Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Kim Cummings]

I've seen many announcements re job-openings passed on by people in discussion forums like this, and I'm wondering: what are some of the pitfalls of applying to a school directly, as opposed to going through a recruiter? Benefits?

[chinook]

I think it takes out the middle man.

Anything a recruiter tells you or promises you is only useful if the school is actually saying that too. It can be hard for you to try and determine if the school is in agreement with the promises of the recruiter.

That said, recruiters seem to be more and more prevalent compared to 2004, when I was first looking.

[Kim Cummings]

That's my feeling too.

I was wondering if it makes any difference in terms of the speed/efficiency of having docs processed for work visas. Also, many recruiters offer support to teachers after they're hired, but I wonder how often that actually happens.

[mindmetoo]

Nothing is a guarantee but I've always felt if a school has it together enough that they can hire a teacher and process the visa, they have some planning skills and it's a reasonable sign.

[Tony_Balony]

After a bad experience at a camp, I designed a curricula of what I thought a good camp would be and posted that on a job site with the idea of looking for backers. My school owner saw that ad and called me and offered me a job. I can't say that will work for you because the occurance is too odd, but yes according to my anecdote, getting on without the recruiter is the best way.

[pkang0202]

I got my public school job without a recruiter. It was real easy. I looked on GEPIK's website, saw everything I had to prepare. Once I had all the paperwork, I walked into GEPIK's office in Suwon, handed Wenise my application/paperwork. She looked at it for 10 minutes and said "Can you start on Monday."

A recruiter is just a middle man. If you deal directly with schools/education offices yourself, you can have more control on where you want to go. For instance, when I went there, they handed a list of schools available and I got to choose where I wanted to go.

[nobbyken]

Yeah,
I emailed GEPIK and by the end of the week I had the docs the wanted.
Went to the Suwon office on teh Friday, takled about suitable age school types to teach at and picked a city.

Signed the contract, and started when the semester started in 2 weeks.
A recruiter had suggested GEPIK, but became to busy to follow it through satisfactorarly. Just emailed myself and spoke by phone.

Nothing ventured.....

[spliff]

I don't know what would make a teacher feel a recruiter is on their side, after all, the school is paying them not the teacher.

[wylies99]

[lastat06513]

Not only is trying to find a job directly with a school possible.
It is highly encouraged!

Pounding the pavement or even being recommended by a friend can be great ways to find alot of the really good positions that are not always advertised on Dave's or any other website...

Remember, many of the schools that frequently advertise on Dave's have some sort of problems either getting teachers or retaining them.

The good schools are the ones that can retain teachers for long periods of time and who can depend on their teachers to find a suitable replacement before they leave.

[Kim Cummings]

I don't know if my experience with the recruiting process is typical, but it's been very confusing, but it seems it's a gamble either way. I've spent countless hours doing various types of research in order to be informed generally about teaching in Korea, but also to be "ready" for specific interviews (which didn't happen anyway)... THAT, and reading about other people's experiences, has made me cautious, but I'm beginning to think that if I really want to do this, I will have to "throw caution to the wind"!!