Korean Job Discussion Forums

dsmoore · Joined: 26 May 2008

My recruiter seems to be coming back with stuff that is a mistake or wrong information, and it is starting to make me worried. Mostly it has been little things... like sending me a personalized email stating that I won't get the rural allowance like I was told, then when I asked about it, being told that yes, I would be receiving it, but that email was sent out to everyone, for those who are not being placed in one of four cities that provide the allowance.

There have been other little things, like stating more vacation time than there actually is and saying it was a mistake in the ad, as well as things like sending me a list of E2 requirements saying I must have my university send my transcripts, only to tell me in an email that's not a big deal and to just send them myself. Again, many of the things are not any kind of big issues, but just a lot of stuff piling up for someone who I would think would have been through this process hundreds of times before.

Now I am days from signing an EPIK contract to start September 1st and I get an email saying that the wrong notice of appointment was sent to me, so please discard it and a new one will be sent.

I know mistakes happen, but this is not making feel the most confident. What should I do here? We have been working with this recruiter for 2 months and they have answered all questions we have had satisfactorily. And I fully realize that they are the middle person and getting their information from one or more sources behind them. Should I go ahead and send my documents without a signed contract and book my flights and everything else they want me to do?

rhinocharge64 · Joined: 20 Sep 2006

Welcome to the madness of epik and a lying rat of a recriter, thank god I don't use a recruiter nor work for septic, hectic, epik.

dsmoore · Joined: 26 May 2008

Well it could be a false alarm, sorry. They wrote back and said that the notice of appointment is needed for the visa and that the contract is still fine. It still seems weird since all the notice says is my name, birth date, and a paragraph stating I have been accepted for hire. I would still be interested in any thoughts you might have.

Imrahil · Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 9:24 pm Post subject:

Aren't their lots of recruiters you could be using? If it is possible why not use a recruiter that is not as 'mistake prone?' Even though, those can be as likely to screw you over too.

loose_ends · Joined: 23 Jul 2007

zpeanut · Joined: 12 Mar 2008 Location: Pohang, Korea

I havn't worked at any schools in korea, but I've worked for a Korean owned language school is Australia.. and tell you what, same thing! utter confusion and chaos.

One of my worst experiences (and I'm sure I just struck some severe bad luck) was working at a school where everything was being managed by a ticketing officer (the school also ran a ticketing business) The boss hardly knew anything! everything was disorganised, the boss would say something then change his mind half way through. The ticketing officer knew nothing about how to manage a language school, let alone the needs of the students and teacher. I had to remind the boss of my pay day and chase up my pay... (grr..) and he had never heard of a payslip! I quit after 2 months.

Maybe the recruiter is a ticketing officer too??

Btw, Glad everything worked out Smile

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

There are many recruiters available to help you. Go with one you feel comfortable with and not one that makes you feel uneasy. Also, if a recruiter IS honest with you, they may say negatives about certain schools. If all they say is positive things, be wary. This is a slimy industry.

mmarshalynne · Joined: 23 May 2008

I had my first recruiter. I liked him. Then they said he was no longer with the company. Then I got a second recruiter. He wasn't as friendly and didn't speak English as well, but we seemed to muddle through. Without this website, I would have been generally clueless as to what I needed to put together and send to the recruiter. When he got my documents, he seemed amazed that everything was correct. Now the first recruiter is magically back, and the second recruiter has left the company. The truth is that neither recruiter told me about a consulate visit to get my visa. They sent me the Visa number and said they were ready for me to come. I only knew of the need for the consulate interview because of reading on this website. I guess because the recruiter struggles with English and has difficulty communicating. I just assumed that this is just the way it is.