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Korean Job Discussion Forums "The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Teachers from Around the World!"
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[email protected]
Joined: 10 Apr 2008
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Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2008 9:10 pm Post subject: Good Recruiters???? |
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I have heard good things about Footprints and am currently using their services..... Are they an ideal recruiter? They "supposedly" only place teachers in well-reputable schools....
But if that were the case than why do some of the contracts seem to offer less than what I've seen posted ???
It would be so nice just to find a middle man that is trust worthy: Any advise?
PS--thanks to all you helpful, kind people out there~it is kind of mind blowing to see you guys so willing to help without any kind of incentive besides general "goodness"  |
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ttompatz

Joined: 05 Sep 2005 Location: Kwangju, South Korea
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Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2008 10:03 pm Post subject: |
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Please let me repeat an old post of mine.
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Really, when it comes to a recruiter, who cares?
A recruiter is nothing more than an introduction to an employer.
REPEAT: A recruiter is nothing more than an introduction to an employer.
Hello Mr. English speaker this is Mr Hakwon owner.
Mr. hakwon owner, this is Mr. English speaker.
Mr. English speaker, here is the contract. Please read and sign.
School, here is the signed contract. Pay me.
Good bye.
-You are not paying them anything (or you shouldn't be).
-THEY DO NOT WORK FOR YOU! - They work for the school.
-They owe you nothing once you get here.
-They are not your friend.
-They are not your baby sitter.
-They cannot help you if things go to *beep* after you get here.
Beyond that it is YOUR responsibility to check the school out.
Do NOT trust ANY recruiter. They are like used car salesmen. They will lie and sell their soul to get the signature on the contract.
Do your own DUE DILLIGENCE in regards to the school or get burned.
Use the recruiters for what they are. Use more than one and keep going until you get what you want. There is no rush and there is certainly no shortage of jobs.
When it comes to the school - again - repeat - Do your own DUE DILLIGENCE.
1st - READ the contract over very carefully. If that doesn't scare you away then...
The best you can do is minimize the risk by talking to MORE THAN ONE of the foreign staff and ask POINTED AND SPECIFIC QUESTIONS (*when the boss is NOT listening over their shoulder). Don't accept non-specific answers and broad generalizations.
No foreign staff references to talk (directly and via e-mail) to = walk away now.
Accept NO EXCUSES for any reason.
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[email protected]
Joined: 10 Apr 2008
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Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2008 10:12 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks----Point well made. As simple as it may seem to you, your info just saved my ass! Thanks again  |
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peachlily

Joined: 11 Apr 2008
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Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2008 11:22 pm Post subject: Is this guy a liar? |
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Hi, I'm planning on goin to korea soon too.
But from the looks of it, everyone seems to be sayin talk to more than one recruiter.
But on another recruiter's website. they said,
"Do not send out an application to every employer and recruiter who advertises on the internet. Often enough, recruiters flog your resume to every language school in Korea. Although the English education industry seems huge in Korea, many paths can lead to the same job. If a language school has received three or four copies of your resume from different recruiters, they will view pursuing your application as a waste of their time, and recruiters you've been in contact may lose interest in helping you as well."
Is this true?
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ttompatz

Joined: 05 Sep 2005 Location: Kwangju, South Korea
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Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2008 11:36 pm Post subject: Re: Is this guy a liar? |
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peachlily wrote: |
Hi, I'm planning on goin to korea soon too.
But from the looks of it, everyone seems to be sayin talk to more than one recruiter.
But on another recruiter's website. they said,
"Do not send out an application to every employer and recruiter who advertises on the internet. Often enough, recruiters flog your resume to every language school in Korea. Although the English education industry seems huge in Korea, many paths can lead to the same job. If a language school has received three or four copies of your resume from different recruiters, they will view pursuing your application as a waste of their time, and recruiters you've been in contact may lose interest in helping you as well."
Is this true?
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Only true that the recruiter will have to stand in line to get paid or may not get paid if someone else sent your resume first or if you found a better job with another recruiter.
The schools don't care. Most of the language schools are barely one step above the sleazy recruiters.
They just want you.
17,000 applicants last year (number of visas issued).
25,000 job openings.
You do the math.
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elliemk

Joined: 01 Jul 2007 Location: Sparkling Korea!
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Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2008 6:35 am Post subject: |
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I can recommend a GREAT recruiter.
He will provide pictures of the apartment in which you'll be living. He will provide email addresses of current and or just past current teachers. He will not give you a contract that doesn't include Korean National Health Insurance or National Pension. All contracts provide the standard otherwise: 10 days paid vacation (not in conjunction with national holidays). He will stay with you for the life of your contract. He is the most ethical and honest recruiter I have met here (and I have been in contact with many of them).
He recruits for the Ulsan area. Ulsan is a city of 1.3 million people and has many Western restaurants, festivals and so forth. There is a wonderful walking trail on the Taewha River.
I got a job through him. I fell and broke one ankle and sprained another. I had only been three days on the job. They fired me. He decided that because of that incident, he would no longer sign with a school that didn't provide National Health Insurance. When I got a job through another recruiter, he said, "I'm so happy you found another job."
Recruiters in Korea are infamous for caring nothing about the people they sign once the deal is done. He is not that way.
Here is his contact information:
Jake Kim
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 010-8536-9317
Website: http://www.teachkorea.info
Please note: I am helping him update the site, so the E-2 visa requirements are not up to date yet.
Email me if you have questions: elliemk at mindspring dot com.
Also, if you are Christian, there is a WONDERFUL church in Ulsan. The minister is from New York. There are Koreans and foreigners who attend the English speaking service. If you have any trouble or need anything, Bill George will help you. If you get sick and don't have insurance, the church will help you by paying for part of your medical bills!
Anyway, I hope this information is of some help to you. |
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elliemk

Joined: 01 Jul 2007 Location: Sparkling Korea!
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Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2008 7:08 am Post subject: |
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Just updated Jake Kim's information in my prior post. |
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regicide
Joined: 01 Sep 2006 Location: United States
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Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2008 10:13 am Post subject: |
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elliemk wrote: |
I can recommend a GREAT recruiter.
He will provide pictures of the apartment in which you'll be living. He will provide email addresses of current and or just past current teachers. He will not give you a contract that doesn't include Korean National Health Insurance or National Pension. All contracts provide the standard otherwise: 10 days paid vacation (not in conjunction with national holidays). He will stay with you for the life of your contract. He is the most ethical and honest recruiter I have met here (and I have been in contact with many of them).
He recruits for the Ulsan area. Ulsan is a city of 1.3 million people and has many Western restaurants, festivals and so forth. There is a wonderful walking trail on the Taewha River.
I got a job through him. I fell and broke one ankle and sprained another. I had only been three days on the job. They fired me. He decided that because of that incident, he would no longer sign with a school that didn't provide National Health Insurance. When I got a job through another recruiter, he said, "I'm so happy you found another job."
Recruiters in Korea are infamous for caring nothing about the people they sign once the deal is done. He is not that way.
Here is his contact information:
Jake Kim
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 010-8536-9317
Website: http://www.teachkorea.info
Please note: I am helping him update the site, so the E-2 visa requirements are not up to date yet.
Email me if you have questions: elliemk at mindspring dot com.
Also, if you are Christian, there is a WONDERFUL church in Ulsan. The minister is from New York. There are Koreans and foreigners who attend the English speaking service. If you have any trouble or need anything, Bill George will help you. If you get sick and don't have insurance, the church will help you by paying for part of your medical bills!
Anyway, I hope this information is of some help to you. |
Great Post. FWIW, I think some people on this forum have outlived their usefulness here and probably in Korea as well. It may be time for some fresh ideas and outlook regarding living in the land of the morning calm. |
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mountainous

Joined: 04 Sep 2007 Location: Los Angeles
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Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2008 11:19 am Post subject: |
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elliemk wrote: |
He will stay with you for the life of your contract. |
How do you know this?
How long have you known the recruiter?
elliemk wrote: |
I got a job through him. I fell and broke one ankle and sprained another. I had only been three days on the job. They fired me. |
So what does that tell you about the recruiter? It tells me that he placed at least one teacher (YOU) at an unethical hakwon.
Has Jake Kim done anything good for you jobwise? |
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mountainous

Joined: 04 Sep 2007 Location: Los Angeles
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A2Steve

Joined: 10 Nov 2007
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Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 10:51 pm Post subject: |
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one I liked was esl-planet. at least he was honest with wanting to "downsize" his use of hagwons.
I think its that. or eslplanet. i think there are a lot of recruiters there, but the one I talked to was from Australia, so he spoke English well. or typed it at least. |
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elliemk

Joined: 01 Jul 2007 Location: Sparkling Korea!
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Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2008 7:57 pm Post subject: |
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Mountainous - here are the responses to your questions and comments:
I wrote: [quote]He will stay with you for the life of your contract.[\quote]
You wrote:
Quote: |
How do you know this? |
Because I know several people with whom he has done so.
You wrote: [quote]How long have you known the recruiter?[\quote]
I've known him for about 9 months.
You quoted me: elliemk wrote: I got a job through him. I fell and broke one ankle and sprained another. I had only been three days on the job. They fired me.
Then you said:
Quote: |
So what does that tell you about the recruiter? It tells me that he placed at least one teacher (YOU) at an unethical hakwon. |
No, he didn't know they would do something like that. How could he? Don't be ridiculous. How can anyone know that a hakwon one thinks is good will turn out to be bad in terms of treatment of its native teachers?
You asked:
Quote: |
Has Jake Kim done anything good for you jobwise? |
Jake actually only got me the one job mentioned above. It's a very long story about the others, and I don't care to go into that now. But Jake is a cut above many recruiters and wants the teachers and the schools to be happy. He goes the extra mile many times for his teachers and schools. Don't keep on trashing his name when you don't know anything about him. You keep making negative references to him and to me, and these negatives are based on assumptions, not facts.
And then, here you go again:
Quote: |
Updating: The poster above who raved about Jake Kim has announced that she is leaving Korea after getting screwed over by 4 hakwons in 10 months. It appears that the "GREAT recruiter" is not so great after all, lol. |
Again, your post is based on assumptions. The only job Jake got me was the one that fired me when I hurt myself. Long story again - won't go into all the details now. So, before making such negative assumptions, you really should consider all the facts. |
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Curious George
Joined: 06 Apr 2004 Location: Seoul, Korea
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Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2008 9:43 pm Post subject: |
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Work N Play and Korvia are good recruiters for the most part. |
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nomad-ish

Joined: 08 Oct 2007 Location: On the bottom of the food chain
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Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 2:49 pm Post subject: |
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i'll throw Canadian Connection in here too
http://www.canconx.com
i've used them for my last public school position in korea and i'm in the process of using them a second time. they'll try and help you throughout your time in korea (whether it's giving you advice, helping you network with other teachers in korea, etc.). |
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mountainous

Joined: 04 Sep 2007 Location: Los Angeles
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Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2008 4:25 am Post subject: |
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[quote="elliemk"]Mountainous - here are the responses to your questions and comments:
I wrote: [quote]He will stay with you for the life of your contract.[\quote]
You wrote:
Quote: |
How do you know this? |
Because I know several people with whom he has done so.
You wrote:
Quote: |
How long have you known the recruiter?[\quote]
I've known him for about 9 months.
You quoted me: elliemk wrote: I got a job through him. I fell and broke one ankle and sprained another. I had only been three days on the job. They fired me.
Then you said:
Quote: |
So what does that tell you about the recruiter? It tells me that he placed at least one teacher (YOU) at an unethical hakwon. |
No, he didn't know they would do something like that. How could he? Don't be ridiculous. How can anyone know that a hakwon one thinks is good will turn out to be bad in terms of treatment of its native teachers?
You asked:
Quote: |
Has Jake Kim done anything good for you jobwise? |
Jake actually only got me the one job mentioned above. It's a very long story about the others, and I don't care to go into that now. But Jake is a cut above many recruiters and wants the teachers and the schools to be happy. He goes the extra mile many times for his teachers and schools. Don't keep on trashing his name when you don't know anything about him. You keep making negative references to him and to me, and these negatives are based on assumptions, not facts.
And then, here you go again:
Quote: |
Updating: The poster above who raved about Jake Kim has announced that she is leaving Korea after getting screwed over by 4 hakwons in 10 months. It appears that the "GREAT recruiter" is not so great after all, lol. |
Again, your post is based on assumptions. The only job Jake got me was the one that fired me when I hurt myself. Long story again - won't go into all the details now. So, before making such negative assumptions, you really should consider all the facts. |
You got one job through Jake Kim that lasted 3 days, okay.
You also said that you had a total of 4 jobs in 10 months, they all screwed you over, so now your are leaving Korea. Fine.
I just don't see what positive experience you had w/Jake Kim that would allow you to vouch for him the way that you did. You claimed that he is a great recruiter who will always do a, b and c for a teacher, etc.... how would you know all this?
Finally, why didn't you get another job through him if he is so great? He is the greatest recruiter on earth, according to you, yet you are not even willing to use him? Makes no sense.
No, I did not intend to bash you or him, sorry it came across that way.
Have a nice trip back to the USA, all the best, for real.  |
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