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ajp
Joined: 09 May 2007
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 Posted: Thu May 31, 2007 6:32 pm Post subject: Phone interviews |
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| How hard is it to fail one of these? If you're interviewing with one of the larger companies, are they actually making any decisions based on the interview or is it just an opportunity to butter you up and make you excited about the job? |
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highlander_76
Joined: 21 Mar 2007
Location: Jeongja
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| Posted: Thu May 31, 2007 6:38 pm Post subject: not tough |
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If you are completely retarded, you may "fail" the phone interview, but as I understand it, that is the only reason companies do them. Just show them that you are not a psychopath and you shouldn't have any problems.
Oh, and make sure that you get the deal that you want before you hang up the phone, because once the contract is set, it's no turning back. |
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ajp
Joined: 09 May 2007
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| Posted: Thu May 31, 2007 6:47 pm Post subject: |
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Oh I've had a couple recently, and they went well. I'm more asking in order to help decide what I think of the school since the interviewers seemed a little foney.
And I didn't settle the contract at all--just asked questions about it. I'm under the impression that the contract is under negotiation until you sign? |
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yayforme
Joined: 30 Apr 2007
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| Posted: Thu May 31, 2007 7:37 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks for the great questions!! They really helped 
I'm kinda feel pressured to sign the contract, but I too was under the impression it was ok to negotiate it first. |
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ajp
Joined: 09 May 2007
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| Posted: Thu May 31, 2007 8:12 pm Post subject: |
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| I think most people here will tell you that you should never allow yourself to feel pressured when signing a contract. There are oodles of opportunities out there. OODLES! |
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ttompatz
Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea
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| Posted: Thu May 31, 2007 8:28 pm Post subject: |
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| yayforme wrote: |
Thanks for the great questions!! They really helped
I'm kinda feel pressured to sign the contract, but I too was under the impression it was ok to negotiate it first. |
Ask for the contact information of the foreign teachers. With the boss standing there you will not likely get honest information from the FT
and
if you are talking to the boss / whitey wrangler / director / owner you can expect him to spend most of the call trying to convince you that his school is the best place you can be.
There is a significant shortfall of FTs here in Korea and they will say anything to get your signature on the contract and get you on the plane.
With the e-mail addresses and/or phone numbers of the foreign staff you can call them / write to them when they are NOT at work and get some real answers to actual conditions in the school.
In addition to that I only have this oft repeated bit of personal advice (and it has served many users here very well).
READ the contract VERY CAREFULLY before you sign anything.
Post it here in the contract review thread for a 2nd (albeit biased) opinion.
http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewtopic.php?t=59265
Then, talk to MORE THAN ONE of the foreign staff and ask POINTED AND SPECIFIC QUESTIONS (*when the boss is NOT listening over their shoulder).
No foreign staff references to talk to = walk away now. Accept NO EXCUSES for any reason.
The hard questions to ask AND get acceptable answers to ARE:
-What are the hours? (start time / stop time / breaks).
-How many classes per day, week, month? NOT hour many hours per month. 30 classroom hours can mean anything from 1350 -1800 minutes per week standing in front of the class. The difference can be up to 7.5 HOURS in front of the class EACH WEEK.
-Do they ALWAYS pay on time?
-Do they pay at the end of your month or do they have a hold back period (5-10 days after your month end) to prevent runners? (no=red flag 1)
-Do they really pay overtime or avoid it with creative book keeping?
-Do you get credit for classes on the national holidays or do you get the day off but still have to work your 120 hours before you get overtime? (no=red flag 2)
-Do they have national medical (with the little booklet)? (no=red flag 3)
-Do they pay into pension? (no=red flag 4)
-What about the holidays? 10 or more WORKING days? (legal requirement here) (no=red flag 5)
-When and how do you get your holidays?
-What extra stuff do you really have to do - mentioned or not in the contract.
-Then consider the quality of life issues - things that are important to you that aren't mentioned here (housing, furnishings, THE BATHROOM, access to recreational facilities, shopping, banking).
Do they take additional deposits in addition to the delay in payday? (yes=red flag 6)
I would also like to mention for comparason:
My co-worker who is a green as grass, fresh of the boat newbie gets a base salary of 2.1 mil per month for 22 classes of 40 minutes each.
She gets 20k won for each 40 minute class over 22 per week and works from 8:30-4:30 each day. She usually averages 26 classes per week and her salary works out to about 2.5 mil per month.
She also gets (as required by law and ignored by most hakwons) NHIC medical, pension, severance, non-shared housing, airfare and 4 weeks annual PAID vacation.
Do NOT be in a rush to sign anything. There is NO rush or urgency in spite of what your recruiter may tell you.
Take your time. The job (or more likely a better one) will still be there next week and probably next month too.
There are 30,000 openings in Korea each year and only about 25,000 applicants to fill those jobs each year.
PS - public schools are beginnig their recruitment now for the August fall term school start if you don't want one of the horror stories about pay and benefits from a hakwon.
Just my humble opinion. |
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garykasparov
Joined: 27 May 2007
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| Posted: Thu May 31, 2007 9:23 pm Post subject: |
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Some other questions for a foreign teacher:
(1) Do the Korean Teachers and director have control of the students at the school?
(2) What are their behaviors like during breaks between classes and during classes?
(3) Does the director and Korean Teachers support the teachers in the classroom with unruly students?
If Korean Teachers don't have control of the kids it MAY be a very long year for you. |
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wylies99
Joined: 13 May 2006
Location: I'm one cool cat!
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| Posted: Thu May 31, 2007 10:52 pm Post subject: |
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There are so many jobs, who could possibly FAIL a phone interview?  |
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