Korean Job Discussion Forums

[nwiley]

Hey Guys,
So my recruiting agency "Reach to Teach" is telling me that if I want to teach private school in Seoul, Avalon is my only choice. Of course, I am a bit shocked by this, since this gives me absolutely no leverage in comparing contracts and or turning the job down for another job.
What do you guys think? Is this shady? Is the recruiting agency just pushing Avalon schools and ignoring other good private school deals in Seoul?
Thanks for any thoughts and comments.

[oftenadrift]

My guess is that Avalon is paying a hefty fee to get foreigerns tossed their way first. You always have more options, you just need to try out some more recruiters. (Honestly, I've found one is much the same as the other, they're just here to introduce you to schools and collect their cheques). You can probably find some recommendations for 'good' recruiters on this board if you browse through past threads.
There are always lots of hagwon jobs floating about (even in Seoul). Just keep applying. The only other reason I could think they might say 'only Avalon' for you, is if you had a very specific demand (say a certain salary in a certain place - like Sinchon, Seoul), and that was the only hagwon on file handled by their agency that matched. But I am betting its just about the money.

[ontheway]

Recruiters in Korea want to maximize the number of teachers they place in order to maximize their income. So, they present one school to a teacher and one teacher to a school. They seldom offer a choice to either.

If they have more jobs than teachers, then they will place every living, breathing body that comes their way, somewhere, and maximize their income and they will keep the schools waiting until the next teacher appears.

If they have more teachers than schools, they will fill every open position available and keep the teachers waiting until the next position appears.

Until recently there have always been more jobs available than schools. But, these days, there are many more unemployed workers looking for jobs than before and fewer positions opening up in Korea. Recruiters have begun cold calling schools to see if they need a teacher, asking for referrals and even sending unsolicited teacher resumes. There are more teachers than jobs and starting salaries have slipped back a bit.

Nevertheless, there are hundreds of jobs available at any given time even if there are hundreds of teachers looking. If you want a greater selection you will have to use more than one recruiter.

[nwiley]

Thanks, surprisingly it isn't all about the money, although it does make the world go around and I need to pay off my student loans. I guess the agency is being very vague with me. They say I have a position at Avalon, but don't know what grade I am teaching or when I will leave. I passed the interview with them, but they seem to be up in the air about telling me specific details, because as they claim " they need to wait for people to not re-new their contracts. Since I am a newbie to this, I don't know if this is Korea being Korea, i.e. disorganized and all, or it is my agency yanking me around.
Thanks for the help,

[ontheway]

[nwiley]

Thanks guys, really appreciate it. I heard the jobs were getting less and less because of the worldwide economy trouble.
I will be sure to use more than one recruiter.
Thanks again,

[polonius]

[the_beaver]

Sometimes recruiters have lots of schools looking for teachers and sometimes they don't. Maybe Avalon is all they have at the moment.

[bobbybigfoot]

If I were you I'd apply directly to Avalon, skip the recruiter altogether, and ask for an extra 100,000 a month. Why give the recruiter this cash?

Google "avalon + south korea" and I'm sure their home page will come up.

Avalon is an alright first year school. You'll at least get paid on time.

Just remember that recruiters are EXACTLY like used car salesmen.

[ahsieee]

i went w/ reach to teach and work at avalon now.
avalon's alright, but i was placed in another school and teach another level from the one that was on my contract...
if they say seoul, make sure it's seoul.. there are only 3 seoul campuses with avalon.. the rest are at least 30 min outside...

i'd say work with another recruiter also.. there are a lot of other schools. u may want to check the job section here too

[nwiley]

Thank's for all the comments guys, I am currently going through two other recruiters right now. I am considering avalon, but I get the feeling the kids get neglected there pretty bad. And also, I think you get placed wherever they need you, not where you want to be.