Korean Job Discussion Forums

[nycbabyblue67]

Nameless recruiter contacted me about a fantastic job the week before Xmas. They put me in touch w/the director, who called me that night. We spoke for an hour and he offered me the job w/ the understanding I'd arrive mid-February, depending on the visa process. Director was US Ivy League educated so he spoke perfect English.

Recruiter emailed the contract a couple days later. It looked ok except it had no language about a firm start date. I was assured by former teahers that this was by design, to allow for visa processing. There was also a minor omission about sick days that needed to be fixed and the recruiter took care of that.

With Christmas falling on a Friday and the back-and-forth I decribed, I faxed the contract to the recruiter on 12/30. I got a confirmation slip but also asked the recruiter to contact me to confirm receipt. I didn't hear anything, but I wasn't worried b/c New Years Day also fell on a Friday, so I emailed her on 1/6. She apologized for not getting back to me and said that she gave the director my contract.

Meantime I've gathered all the documents for the visa. There was a small glitch w/ one document but I got right on it and was told that I'd get a suitable replacement by the end of this week.

Tonight I got an email from the recruiter saying that the offer has been withdrawn b/c the start date was moved up to Feb 1st and there was no way that my visa would be ready even if I overnighted everything Monday.

At the same time the recruiter offered me a job for 4K less, which I'm not interested in.

My life is a mess, b/c I thought I'd be leaving in about 4 weeks. I've given my landlord notice that I'd be out at the end of this month, made plans to stay w/ friends until my departure, arranged to sell/store/give away belongings, etc.

Please PM me or post w/ stories about your experience and/or advice.

Thanks.

[dragonfly121]

Sorry about all of that- that's pretty rotten.

If I were you I'd contact some other reputable recruiters ASAP. I bet a lot of schools are scrambling for teachers right now. Since you have your documents nearly ready, you should be able to find one with a March 1 starting date. Let them know when applying that you have your docs ready- that makes a huge difference.

Good luck!

[Cerberus]

doesn't quite make sense considering you spoke to the director at length and in fluent English.

but you should be able to land something else, anyways.

if I wanted to be sarcastic (and I often am) I'd say they found a slim nycbabyblues87 with blonde hair and a nice rack who wanted to start right away.

[vaticanhotline]

I did have a similar experience-I was told I had a job with GEPIK, sent off the documents, only to be told that the job was gone and that they were going to give me a job at a hagwon in Ouijeambong (I don't know how to spell the name of the place) instead. In the end, it all worked out fine; I managed to get the recruiter to send the stuff back, but ended up waiting another month or two before I actually landed here, which did suck a lot of a$$, but in the end it all worked out for the best.

[curiousaboutkorea]

Yup happened to me AFTER I mailed all my documents. Let me tell you, it's not a good feeling having all your documents sitting in the hands of someone in another country.

[nycbabyblue67]

[nycbabyblue67]

[nycbabyblue67]