Korean Job Discussion Forums

[alphakennyone]

My inept recruiter (Korvia) first told me that a reference letter from my previous company that also listed the dates of my employment would act as a "teaching employment certificate" thus proving I taught two years in Korea so I can get the appropriate salary.

Now she's saying I need another document but has only sent me an HWP file (as a sample) which I can't view.

Any ideas on what this is? And any idea on how I might switch recruiters AFTER I've successfully interviewed with SMOE?

I don't want to reward sloppy work. They don't even understand SMOE's salary levels - they underestimated by 200,000 won. I called them out on it and I ended up being right in the end.

[kiwigirl :O)]

hi...

what this is is just an official document from your previous employer (for the korean one) that has your schools seal/stamp and states your contract dates...

I had to do this for SMOE last year and for GEPIK this year.....

its also good to have them for personal reference.....I also ask my old Korean directors for a copy in english (so I have something tangible to show possible employers when I go back home)

If you need to see a sample PM me and I'll show you one of mine...

good luck....
kg

[alphakennyone]

Yeah, I did all that. I made sure it was on official letterhead, and basically it was a reference letter that *clearly stated* in the first sentence the dates that I worked there. Followed the sample my recruiter gave me to a T - after multiple phone calls to my prior employers.

Now (after finally downloading the HWP viewer to view the new sample), I just see a mess of Korean that just says a bunch of stuff like name, nationality, dates worked, location worked, and "full time." Not on official letterhead seal/stamp or anything like that.

I'm not sure if I should be angry at my recruiter or SMOE. It took me 2 weeks to convince my past employers to get off their asses and provide this letter for me when I could have easily gotten personal references elsewhere. Now I have to go through the process of contacting them AGAIN.

[Xuanzang]

Just get something that has some sort of address and dates on it. School letterhead or an envelope would be fine. If you're leaving on good terms then get the school's fancy red stamp from your wonjangnim.

[alphakennyone]

I'd love to, but I'm out of country. I feel like just writing the thing myself by modifying the reference letter they already gave me. It took them 2 weeks (and 3 phone calls) to get that already, which I figured (edit: was told by my recruiter) would kill 2 birds with one stone.

anyone looking for a recruiter for SMOE...go with footprints or worknplay.

[Xuanzang]

Korvia used to be good. At least when I dealt with them. Who was your recruiter?

[Michelle]

[alphakennyone]

Serena. Total noob. Couldn't even predict my salary level.

Told me I'd get 2.0 considering my experience, but if I got my TEFL cert, it'd be 2.3...so I hurried up and signed up for that so I could tell SMOE I was on it during the interview.

Then I passed the interview, and it turns out my salary would be 2.2 even without a TEFL cert. a less than 5% salary increase certainly makes getting the cert much less urgent (as she claimed it would be) than a 15% increase. OK, still, I'd have signed up for the online cert anyway - but it's just another sign of amateurishness.

Definitely makes me 2nd guess returning to Korea. Apparently a TEFL cert is a requirement for jobs in China now too, so maybe some new windows will open up.

[Big Mac]

Many Koreans don't realize that the rest of the world does not use their silly word processing program called Hangul. I don't know how many times Koreans have sent me files made with that program that I can't open.

I also had to get the letters proving my work experience. My recruiter made me go to a lawyer and get them notarized before they would accept them. It cost me about $80.

My school still gave me a hard time when they got the letters and were threatening to give me a lower salary because they didn't see them as valid documents. I kicked up a bit of a stink on that, because there was no way I was going to accept a change in salary after arriving here. They were going to lower me from 2.3 million to 1.8, which would have been pretty crappy.

[alphakennyone]

I haven't heard anything about needing them notarized. I'm sure that's another step that will be thrown at me AFTER I've submitted the documents to them.

I just find it ridiculous because it would have been much easier for me to get personal references other than from the CEO of my previous hagwon. But I was told it would also act as a TEC (I'm really tired of typing that imaginary document's name). So now I've got to do it again, or just make it myself.

[Bibbitybop]

I have a friend considering SMOE and she has never been to Korea. Her recruiter (Footprints) say SMOE requires a "certificate" but, couldn't explain what it was. An official license to teach in the US (obviously not) or a TEFL (not been required before).

SMOE is retarded for getting outside companies to find their teachers. Just hire 2-3 people in the office, save money, save time, have clear and consistent policies, and get some more people in their seriously understaffed office.

[WillTurnerinVanCity]