Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ajuma]

We've been doing interviews and hiring for positions at my uni. We accepted a certain candidate, but now I'm having some doubts. Because of information that came out at the interview and things a poster has written here, I now know this person's screen name. After reading a few of this person's postings, I think we might have made a BIG mistake.

My questions: How much credence would you give to things a poster writes here? If the person seems to have some major issues (attacking other posters (without provocation), seemingly poor attitude about the whole "Korean experience", a feeling that the person "doesn't work well with others",etc), would you think twice about hiring them? And finally, if you DID hire that person and later had second thoughts, would you bring your thoughts to the rest of the hiring committee?

Obviously, I can't go into much detail about the poster. You know how you have a "gut feeling" about the posters here? Even if you don't agree with them, you can respect their ideas, right? Of course! But what if that same "gut feeling" keeps telling you "We made a BIG mistake!!"??? What would you do?

[mack the knife]

You made your bed now sleep in it. That's what you do.



OR....



Fire his sorry ass and HIRE me! I wanna UNI job, STAT!

[Pendennis]

Get a second opinion. If they feel the same way then pull the plug.

[the_beaver]

[rednblack]

What about me Beaver? I love Cliff Richard (seriously) and I'm a fine cook.

[passport220]

Without knowing who the poster is to make a judgment based on posts it is hard to say. However, It seems �iffy� to me to judge professional abilities / attitudes based on postings here.

If a person logs in thinking they have anonymity they may well display a completely different personality than the one they would display in a professional setting. They may will just be letting off steam in a safe, anonymous (in their mind) setting about their Korean experience or stirring the pot in a discussion just for the fun of it.

[robot]

hmm.

if the papers are already signed, there's nothing much you can do, right?

though you can definitely now monitor this person for conduct unbecoming of a university staff member that may jeopardize his/her employ at your institution.

since you figured out who this poster was, you can reason that others might as well, so you can consider his/her contributions on eslcafe the public postings of one of your teachers just as if his/her name was signed at bottom.

ROBT.

[ajuma]

passport220 That's the main reason for this post. I know that some people use Dave's for their alter-ego...and that's all well and good, but I've read about 10-15 posts that this person wrote...and EVERY ONE of them shoots up a red flag in my mind. Venom practially pours out of every posting...

I DO think I'm going to bring this to the attention of the other hiring board members. I don't know if it's too late to do anything or not...or even if we should!

[rothkowitz]

Ok,fair enough.Give it to me instead.Where is it?

Perhaps the person knows who you are too and he won't take the job because your so rattled about a bulletin board.

[ChuckECheese]

Don't be ridiculous.

You've made your decision to hire him/her already based on your assessment of the person's qualification, skills, and interview. And I assume that you've already informed the person of your decision to hire.

First of all, are you absolutely 100% sure that this person is who you think he/she is in this forum?

If you are having second thoughts about this person because of his comments, views, and opinion posted in this forum, you're taking this forum way-way too seriously and you need to have your head examined.

What you should consider is if he/she would do a good job and be a good teacher, but not would he/she have same views and opinion about everything that I have and be my friend and buddy.

Bottom line is that you and the committee have made the decision and you have to honor your decision. If things don�t work out with this person along the way, there's always an option to let him/her go with some cause.

[passport220]

I understand the concept. My gut feeling is by and large you can get an idea about a person by reading posts. However, just as a note of caution given that a person has no expectation that his/her posts would be viewed by a potential employer / co-worker they may liberally �pour venom� out in every post just for the sake of �pouring venom� in a place they felt would bring no consequences in doing so. Hence �blowing off steam�. That could be the exact reason to create an alter-ego.

I guess if I were in your shoes I would not want to judge someone professionally unsuitable or questionable by making that judgment on shaky grounds in an arena completely unattached to professional behavior. Would doing so not put my own professional judgment in question?

[Missile Command Kid]

1) It's possible that you're wrong. Without knowing the exact info, it's difficult to determine how accurate your assessment is, but I doubt you're 100% certain that your candidate is your particular Dave's poster. Why risk terminating a perfectly good employee over what could be a huge misunderstanding?

2) I say things when I'm not at work that I would never say at work. I do things at home that I would never do at work. People have the ability to act in one way while not working and another way while they're working. Basing a decision on what somebody says outside of work or outside of a professional situation might not be the best way to go.

3) You've got a signed contract, yes? If you break it, and this person *is* a Dave's poster, I'm sure that the name of *your* university would come out. You probably know as well as I do how people constantly ask "What's your employer's name?" when somebody tells a horror story about a job here in Korea; why should this situation be any different? I know that I would be very leery of applying to a university that uses what I've said online against me. It also reflects very badly on an employer if they break a contract. If you found out this information before the hiring and decided not to hire him, fair enough, but it's too late to back out now. To not hire him now would risk the reputation of your university on this web site - do you think it's worth it because you think you know the handle of your particular new hire?

As I said, it's too late now. Learn from your mistake and do your sleuthing before you sign a contract with somebody. I'm not sure whether it's ethical to not hire an employee because of what they've said when they thought they were writing anonymously, but I do know that going back on your contract at this point reflects badly on you and your school.

[thegadfly]

Ajuma,

Personally, I would take anything a poster puts on these boards way MORE seriously than anything said or done in the interview process. This is how a person acts when no one is looking, when there is no real penalty for bad behavior. A person's true colors shine through when they think no one is looking. 10-15 posts that raise red flags? Even if the person is just posting venom to stir up crap on the boards for his/her own amusement ...that means he or she is amused by stirring up crap...which bodes poorly for his or her employer.

I think it would be fair to call the candidate on the postings, and give a chance for a response...if the response satisfies, fine. If not, I would say so long...especially if a posting contradicts something said in an interview. I mean really, where is it more likely a person would be honest -- where the person thinks he/she is hidden, or in an interview with a uni job on the line?

[plokiju]

I don't think it seems fair to bring ESL Cafe into the process of hiring. I mean the poster may be negative or whatever but I doubt he would ever think it would be revealed to a potential employer. Even though it's a public forum, it would almost be akin to a telling the hiring committee about some conversation you overheard him having and unless he were describing something really over the line, like something illegal or highly unethical, I don't think it would be worth reporting. I think there is basically a kind of expectation of privacy on these boards and some people may write freely on here what they may not even tell someone in person.

This person, if this person and the poster are even one and the same, could completely completely deny that he (I doubt she) was the poster. Unless you had absolute proof, then you end up looking a bit foolish and it would really serve no purpose. It would just create friction between you and the new teacher since more than likely they have committed themselves to hiring him. Furthermore, though I doubt it would necessarily be a problem for you since you always seem professional on this board, your employers would find out about your alter-ego and get an insight into your life that you would prefer them not to have.

Having said this however you are the only one who knows who the poster is so it really just depends on how strongly you feel about it. Based on what you've said though, if I were you I wouldn't reveal it to the committee. Like another poster said, he was hired on the strength of his resume and the interview not for what he may or may not have posted on an anonymous internet forum.

[thegadfly]

...oh, an offer of a job and a signed contract are two different things -- I was under the impression that this was after the offer but before all the paperwork has been signed -- if both parties signed off already, I would have to alter my opinion...word is bond, even when you make a bad promise...with a contract, I would only support a termination based upon contractually actionable behaviors or incidents.