Korean Job Discussion Forums

[bundangbabo]

In my hands, I have two nice 'certificate of employment' which state the dates I worked at my GEPIK school and my duties, the certificates are in both English and Korean, with the school stamp and signed by my principal and co-teacher.

Which is the best way to utilize these lovely certificates and can they be used in lieu of a (bad) reference?

[cruisemonkey]

If you apply for another public job, they can be used to prove you have two years (I assume) teaching experience. Depending on where you apply, this fact may 'bump' your pay level.

Certificates of Employment will never override a bad reference (or the Korean, verbal 'grape vine').

[Kikomom]

Frame them and hang them on your "I Love Me" wall.

[robbyt]

Since you were employed by GEPIK, this likely won't apply to you. As for hagwon teachers who routinely get classified as self-employed / independent contractor, this certificate is good to have if you have to visit various government offices (tax, pension, etc.) to settle disputes against a cunning hagwon owner. Employers are legally obliged to provide them to employees, but in practice they may not be so easy to obtain.

[PRagic]

Make sure that the certificates that you have do not list your employment as 'FROM SOME DATE' to 'PRESENT', because that isn't the employment verification you'll need later on down the line. You want to certificate that reads the beginning and end dates of your employment. They are two different forms.

If you do indeed have the right one, ask someone in admin if you can get 5 more originals before you go. This is not a big deal for them, but it will save you time and trouble in the future. You need to hand in these certs every time you change jobs if you want credit for past experience.

And as another poster mentioned, these can come in handy if you have to deal with pay or health insurance issues retroactively.