Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Gumi]

Here's the basic run down, and if anyone can give any insight it would be greatly appreciated.


My boyfriend and I are interested in working in Korea mid-January. It will be our first time there and we are recent graduates with experience in areas which apply directly to teaching English. Since we are going as an unwed couple during an economic downturn, we know our options are likely more limited than usual. Through a recruiter, we found a couples' contract that piqued our interests. We interviewed with the coordinator of a hagwon in Gumi and received a contract they sent over through the recruiter. It was fairly well done and detailed, stipulating that our start date would be January 15th. After we signed it, we scanned it and sent it back to the recruiter. The recruiter then advised us that once we had all of our documents together, we express-post them to her in Seoul. We did just that.

That was about two weeks ago. Then, early this week, we get an email from our recruiter telling us that the director would like an interview with us. We're thinking, okay, we didn't speak to him before so maybe he just wants to clear things up. The interview goes well, except the director thinks we are both from the U.S., when we are not. Then I get an email from the recruiter (who is now another woman, since the previous one left on maternity leave) stating that we will receive the new contract in a few days... Wtf.

Needless to say, the "revised" (or completely rewritten) contract is vague, has the title of a different school as the employer, has us starting at a later date due to a "big national holidy" during mid-January (as far as I can tell, there isn't one), and in general is not at all what we previously agreed to. No consent on our part. Plus, our previously promised position starting Jan 15th-20th was reposted on their webpage four days before they told us about the revised contract. Now I know I am just new to this, but I've done my research and from what I've found and from common sense, that's suscpicious. I believe they might have just contracted us our to a completely different school, as the two contracts are nothing alike and the start date is now different. Again, wtf.

I promptly fired back an email stating all of the conditions and terms that we would like reinstated, as well as requesting that more details be added. Although the recruiter has been fairly helpful (despite the language barrier), we do not think the school will accommodate our requests and thus we will most likely not sign with the school.

My questions are as follows:
A) In the event that they amend the contract to one more desirable, would be worth it to take the contract after all the previous mishaps? Would they resent us for our requests?

B) If they do not accept our requests we are still able to back out, right? Since the contract we previously signed will be "destroyed for security purposes".

C) We may choose to work with another recruiter or school; that being said, our documents are currently sitting on the recruiter's desk in Seoul (at least not the director's desk). If we find another contract, what would be the best course of action? The school didn't pay for any of our E2 documents or postage, so that envelope cost us around $250 and we would really appreciate at least using the documents toward a visa. Would it be best to ask them to express-post it back to us (which would cost them $60, so I doubt they'd do it), or should we ask them to forward the documents regular post to our "friend" who's in Korea who can send them back to us? Ie. our "friend" would be another recruiter or school in Korea. Are any of those options viable, or are our documents as good as lost?

D) As the recruiter has not been unkind, would it serve well to leave the documents with them and request that they find us a new contract? Would they be offended by that? Or would it put them at odds with the hagwon director?

I apologize if that was long winded. Please help! I know it's not uncommon to be screwed over by hagwons (or recruiters, for that matter), so please don't point out the obvious. We are just looking to make the best of an unfavourable situation. We will be hearing back from the recruiter after the weekend and are just looking for some input before she responds. I can post the before and after contracts if necessary as well. Any suggestions would and will be greatly appreciated. We'd still like to come to Korea, but have a deadline to do so and we want to look out for ourselves. Thank you in advance!

[lifeinkorea]

The recruiter is just a matchmaker. If they can find another teacher who can join sooner, they will sell them first. Since you already sent your documents in, they are now hoping you won't object to going to another school. This way, they can get paid for recruiting 2 teachers (in your case, 3).

Get used to it. Another recruiter will just do the same thing. If they already got you a job you liked, then explain to them firmly you want NOTHING different. It can be another school, but the terms have to be the same or whatever you want.

Recruiters won't tell the first hagwon about you sticking with them or not. However, if the hagwon really wants you, then it's probably in your best interest to push the original contract and not sign any additional contract. I doubt this will amount to anything, but it is a disaster waiting to happen if you constantly agree to things that are less in your favor. If you are not in Korea yet, and they are already changing things, what can you expect from them when you get here?

Be patient and wait it out. March is coming and better job offers will surface to the top.

[Gumi]

That's what I thought. Thanks.

Has anyone been able to get their documents back and hit up another recruiter? Or has anyone had luck coercing the recruiter if things do not go the way you intended? The position in its entirety is not super appealing, but it's better than nothing. If we can't get our documents back, we'd have to wait to until the same one found another position for us, which is not likely at this point. Finances will not allow us to stay in Canada until March unless we take some drastic measures.

Any suggestions how to get them back without pissing off the recruiter?

[blonde researcher]

Your recruiter has just done a perfect 'bait and switch' on you and because they are being very nice and polite to you, you have not had the heart to get really angry at what has happened.

I believe you were never appointed to the first position you signed the contract for. The recruiter simply took your signed contract and email resume and photos to this employer with the promise you were both accepting his positiosn.
This is why the director decided to interview you both. This was the first time he had even known of you existing.

The contract you originally signed was a very nice generic ' bait and switch ' contract ' to get you to send your papers to Korea.

The signed contract means absolutely nothing for confirming the job. What is inportant is who is holding the official documents such as the Apostilled diploma and CRC and transcripts, as once you have given these over you have basically screwed yourself into taking the next best thing.
The recruiter you have sent the papers to will not be happy to send your official papers elsewhere or to another recruiter if you elect to go elsewhere now.

less than honest recruiters destroy many contracts and write up many more to hook teachers in any way they can
Any story of ' destroyed for security reasons' is a hugely scary spin on this.
Without the official papers you sent any signed contract is not worth the paper its written on

my advice is to tred carefully as to what to do next after all the Gumi to start with is not exactly downtown Seoul, far from it in fact and not the most popular place to go to go to for many teachers

[seonsengnimble]

I would use a different recruiter. It doesn't really matter if you piss off this recruiter, she sounds like a jerk. I don't think it's very likely that you'll get your documents back, but you may want to contact the Korean consumer agency http://www.kca.go.kr/jsp/eng/coun_05.jsp to press them to give you your documents. I'm not sure if they would be the best people to handle this, but it isn't really a tax, immigration or labor issue, so this sounds like the closest department to handle the fraudulent actions of this recruiter.

[Big Mac]

Yep, this is definitely a bait and switch.

This recruiter is not honest and I would not deal with them anymore. Tell them that they have to send you back your documents immediately. If they send it by regular registered mail it will only cost them a few bucks (the post office is very cheap here) and it will be back in your hands in a week.

Whatever you do, don't take the job with lesser conditions just to keep the recruiter happy. They've royally screwed you over and you deserve better.

You've just learned an important thing about Korea. Honesty is very low on their list of things that make a good person. They can't bring themselves to understand why we think it's so important. It's one of the biggest cultural differences that foreigners encounter here.

[vaticanhotline]

I was in a similar situation before I came out here, OP. Basically, I sent off my documents for a job with GEPIK only to be told that that job was gone but that they had a job in a hakwon for me. The recruiter's scamming you-the other posters have described it perfectly. Tell your recruiter to send your documents back-in my case, I found that using a lot of big words that sounded kind of legal and official worked a charm in getting them to put the documents in the post, because I'd heard that they might not even bother doing that. Best of luck in the future.

[Gumi]

Thanks for the info. I happen to excel at legal terminology and scare tactics! That being said, the recruiter informed us that the documents have already been sent to the school. Who knows if that's true or not, though. We haven't signed the new contract and are very obviously not going to; only signed the fake generic one. All I can say is thank god I didn't send my original degree!

I am planning to call the recruiter Monday and state the following:

1) We know what they are doing and are privy to the "bait and switch" scheme.

2) To possess and distribute both confidential (passport number, resume, etc) and legal documents (notarized copies, CRC, etc) without the named person's consent is illegal

3) It is in their best interests to see that they have the documents returned by the school to the recruiting agency, and then put into the mail asap

4) Inform them that we have already contacted the Korean MOL. In the event that they do not agree to return all documents promptly, we take further action by contacting the Korean Consumer Agency, and our friendly neighbourhood Korean Embassy.

Whether or not it's all true, I am just wondering - how strong of scare tactics should I use? I am very determined to get these documents back, but will act in a cool but confident manner. On the other hand, I would not hesitate to also inform the recruiter that I will be showing up at their office in Seoul within the next year. Where should I draw the line?

[lifeinkorea]

If you go with another recruiter, they can do the same thing. I would work with the recruiter you have. This is what happened to me with one well known recruiting company. All recruiters mentioned here worked with the same company.

Recruiter 1 told me I could earn 3.0 easily with overtime. He offered 3 public school positions, 2 middle school and 1 elementary school.

I asked for the middle school position closest to where I wanted to live. He emailed the next day to tell me they already got a teacher and the other middle school only wants a female teacher. This left the elementary school.

Now, who knows if those middle school jobs actually existed or if they just wanted me to take the elementary school job. They knew I was male cause I sent my resume and photo I did take the elementary school job and it didn't turn out to be that bad. I just wanted a middle school position.

They then played with the salary figures. I was told I would only get 2.3 with the elementary school and overtime. I accepted it, and then the next day they said it would actually be 2.1.

Each day passed, and the salary kept going down. Then I talked to Recruiter 2. She said Recruiter 1 was inexperienced and didn't know all the details. The job would be 2.0, 2.1 with a reference letter. I told them I would not take the job if it was that low. I know it is a reasonable salary for first year teaching at a public school, but I was leaving a hagwon job which paid 2.5.

As it turned out with pay, the contract was 2.1, but the head English teacher arranged overtime pay to bring it up. Unfortunately, she left after 6 months from the position and the new head teacher didn't know the arrangement. I had to get my co-teacher to often clarify the contract agreements.

The school and your co-teacher are the people you need to worry about. The recruiter is just a go between. You can switch recruiters, but you'll get the same thing.

[blonde researcher]

Your scare tactics are a bit too over the top so suddenly and can be toned down quite a bit in my opinion.
If the papers have been forwarded to the new employer then it is quite likely that any kind of contract has been attached to them or even a forged signature copied off your passports page you sent.Immigration does not take too much notice of the contract only the directors papers and your official papers being there.

Sending in the signed contract (or not) means absolutely nothing for getting the visa from immigration. All the employer needs to get a visa number for you is your CRC, the notarized diploma, sealed transcript health statement and passport page.

There is a slight chance this recruiter has been caught with promising you the job for the first school and then the director saying no. if this was the case the recruiter would be left trying ASAP to get you somewhere else as they were holding your documents and a certain placement to them.

Taking the positive side and : On the basis of this not being a bait and switch you should firmly demand to the recruiter that your papers are returned back from the school to the recruiter as there is no use them being with the new director while you are still assessing the situation.

Demand a new interview with the owner of the new school. Get full details of the school address foreign staff previous etc and ask to see photos of your accommodation and the shcool itself. Get as many new details as possible on this job.

You never know this new director may actually be OK and it is simply the recruiter who has done a switch without being able to explain this well to you.

Tell the recruiter it will be no use the director putting your papers into immigration right now as it wil cost him money and time if you don't arrive to this job.

Hold off the heavy legal threatening stuff until it is really needed . The more you go overboard, the more the recruiter is likly to just lose your papers in the post ( after she says she has posted them back to you!) Then you will never get them back. Rightr now she has something of great value to you so go as smooth as possible until you get your documents secure and time to assess further.

[Gumi]

She never told us it was a new contract; we haven't even spoke to the school designated within the new contract. She's taken us for a ride and I have no qualms about legally threatening her. She told us the contracts were the same and that there is a big national holiday in mid-January: she's full of shit. We have no idea what the new position even is; the new contract is vague and nondescript. It is not something we would sign even if it was legit.

[lifeinkorea]

[Gumi]

Really? Odd. When I looked up Seollal, it said it was set for mid-February 2010. Wikipedia's not the most reliable source, mind you, but I've seen it elsewhere as well. I think that site's wrong; that was when it was this year. Werent' they making a big deal out of it because it falls on Valentine's Day in 2010?

http://portalseven.com/calendar/Holidays_This_Month.jsp?year=2010&month=2

[VFRinterceptor]

[KoreanAmbition]

I disagree with one of the things VRFInterceptor says.


I would not ask them IF they destroyed your E-2 documents as well as the contract. Most likely, they aren't smart enough on their own to say they did that, but if you give them the idea, then they might say "yes" just to get out of the problem.

Is this recruiter in Seoul? Do you know anyone in the city?

I would recommend that instead of threatening them, tell them your friend is going over to their office to pick up your documents. (That should be threatening enough. They're all tough from behind a computer and phone... face-to-face probably isn't big on their list of things they enjoy).

If you're lucky, they will try to dissuade you from sending your friend there. If you're unlucky, they will call your bluff and say "okay". If they say "no, don't send anyone" then just have them send your documents to someone in Korea... like another recruiter ... I doubt they'll be paying money to express-post anything to your country. If you don't have any friends in Korea, then find someone to help you. Last resort might be get your next recruiter to go in there.

OR, if you are really in a jam, you could request help from someone on Dave's to go in there and get your stuff for you. Find out where the office is... if it's near someone who's a regular on this site. If it's near me, I'll help you out if you're desperate. I'm sure there are other people on this site that would be willing to assist you given your bad luck with this punk recruiter.

Also, I agree... the "gone on maternity leave" is crap probably. It would have been more believable to hear them say "We fired her for being pregnant." haha Actually if they said that, then you'd realize your recruiter was actually honest.... ruthless...but honest.