Korean Job Discussion Forums

[leotreo]

Just wanted to see if anyone has had experience with this situation.

Working at a school that just isn't working out for several reasons. (Age of students, teachers, etc).

Want to continue working in Korea for another school.

I assume you have to get release from the school that originally sponsored you. Or do you need them to sign a transfer of some sort?

If I reimbursed the airfare and other costs incurred by the school (medical exam), what are the chances that a job change could be executed?

Thanks in advance all.

[missty]

You will need to get a letter of release from the school in order to transfer your visa. I did this when I changed jobs near to the end of my contract. However your current school isn't legally obligated to give you this, so there is no guarantee you will get one. If they don't give you the letter then you will need to get all the documents from before and start a brand new visa process. (Degree, criminal check etc...)

I am no expert on this though, and I am not too sure what happens if you quit before 6 months. Although I am pretty sure that the school would be reluctant to give you a LOR if you did this.

[LindaYee]

I needed to change schools, for various reasons. I had been with them for 7 weeks when I informed the owner of the school. I was giving her seven weeks notice. I had a good relationship with her at the time. She was very disappointed, talked about how much time and money she had spent on finding me. I actually offered to reimburse the airfare and help find somebody to replace me.
Four weeks before I left I gave her a Letter of Release to sign, saying I needed it when applying for other positions. She was very reluctant to give it to me but I persevered and she signed it.
Two other teachers did a 'midnight run' a week after I resigned. I carried the extra workload and helped out for six weeks before I left.
She took out the full airfare from my last pay, which I knew she would, with no extra pay for the extra work that I did.
I think a lot depends on what sort of person you are dealing with in regards to deciding how to manage things.
Everyone will give you different advice from which you will have to ultimately make your own decision. Good luck.

[soomin]

It really depends on the school... I got mine, but just barely.

Read your contract... most likely there is a clause there that if you leave before 6 months, you have to pay for your airfare to come to Korea. You will in no case get airfare back or your pension/ end of contract bonus.

I had to do tons of extra work and wasn't allowed to leave until a new person was brought in and I had to push my boss to sign an LOR that I had written and gotten translated into Korean... luckily my new recruiter and my new boss helped with the paper work to transfer my visa... Get a good recruiter and a good new boss and do everything you can to get the LOR or you will have to jump through a TON of hoops and get a whole new visa...

Good luck!

[Rutherford]

[soomin]