Korean Job Discussion Forums

[YTMND]

[stew1988]

If I go down the overseas application again, does anybody have any tips? Obviously Korean immigration will let me in, however it's apparent that they may inform my prospective employer. This suggests that I need to be honest and forthright with the employer from the outset. I do this and they will most probably want the contact details of my previous school. Give them that and they will most probably hear a bunch of lies that will render me unemployable. Answers on a postcard. Thank you.

[YTMND]

[Troglodyte]

I think that you got pretty much the same advice the last time you posted your story.

But anyway, in case you forgot, here's my advice (again). Contact as many recruiters as possible. Tell them that you worked in Korea before but that you left because they school wasn't paying you or because they were going broke and weren't going to be able to pay you, or whatever your story is. Don't be dramatic about it. Just put the facts out there - you didn't want to work for free, and you had financial obligations. Also, don't tell them that you're married to a Korean. Many schools won't want to hire you because they know that they won't be able to control you after you get an F2 visa.

[stew1988]

Having sent my documents out to this school (adult school), I had 2 interviews. My CV alluded to private work in South Korea and we discussed this over the phone. At no point was I asked about being on an E2 VISA before and as such, I did not mention anything. I did not lie about anything asked, I simply did not tell them that I had an E2 before... my school contacted me telling me they were informed by immigration that I worked in Korea before and that for whatever reason, did not finish my contract. I have of course been dealing with the director of studies....he now tells me that I should probably start looking for other positions as finding out this information means it does not look promising. He said he will contact me again once the manager (Korean lady) contacts my old school...

[YTMND]

[stew1988]

How dare you tell me I'm not cut out for a relationship with a Korean woman or a job in Korea.

I did use recruiters at first and they were useless. The ones I told the truth too either ignored me completely or replied telling me that I am a bad person for leaving the children, completely disregarding what went on.

I decided to apply for jobs that were being advertised by schools directly rather by recruiters. I found an adult hagwon advertising and that was perfect for me. The school had good reviews, I spoke to existing members of staff and the 2 interviews I had with the DOS and the manager went very well. I could now teach adults and it was all looking good. I was not asked anything about my past in Korea, even though I wrote private tutoring on my CV. I did not tell them about my woes and they were impressed by the 2 references that I provided. They liked me for what I am.

Then IMMIGRATION sent a letter to the SCHOOL that informed then I had previously worked in Korea and not finished my contract. This in his words RAISED A RED FLAG. He asked me to explain and I did. He said that things do not look promising and I should probably continue my search for another job. The way he has left it is that I will not get my documents back from him and that the manager will now call my previous school to get their side of events...so essentially it's gone.

[YTMND]

stew,

You seem to be in a rut. You aren't listening. You are just retelling the same story over and over again. One last time. NOW LISTEN SON.

I don't think what you did was right. You went through recruiters abroad. I think you should have gone to Korea first, then you could have gone through recruiters.

Second, you should not have mentioned anything about doing a runner. If a school or recruiter deems it important to know, then move on to another offer.

Now, read the above a bajillion times until you realize this is different than what you did. Try it. See what happens. I have had amazing success with this method. I have also done your method, and both times I also had bad results. A third time was when I came to China and was a student instead of a teacher. I left the school. So, you see, planning things from far away DOES NOT always help. You need to be there in person. Interview, shake the school owner's hand, bow, whatever. Face to face.

Good luck.

[stew1988]

OK YTMND, don't get me wrong, I do appreciate your help.

So, what you are saying is to come to Korea with my documents prepared. Contact some recruiters once in Korea and once again, do not refer to my previous exploits in South Korea. Let's say I do this... what's to say the following would not happen...

- I go to a recruiter and he puts me on to a school.
- The school interviews me in person and they like me / offer to give me the job.
- The school arranges for me to do the VISA run to Japan. I do this and then immigration does exactly what it did before and warns the school of my previous E2 VISA. Is this not exactly the same chain of events, just this time in South Korea.

I see where you are coming from though. If this happens in South Korea, it is easy to just collect the documents up and start the process again immediately.

[Carbon]

Yeah....listen to the guy. He seems to have the cut-and-run-then-weasel-into-a-new-position thing down. He must have bad luck choosing hagwons or....well...yeah.

Anyhow, sounds like a winners' formula.

[isitts]

J#%*@ H. C*�#@$! Stew! Do you need these guys to come over there and kick you in the pants?

You're getting hung up about one school rejecting you?? Get over it. I had 4 or 5 schools fall through on me before landing a position first time I came here. Used a recruiter by the way. That school eventually lost its funding and I went back home for several months. Then I used another recruiter to get another job here.

Granted, I didn't have to pull a runner due to a hagwon boss not paying me, but if some boss weren't paying me, it would have been perfectly within my right to walk from that job. And why would any subsequent employer hold that against you? If they do, find another school. A contract is a two-way agreement. If you're willing to uphold your end of the deal, then you should expect the employer to do the same. If they don't, then they broke the contract, not you.

Or maybe there's something you aren't telling us about what happened with your last employer? Or is it that you just don't want to be with your wife and this is your way of saving face? "Sorry, Honey. I want to be in Korea. Really, I do, but immigration just won't let me."

If it's not one of these two, then I can't figure it out. You're just finding reasons not to come. You don't want to use a recruiter. You find reasons not to get an F2 (or F6). Come on, man! Your wife is over here waiting for you. That should be reason enough to get your ass in gear and find a way over.

Don't take me the wrong way. I'm rooting for you. But you've got to get your head in the right place.

[stew1988]

I suppose it's a case of doing things the wrong way, once again unfortunately...

I decided to find a job of my own back without a recruiter because this enabled me to find a job teaching adults. It enabled me to find a job that I was personally content with due to the fact that I did not want to go back to Korea and find myself in a terrible situation once again.

Of course it's nothing along the lines of me not wanting to go back and be with my wife. That's why South Korea as a country means so much to me. I just saw this as being the best way of approaching the return. I would find a job, that job would pay for my flight and give me a house. We could be together again and start building to the future...it fell through and I am back at square one...

I realize that maybe instead of going about it this way I could have just come over to Korea and started the process from there. At the time however and if this would have come off, I would not be saying that.

Maybe now it does seem as though the aim of the game is to save up and get myself out to Korea and go from there. It's not a case of getting my ass in gear. I have invested every last ounce of energy and money into our relationship and my career in South Korea. I feel that I did indeed go the wrong route. I found a job that does not in fact need me. The whole process has gone right through to immigration and processing my VISA Issuance number and that has takes some time. On the other hand, the company are a big concern and therefore I am expendable, unlike one of the smaller schools that would have most probably been reliant on me arriving for the scheduled start date. My biggest mistake was being picky. Someone on these forums told me once that beggars simply cannot be choosers. If I had have listened, gone through a recruiter, got myself a little hakwon job teaching Elementary kids, then maybe I would be at the embassy now collecting my Passport with the E2 VISA inside. Pretty gutting, but yes, I do need to get my head in gear and try again.

[YTMND]

[isitts]

If you have the gift of time and/or money, you can be picky. If not, then you do what you gotta do.

I've had some wrong paths, too. And just like you, I didn't know bout the D10 last time I was here. I'm not sure I would have gone back to the States if I'd known about it. But it worked out fine anyway. And I based my decision on the best information I had at the time.

By the way, I'm not really suggesting coming here first. Actually, even if I had known about the D10, it still would have been difficult to get my FBI CBC and diploma apostilled from Korea. But that's a side point. Anyway, it's fine that some people are comfortable just showing up and hitting the bricks, but I've never been comfortable doing that. But to each their own.

All I'm saying is don't get bent out of shape just because one school took to heart what immi told them. If you've already had a streak of bad luck in your home country with the job search, then your disappointment over this one school is understandable. But you just gotta keep at it. There are other schools and you've still got better odds here than there.

Anyway, get your documents ready, apply (either from there or come here first...though I vote for the former) for whatever job you can get in Korea, then change your visa to an F visa after you get here...earning the money you need for that F visa via your job here (presuming it's even necessary).

[YTMND]