll just summarize.

My employer in Thailand hired me to teach English. Upon arrival they wanted me to teach math, science, global studies, economics and drama. I negotiated with them to reduce my subjects to English, global studies and drama. Needless to say, it was a disaster and things only got worse. My employer's expectation's were absolutely ridiculous. I gave it my best shot. I was working hard every day and every weekend to try to meet their expectations. Things just got out of hand. I was not payed my full salary for the first month. I was asked to sign some papers in Thai for my visa, which I later found out was my employment contract. Although we agreed I would get paid 36,000 baht per month, the contract (which I was unable to read) said 15,000. The other foreign teachers working for the school couldn't put up with all the bullshit so they quit. Their teaching hours got dumped onto my already overwhelming schedule. I started looking for another job. I had an interview and got hired. My employer was not happy about me leaving. She actually went into my room (I lived in a guest room at the school) and stole my passport and then locked me out of my room. After police intervention I got my stuff out of my room and left. I started my new job. I did not get my passport back. I applied for a new one at the embassy. Before I was issued a new passport my employer cancelled my visa and I was deported from Thailand. All this took place in a little over two months.

So my question is, what do I put on my resume? Do I just pretend that I never had this job in Thailand? I had two months of intense teaching experience. I'd like it to be known that I have real teaching experience, but I cannot risk potential employers trying to contact that school. Any advice? Right now my resume says "worked short contracts teaching English at several schools in the greater Bangkok area."

litebear · Joined: 12 Sep 2009 Location: Holland

Hmm. They will probably never contact a school in another country, so I think you should be ok. Tell them you worked across a number of schools and worked for an agency that didn't speak English

DaHu · Joined: 09 Feb 2011

If the school wasn't in Korea they don't count it as "experience"

vchampea · Joined: 02 Sep 2011 Location: USA

Yeah, I'm noticing that most of these recruiters do not ask for contact information of previous work experience upfront. Does that change later if I get an interview? Might they ask for details of previous schools I've worked at?

ttompatz · Joined: 05 Sep 2005 Location: Kwangju, South Korea

vchampea · Joined: 02 Sep 2011 Location: USA

The story I told you was very condensed. I left a lot of the details out. I'm not going to recount the story all over again because I'm really just sick of it. Let me just say Thai immigration didn't care that my passport was stolen and they were bribed to deceive me. Trust me, she was an absolutely terrible employer and made things extremely difficult for me.

If I come to South Korea to teach I won't be making the same mistakes again, that's for sure.

jacksthirty · Joined: 30 Nov 2009

Will 2 months of experience really make that much of a difference to a job application in Korea? I don't think that you have anything to worry about.

Son Deureo! · Joined: 30 Apr 2003

I can't see any possible benefit to your mentioning this on your resume. Even if they don't contact your previous employer, and they probably wouldn't, they would wonder why you either quit or got fired so quickly. That's a question you really don't want to have to answer, even if it is your only previous teaching experience.

koreatimes · Joined: 07 Jun 2011

I am not afraid of answering, I tell people how it is. If they don't like it, then I look elsewhere.

It's not like we can't find a job. It's not like 1,000 applicants for 3 positions. Put it down as experience and have the courage to represent YOURSELF.

I left a school after 3 weeks. School sucked, living accommodations sucked, and the other teachers were brainwashed into believing they were one of the seven dwarfs working for their Chinese Snow White. They are probably still there now.

If anything it says to the employer, treat me like crap, and I will move on.

matthews_world · Joined: 15 Feb 2003

You made a short story long and you needed a place to vent. Actually the story was quite beneficial as it goes into some of the intracacies of the nightmares that can happen in Thailand. That country and Vietnam are my next possible destination.

I wouldn't place the experience on your resume at all. If it was placed on your resume there is no guarantee that they would or would not check it.

Come in as a noob.

Take a decent offer where you can get and get a lay of the land before you decide if you want to continue or what type of school or age group you'd be suited for.

If you're young, blonde and under 30 then your door is wide open here for the most part.

ontheway · Posted: Fri Sep 09, 2011 6:47 am Post subject:

That 2 month bit of trouble you had in Thailand will count for you as an educational life experience. However, for an employer in Korea it will look like either a 2 month failure and a red flag, a lot of fluff with no substance, or just nothing at all.

Put it in your autobiography.

Leave it off your resume.

Warhammer820 · Joined: 03 Jun 2011 Location: USA

Welcome to the Korean forum. Couldn't give Ajarn another try?

young_clinton · Joined: 09 Sep 2009

Sounds like your job was short lived, so don't even list it on your resume. Tell them you were on vacation. If you list the job you won't get hired period. Hopefully someday, I don't know how, asians can be forced into making reasonable hiring decisions. As of now they can look at your resume and think anything they want of it without any penalty.

ZIFA

vchampea · Joined: 02 Sep 2011 Location: USA

Ahhh, I should have checked back at this thread earlier. I probably should have known that 2 months of experience in Thailand is worthless. I've already applied to a few recruiters and I left the job in Thailand on my resume. Damn, and they were some of the better recruiters too. I hope some of you are right about nobody caring about my 2 months in Thailand.