Korean Job Discussion Forums

[RonBrown]

Hi everyone. I'm very confused and concerned right now.

I am in the Toronto area and am working on getting myself out to Korea. I have been dealing with a recruiter in BC for the past few months setting this up. She has always been very nice, has contacted me frequently, and has responded to my emails very promptly - usually within a day, never longer than 2 days. I sent my application materials to her about 2 weeks back (e.g., passport photocopy, degree notorization, etc.). After she received it we had a few communications - e.g., I needed the school to fax me something and this was arranged. However, it has now been at least 1.5 weeks and I haven't heard anything from her nor have I received any replies from any of my emails, nor has she answered any of my phone calls.

There is much to suggest that she is not in anyway trying to screw me somehow:
1. even after she received my materials she continued interacting with me and had needed documents faxed to me (though the complete document wasn't sent - I needed the signed contract and only the 2nd of the 2 pages went through in the fax)
2. She said that she was a Tesol instructor and I did a net search and found her listed as a course instructor for Global Tesol. However, when I phoned the location that the website said she worked, the person said that she'd never heard of her and that they only have one Korean teacher, who isn't her. Perhaps she only taught one or 2 courses with them some time back...
3. I Facebook searched a teacher at the school that I'm supposed to be going to work at - Boston Campus in Seoul - who answered some questions about the school for me a while back. I found a person with his name who listed their location as South Korea.
4. In asking about whether health insurance covers a medication I take, she looked into it and got back to me with very specific information.
5. She was always very knowledgeable.
6. I tried calling Boston Campus yesterday and their automated answering thing said "Boston Campus" amid the Korean speech.

On the other hand:
1. See 2, above - the Global Tesol school rep saying that she hadn't heard of my recruiter;
2. My email to Boston Campus - I got the email address from the school's website - bounced back.
3. There is no website for the recruiters company - Dongyang Education Consulting (Coquitlam, BC).


Can anyone help me interpret this?

What do you guys think?

[tfunk]

Are you white?

[smedini]

Did you pay this person any money?

~smedini

[RonBrown]

Thanks for the replies!

Answers:

I didn't send them any money.

I am half white, half Indian. A lot of people describe me as being White.

[smedini]

When did you send her your picture?

~smedini

[RonBrown]

She received the document package, including the 2 passport-sized photos, on April 15.

[RonBrown]

I just realized I over-estimated the time of last contact: I last spoke to her 8 days ago - just feels like longer....

In checking back through my email communications, I also over-estimated how long ago I should have received the Visa number. It should have been ready a few days ago.

Nevertheless, though, this is just odd that she isn't contacting me and I can't get ahold of her, given that she's always been so nice, accessible, informative, and quick to reply, and that she would contact me frequently.

[tfunk]

Koreans are discriminating when it comes to who they want as a foreign teacher: white, preferably North American/Canadian.

It's possible that the school took a look at your photograph and had second thoughts. I can't think of any other reason but it's only a guess.

[smedini]

Maybe they saw your picture and decided you weren't for them...? Not a slight against you, but Koreans can sometimes expect their teachers to look at certain way. When I was first looking into a job in Korea I talked to a recruiter and when I met him for coffee he said I wouldn't work out...he said I was "too heavy" to work in Korea....

I bypassed the recruiters and applied on my own to a hogwan. Turns out I wasn't too heavy at all

~smedini

[RonBrown]

Hmmm. But I sent the recruiter a self-taken photo a while back and everything was cool back then. I sent it to her before she had even got me on the path to applying for this particular school. It only stands to reason that she would have forwarded that pic along with my resume to the school.

[tfunk]

It's not up to the recruiter, it's up to the school. Maybe the recruiter thought she could get you a job, teachers are very hard to get at the moment.

[RonBrown]

But wouldn't the recruiter have forwarded along my picture to the school way back?

[tfunk]

This is all speculation at the moment.

If you are trying to call Boston Campus, remember that the hours are different in Korea.

[RonBrown]

Oh, indeed. I'll try again tonight probably.

[tfunk]

You could also try phoning one of the many Canadian run recruiting agencies and explain your situation. I'm not endorsing them either way, but I'd feel I'd be able to square with them better.