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frphoenix
Joined: 02 Jul 2009
Location: Tokyo
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 Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2009 4:11 am Post subject: Experiences with HandSKorea? |
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Do any users on this board have experience working with or interviewing with the English teacher recruiting company HandSKorea? I found a link to this forum from a user who had written about his experienced with the company, but the thread had since been removed.
Representatives from HandSKorea post very prolifically on various job listing boards online (gaijinpot.com, etc.). The representatives are very friendly and helpful on the phone, but I just wanted to find out if anyone has any concrete experience working with them. Were you happy with the schools you were placed in? Are accomodations and compensation acceptable? Do they hold up their end of the contract? I've run into a number of shady ESL operations in other East Asian countries and have learned to be a little skittish about offers that seem "too good to be true." |
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shinjilalenai
Joined: 24 Jun 2009
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| Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 4:21 am Post subject: HandsKorea |
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Hey there,
Just wondering the same. Did you find any info. on these guys? I've seen many of their advertisements, and I see posts similar to these where people are looking for info., but I haven't seen any actual posts by people working for them.
Any info. would be appreciated. Thanks. |
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frphoenix
Joined: 02 Jul 2009
Location: Tokyo
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| Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2009 6:21 pm Post subject: |
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Here's an update with what (little) information I've been able to find:
Another person's experience with HandSKorea:
http://forums.galbijim.com/viewtopic.php?p=18640#18640
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So what happen is they kept offering to push me for positions outside of Seoul, even though I kept telling them to plz find me a position in Seoul. From past exp. I know what its like to live in the countryside and not speak the language. On top of them trying to put me 1.5 hours ride from seoul, they wanted to put me with Avalon. Big No in my book. Been there done that with eikaiwa/hagwon in Japan. I prefered to teach in public. Before Avalon though, i was being pushed for a public all girls junior H.S. But apparently the principal didnt want a single male forienger working there. So I asked Hands to send my diploma back and they did in a week. Then I came back to Cali.
To sum up:
- They did not full-fill my request to find a company/school in Seoul
- Rejected by public all girls J.H.S by a male principal who didnt want a male foriegn worker
- Pushed for a known shady Hagwon: Avalon
- Asked for Dipolma to be returned and got it.
- Returned back home to Cali
Suggestions:
- Use another company or apply DIRECTLY to schools. I also recommend using a agency that has job listings so you know what they have available. There's no reason(except for easy money for them) they couldnt have placed me in Seoul.
Hope that helps. Good luck with work. For me its depressing to retrn home a little and know that alot of my friends are out of work. And it is sure hard to date when u dont have a car and money for gas..lol. |
A site that recommends HandSKorea:
http://braveheartboy.blogspot.com/2009/05/teaching-in-south-korea-which-company.html
Overall, I don't think the Galbijim.com user's experience is as negative as portrayed: It speaks well of the company that they searched for and offered a second contract to the user when the first wasn't acceptable, and when he ultimately decided not to teach in Korea, they returned the diploma with little hassle. Seoul seems to have its ups and downs, and HandSKorea (on the phone, anyway) claims that they place most of their people in suburbs around Seoul (e.g. Incheon), if not in the city itself.
I do agree with the final statement, though, that it is a good idea to try applying directly to schools, and ideally a recruiting company should be able to provide a list of example schools where they have placed applicants. |
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tenchu77491
Joined: 16 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2009 7:03 pm Post subject: |
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They put me in a crappy avalon and they ripped off some previous co workers when they quit the legit way.
Stay away from Hero. |
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shinjilalenai
Joined: 24 Jun 2009
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| Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2009 4:40 am Post subject: |
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| Thanks for the updates. This place seems quite mysterious. There are so many postings for jobs with them on the internet, yet there's virtually no info. or blogs by people who work for them. They keep sending me e-mails about basic Korean info. So far I haven't heard anything positive about them, but I've heard negative things. |
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Bono
Joined: 02 Nov 2009
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| Posted: Thu Nov 05, 2009 5:08 pm Post subject: |
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I am just starting to research into my venues of applying for jobs in Korea and HandSKorea was one of the first to reply to me.
Of course in my skepticism at their hasty reply I decided to do some research.
I have already came across the above posts and blogs but on this site there is another discussion on this agency as well.
http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewtopic.php?t=165109&highlight=handSkorea
I wont be pursuing any positions with them as I am just getting started and with such negative feedback I don't want to take on a bad experience.
Cheers. |
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joltaxt
Joined: 24 Oct 2009
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Thu Nov 05, 2009 5:32 pm Post subject: |
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| They send a lot of e-mails..... |
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