Korean Job Discussion Forums

[me_voy]

I know this question has been asked before...but all the responses seem somewhat old...

Can anyone give me any names of recruiters in which you have had good or bad experiences from?

Thanks so much!!

[Olivencia]

Good: Appletree
Bad: Chungdahm

[LosSeoul]

Sorry to jump in your thread...

...but ive been trying to find info on the same question

has anyone ever used Asia-Pacific Connections?
http://www.asia-pacific-connections.com/

I've been looking through there website and reading a lot on there and I really like them. Could be all BS though? Any experiences?

[toddt82]

I'd like to jump in on this thread too, as I've been looking for an updated list of good and bad recruiters as well.

I've been looking at ESL Teacher Recruiter ( http://www.eslteacherrecruiter.com/ ) a lot lately. They are the only ones I've seen (so far) who actually separate regular ESL jobs from full curriculum jobs for certified teachers with a BEd degree, which I am in the process of obtaining. So you can imagine how interested I am in applying once I graduate, especially with the 2.6M/month salary they say comes with the certified teacher job. I should also mention that they claim to only recruit for private schools.

I'd be grateful for anyone's insight and expertise on this one.

Thank you!

[HollyLove]

I've been researching this myself and the consensus seems to be either ESL-planet, Korvia or smaller ones like Canadian Connection and AskNow. I've worked with KORVIA, ESL-Planet and YOUNIKOREA and decided to go with Younikorea though I would have chosen ESL-Planet just as easily. Rowan from esl-planet took a no bs approach which I appreciated and told me straight up all the information I needed to know with no sugar coating. Korvia I felt was disorganized, only in it for the money and on more than one occasion lied to me about placements though others have recommended them. Personally I chose to go with Younikorea (working with Judy Kim) because they were completely honest, had worked with a friend of mine and Judy seemed genuinely nice. Frankly recruiters seem somewhat interchangeable you can work with more than one up until they send off your application (to GEPIK) then you need to work with just one.

[toddt82]

Thanks HollyLove

You mentioned GEPIK--are you for or against the private sector? I'm completely torn between the two myself, and would like to make the most informed decision possible. Could you give insight as to which is a better route in your opinion?

Thanks!

[me_voy]

thanks for your suggestions. has anyone used teach esl korea?

[blade]

Really good: WorknPlay.
Really terrible: GMSC recruitment.

[DosEquisXX]

I used World English Service (www.teachkoreanz.com) for my job. They work almost exclusively with public school positions in the Kyungam province though they do have a few hagwon spots here and there. They were very reliable and kept in contact with me throughout the entire process. Unlike some other recruiters, they had great knowledge of the areas they were sending students to and even took time to visit some of the foreigners they sent to public school jobs.

[HollyLove]

I'm new to this myself so I have no real experience with either the private or public sector. I chose to only apply for public schools myself because I felt the benefits were slightly better (due mostly to vacation) and public schools offer a bit more job security than Hakwons which can go bankrupt or any other number of things and leave you screwed over.

That being said a lot of other people have recommended going with hagwons (theres a lot of job out there you can basically pick were you want to live, you make slightly more money and you teach your own classes and don't have to work with a co-teacher). I suggested doing your research and making sure to get the emails of other teachers at your future place of work so you can ask them questions.

Some recruiters work solely for public schools (korvia being one) but most recruiters do both. Frankly if I were to apply for a private school I would only apply through ESL-Planet who only work with about 5 hagwons that have been certified by previous placements and who've they've worked with for years (so they say) I did get to interview with one hagwon through them. The co-teacher gave me her email, answered the millions of questions I had about both the good and bad of the school and seemed to answer it truthfully.

Anyways I'm still going through the process myself and frankly can only give my opinions and they're unvertified since I'm still in the states. What I can say about the recruiter that I'm using (Younikorea) is that I have a friend who was placed in a public school in October (so after the school year had already started) he had a great experience with them and loves his school and placement. And hes in korea...that always important

[GTG09]

I worked with a lot of recruiters. Basically looked on the job page here and picked the ones that I researched and looked good.

I worked with ASKNow for a long period of time, they got me a good position that fell through, but that even took months and was dissapointed with the progress after a while. They are a great company that always helps you with any concers and questions you have. I just didn't like the positions they were offering me. They didn't seem to care what area I actually wanted. Besides that, great people.

Rowan at ESL-Planet, as you will read anywhere here, is one of the best recruiters. He does tell you like it is and does it with an awesome australian accent. They just didn't have any positions I was interested in.

I ended up taking a job from JJ Recruitment. I found them on the job page. I worked with Libby from there and she always answered any question I had promptly and helped a lot with contract changes.

Those are just a few I talked with. Go to the jobs page and check out the websites and make sure they clearly post their business license number. That was always the first thing I checked for in terms of legitimacy.

Good luck with your search.

[longlivetheclash]

As for ASKNOW...not impressed. They just throw contracts at you and never answer your questions...just 'sign, sign, sign.' Adventure Teaching seemed legit and to have their stuff together, but the jobs were being "swooped up" before I had a chance to interview. I got lucky and ended up landing a pretty sweet Hogwon gig in Jukjeon with a recruiting agency known as Maple Firm, but I do not recommend this recruiter..."smoke and mirrors" and loads of deception that I was able smooth over with the Hagwon boss after she realised what BS artists they are. Good luck. Get in touch with Rueben at Adventure Teaching, and see what he has to offer.

[seonsengnimble]

[fortunado30]

I went through Juan at EDU WORLD and he was great. He speaks English well and did a great job finding me a great position with low hours, great pay. He told me straight up about positions and what was available. I got hired through him with no problems. His email is eduworldkorea@gmail.com if anyone is interested in going through him.

[kdarroch]

Seems great and really accomidating, but am worried he is to nice.

http://www.eslagent.net/english/main.php