Korean Job Discussion Forums

abedefduf · Joined: 15 Jan 2008

im planning on going over in the near future, and as it will be my first time i think its a good idea to go through a recruiter. i have 2 personal references who have taught english in korea and (to my surprise after reading these boards) both had great experiences and recommend it.

one of these people went through Park English and had good experiences with them. they seem like one of the more reputable recruiters out there.

has anyone here used Park English, and if so how was your experience?

tob55 · Joined: 29 Apr 2007

I am not a recruiter, and generally have not had any good experiences working with them, but there are some good ones out there. I sent you a PM with a couple of things to consider when you come. I would post them here but it would be considered advertising, so to keep your thread alive I sent you a PM.

Aurora_Redwinters · Joined: 27 Oct 2007 Location: Florida

Areut · Joined: 18 Sep 2006 Location: Behind You!!!!

tob55 · Joined: 29 Apr 2007

All of the information has been PMd to everyone.

Good luck in your search for employment. I think many more people would actually come and have a good time both socially and educationally if they were being given the facts about living and working in Korea. I have found it to be the best and the worst, but overall my opportunities here are much better than they were in the USA as an educator with more than 18 years of teaching experience in public and private schools, colleges and universities.

If anyone else wants some practical tips, just let me know and I'll send what I can.

abedefduf · Joined: 15 Jan 2008

thanks for the link tob55. i appreciate the response.
i was under the impression that one can get a good job there without that certification though.

still looking for first hand accounts of anyone who has gone through park english

tob55 · Joined: 29 Apr 2007

abedefduf ,

You are right in your assumption. I will say that the odds on bet is that with recent changes Korea will be looking more closely at things having to do with criminal history and medical concerns rather than worrying about if your degree is in English or Mechanical Engineering, just as long as the degree is verifiable and your credentials are not fake. I did a search for Park English and could really come up with anything that would be useful or what you are asking. Sorry, but let me know if there is any way I can help.

Here is a link to their testimonial page if you haven't seen it yet:

Park English Testimonials

Johnwayne · Joined: 28 Jun 2007

Tjames426 · Joined: 06 Aug 2006

Other than getting the finders fee from my School, they are completely useless.

They got me on a plane to Incheon. I arrived at 9:30 pm. No one was at the airport to greet me. I waited...waited....waited. I had never traveled on a business arrangement and not met at the arriving airport.

Finally, I went to the help desk to call the contact Park number in Seoul.

The woman apologized, but did nothing...er let me rephrase that.

She called my School. My School is 2 hours from Seoul. She told the school to come get me.

So instead of being responsible and upright, she said to herself, "The school paid me ..... won for this person. I am not going to do sh.. for the guy once he arrived. Even though, I am only ??? minutes away and this is his first time in Korea."

A driver comes to get me at 1 am. He does not speak English.

***

I could go on. But my School director and I had a long talk. Neither of us will deal with Park English again.

tob55 · Joined: 29 Apr 2007

What Tjames426 is saying is quite typical of the bast majority of recruiters in the country. I know of very few exceptions, even with the expat recruiters who have been in country for more than 10 years and are married to Koreans. The issue soon becomes one of money over quality. Nothing has changed and it commonly boils down to who hand is being greased to take a person.

Again, it is not a 100% surety that you will be taken advantage of by a recruiter, but odds are that it is a likelihood.

expat2001 · Joined: 28 Jan 2006

A while back , I was dealing with someone from PARK. At the time , I had a few years of experience .They asked me what I was looking for and I told.As a result they gave me a few offeres that were nothing close as to what I wanted or what I was worth. To make things worse ,they acted like they were trying to help me.As if they werent getting any money from whatever school.Like they had my best interest at heart.
I ve never a good experience with any recruiter! Even the jobs I had excepted , there were always a few lies.
Most recruiters are ex-hogwon owners /employees

jacob7207 · Joined: 12 Feb 2007 Location: Seoul

My FIRST contract was through them. The school SUCKED. Park English were pretty cool to me though. The girl who started it and I are friends, I haven't seen her in quite some time though. I don't even know if she is still here or not. She didn't work in a Hagwon. She started the company up herself.

With that said, she is really friendly and she would do anything for anybody. On Christmas 2005, she invited me to an orphanage and then to her house with a bunch of other people on Christmas for dinner. That was really kind of her to do that... She is really nice.

Park English is a recruiting company and they are in the business of recruiting. But they are good people who run the company and they will put you in a good school as long as you are up front with them from the start. Don't sign anything without talking to someone from the school, more precisely, speak to one of the foreign teachers at the school. If it's not what you want, simple, move on.

They don't own you and there are hundreds of other jobs and recruiting companies out there. Good luck.

Countrygirl · Joined: 19 Nov 2007 Location: in the classroom

I had a similar experience as Johnwayne. Both my husband and I were applying but it was harder to find my husband a job (he's Korean). An agent called right away and said that she had a job for both of us and wasn't it great. She was so excited. But everytime the manager from the company was supposed to contact us, he never did. We kept following up but nothing ever came of it. She made us so excited but she definitely jumped the gun as there never seemed to be a geniune job offer. After that, I guess she thought we were too difficult to get a job for both of us together and she gave up. She went from calling us constantly to not even bothering to return emails. We didn't push it and tried other recruiters. They also said it would be no problem getting the type of job we wanted but constantly sent us job offers only for me and not in the area we wanted to be. Felt like I was talking to myself. Finally we contacted the Board of Education ourselves and I have a decent job in the area we want to live.

abedefduf · Joined: 15 Jan 2008

thanks for the interesting replies guys.
basically, the purpose of using a recruiter is so they can help the noobie transition into life in a foriegn country and help them out when they need it. they all say they do this. apparently they rarely do.

what is a noob like me supposed to think, when for every person who says 'yes they were great and helpful' there is another who says 'they suck and will screw you'?

is it basically a 50/50 chance of being screwed and left to fend for yourself? did all you guys know this in advance and just take your chances anyway?

tob55 · Joined: 29 Apr 2007

The bottom line is to do your homework before deciding to go with a particular recruiter. One person's good experience is no indicator of a reputable individual. Why? It is simply a matte of time and circumstance.