Korean Job Discussion Forums

the dakota kid · Joined: 20 Jul 2004 Location: Not in Seoul...

Ditto what all of the others have stated. I have probably spent hours chatting and Skyping him with questions. He has always either provided the answers or at least tried to find them. Other recruiters have fallen considerably short. I am going through the EPIK program with him and his agency. He is quite honest that he is running a business, not that it is a four letter word by any means...

That being said, I give him a thumbs up.

tdk

anorakcity · Joined: 24 Nov 2007

Limited experience since they didn't have any jobs I was interested in, but he was extremely helpful with advising me on the new visa regulations. There's lots of useful info on the FAQ on their site, if only it was better organized.

MarionG · Joined: 14 Sep 2006

He obviously has a lot of dedicated fans and that speaks well for him. I doubt if his failure to respond is my education or nationality.

I'm an experienced, credentialed American teacher with multiple degrees, who has loved my first...and it looks as if it will be my last...year in Korea. Last because it's close to time for me to leave (two weeks) and no job...

WoBW · Joined: 07 Dec 2007 Location: HBC

I sent Rowan an email yesterday.

Within 30 minutes he replied asking if it was alright to call me. So he called shortly after with an opening I was interested in.

He also called immigration to check up on a question I was concerned about.

So, all good news for me.

chris_J2 · Joined: 17 Apr 2006 Location: From Brisbane, Au.

OP:

Did you try phoning ESL Planet?

ESL PLANET www.esl-planet.com 4F Lingua Bldg 44-19 Chungdam Dong Gangnam Gu, Seoul South Korea 135-100
Telephone: (82) 516 0517 Fax: (82) 02 516 6002

[email protected]
010 7218 9959

greedy_bones · Joined: 01 Jul 2007 Location: not quite sure anymore

My experiences with ESL Planet have been pretty good. They were good at getting back to me quickly, and gave me honest answers about the schools I was interested in. They also have get togethers with their teachers each year. I haven't had any real problems with my current school that I got through them, but my coworker has, and even 10 months into the contract, they'll still mediate between the employee and employer.

The only problem I have with them is that they don't seem to have a lot of jobs to choose from, but unlike KimsKorea, they actually remove jobs from their board once they're taken.

sonicmatt · Joined: 04 Oct 2007

Thats awesome to hear about ESL Planet. Ive been searching for a reputable recruiter that isnt too pushy and I think Ive found one but what all you have said. I do have one friend over there that used footprints, how are they to deal with.

Draz · Joined: 27 Jun 2007 Location: Land of Morning Clam

MarionG · Joined: 14 Sep 2006

Draz...where I work has pretty much fallen apart.

Update...I've just received an e-mail from Rowan saying I'd trashed his name, but he'd still be willing to talk to me. I'm guessing that someone characterized my comments in this thread that way-I would disagree, but reasonable people often do.

He said the people who post here don't have anything else to do with their lives. That's why my supposition is that he didn't read the thread himself, as he is clearly doing something else with his life, and is very busy. This assumption (that he didn't read it himself) may, of course, be inaccurate.

He apparently DID respond to my original e-mail to him, and for whatever reason it didn't land in my inbox, my junk mail box or my deleted box...I'm going to chalk it up to the secret lives of computers.

In any event, he did live up to the many comments on here about being responsive, and I thought it only fair to say so.

Draz · Joined: 27 Jun 2007 Location: Land of Morning Clam

chris_J2 · Joined: 17 Apr 2006 Location: From Brisbane, Au.

Just received an email from Rowan, who will be back in Korea in March:

wylies99 · Joined: 13 May 2006 Location: I'm one cool cat!

chris_J2 · Joined: 17 Apr 2006 Location: From Brisbane, Au.

Wylies99: How long ago was that? 'A4 Education Inc' morphed into Lingua International Inc, which then became ESL Planet.

And did you try phoning them?

wylies99 · Joined: 13 May 2006 Location: I'm one cool cat!

It was a few months ago and the lack of a response was very disappointing.
A simple "We're too busy to handle you at this time. Sorry. " would have been acceptable and the professional thing to do.
But, let me be frank (who?) with this- I don't have a very high opinion of recruiters. I had no problem finding others. I don't bear a grudge, but when I'm asked my opinion of a certain recruiter who didn't treat me well, I will answer honestly. Wink

Donkey Beer · Joined: 20 Jul 2006

I agree with pretty much everyone's comments.

Rowan didn't respond to me when i first contacted him for a job either. About a year later, when i was looking for a job he responded.

He sounds like a much more reasonable / honest recruiter. He actually listened to my demands in terms of location and money. When i told him the job he referred me to sucked, he didn't have a bad attitude or try to force things on me like all other recruiters have tried to do.

My suggestion is to use as many recruiters as you can because you can't rely on anyone solely.