Korean Job Discussion Forums

[gelynch52]

I have sent the following cover letter to many recruiters and direct hire institutions over the last 2 + months but have gotten ZERO responses. Does anyone know why? My resume is pasted below the cover letter.

I am an American man with over 7 years of ESL teaching experience in Korea along with short periods in The Philippines and Saudi Arabia. During this time I have taught all levels of students from K through high school and adults. My adult experience has been in private academies where I taught both free-form and structured classes to adults who selected the type of course they wished to attend. In addition, I spent a year teaching Samsung Electronics engineers, executives and vice-presidents in a corporate setting. I was employed by an academy and sent to various factories where I conducted classes.
My interests outside the classroom are many and varied and some of my interests are sport-fishing, reading, museums, history, raising tropical fish and travel. My life is stable in that I am engaged to be married in The Philippines and am building a home here.
If I have a preference in teaching assignments it would probably be adults even though the work hours are usually split due to the students own work situation. However, I am willing and able to teach children of virtually any age.
The fact that I am older then the usual young teacher and that I have an infant son will ensure that I am not going to be the typical young guy who stays out all night drinking and comes to work affected by his long nights out.
Note that I am a native born American but living in The Philippines and I can realistically be available the 6th of almost any month with proper notice.
I look forward to hearing from you soon and I have shaved since my new passport photo was taken so I now look like the attached recent photo.
Please review my attached documents and consider me for a position with your company. A response either positive or negative would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you,

RESUME NEXT

Gerald E. Lynch
Apt. E Go�s Compound, Patutong
Malaki South
4120 Tagaytay City, Cavite
The Philippines (native US citizen)
Ph: +63-46-860-3023
Mobile #: +(63)-917-359-5311
e-mail: [email protected]


� Objective: To obtain a position teaching English as a Second Language
� Education:
1. BA/English: Clarion University of Pennsylvania
2. Returned to Clarion University for several classes of continuing education taking courses such as: Instructional Methodology, Multi-Cultural Education, and Educational Psychology
3. Attended Motorcycle Mechanics Institute and obtained a Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Repair Technician Certification (1996)
4. 120 hour TEFL certification course: Winfield College, Vancouver, Canada, October, 2005

� Personal Data:
I am engaged to be married and have a stable life while enjoying the study of history and culture. I have traveled in and enjoyed many Asian countries including Korea, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam and The Philippines as well as Saudi Arabia.
� Experience:
o Taught Mechanics four years while in the US Air Force
o Have taught children and adults in Korea approximately 7 years
o Taught children at English 20/20 in Seoul until they changed the contract and gave all foreigners a Letter of Release
o Then taught adults for a year at TEPS in Ulsan, Korea
o Some adults have been taught under corporate subcontract from TEPS, taught at a Samsung office several days a week
o When I returned to Korea a year later I taught adults in Daegu and children & adults both in Gumi
o Taught Samsung executives, engineers and VPs one year in Suwon, Korea
o Finished a contract teaching high school and adult classes in Heungdeok, Jeollabuk-do, Korea March 7, 2008
o Several other positions of 10 years
o Taught English to Saudi and Kuwaiti men under short-term contracts for 6 months

Additional Information:
o Have a Philippine Drivers License and valid International License
o Have well developed sense of confidence developed as an instructor in the military and as a Shop Foreman & Service Manager for various truck and equipment repair businesses
o In those positions I both delegated work to employees and solicited business from customers
o Spent 30 years working mechanically in truck, heavy equipment, motorcycle and auto shops as well as in surface coal mines, deep hard-rock mining, oil fields and heavy construction
o Command of technical and industrial English language is considerable due to varied experience

When I apply for positions with specific qualifications I always point out my expertise and the total lack of response mystifies me & any input would be appreciated.

[ttompatz]

They see one word and it hits the trash without a further glance.

Delete any reference to the Philippines (other than as prior employment) and you will be off to the races.

I had the same problem... deleted every reference to the RP and bingo..

.

[AsiaESLbound]

Are U including a photo in professional attire?

Also leave out anything irrelevant to teaching. Motorcycles and mechanic stuff.

Also the Philippines address is throwing them off for a loop that you hail from a country not qualified for E-2 visas. If you have some sort of mailing address in your home country or one of the 7 countries qualifying for E-2, then list it on your resume. Might list the address in your passport. I'm quite sure guys of age can get in as I sat at a bar Saturday afternoon in Itaewon listening to old (sorry for the bad 3 letter word) men talk about their work who I thought were DoD contractors until their conversation developed.

[Skippy]

Leave out the getting married and child on the way info. It is NOT really relevant. If it comes up in Interview or questions be honest.

But also Filipino wife and child screams to any workplace hiring two things - one, GOD more troubles for us (Which is easier to house, to fly over, visa paperwork,etc and deal with a single man or man with a wife and kid).

Second that you would rather be IN the Philippines then in Korea (if they get the idea you are not Filipino). You have a Filipino wife and you are an American living there too. Even thru you do not want to be there. People make assumptions and looking at your resume it looks to me if you had a choice you would want to be in the Philippines rather than Korea.

Another problem is many schools want to deal with in-country hires. Your resume screams overseas and difficult.

The being older can be problematic but it does not mean you can not get hired.

Good Luck

[lilith63]

Have they asked you for your age? I have had two recruit agencies ask for my age and when I told I am 46, I never heard from them again. I also have a friend who is 56 and has had the same experience.

[Seoulio]

Well lets see where to start?

1) as has been mentioned, you mention the Phillipines, a filipino wife, and a kid

2) you constantly niss commas where they belong

3) you incorrectly use "then" when it should be "than"

4) You mention your interests which they don't care about, and your sentence is completely awkward when you do bring it up

5) you mention that you'd prefer adults, makes them think you dont want to teach children. If you are applying to children's schools then BINGO

6) you redundantly remind them that you are an American as if they were too stupid to catch it the first time.

7) what the hell does " I can realistically be available the 6th of almost any month with proper notice." mean?

8- You've shaved since your passpost photo was taken? so have 99.9999999% of all males, perhaps you'd like to make that sentence alittle less awkward?

9) You sound needy, yet ironically you seem to tout your work experience. Almost like I really need a job, but look at all my professional experience ( not sure if I am explaining this point well, but its just my opinion, I could be wrong)

10) what the hell is "native citizen) doing in your ADDRESS? this is now the 3rd time you mentioned it, suggesting that they are stupid.

11) Your resume Format is horrendous, citing is all wrong

12) You took motorcyle technician training? Oh that will work out so well when teaching "this is my cat"

13) A profesional Resume does not generally include personal data, at least not once you are out of puberty. Especially not for a teaching position, if you wanted to you cover that in a COVER LETTER, so there's your redundancy ( how stupid does this guy think we are, and do we really care that he has a wife and kid, especially if they are not Korean)

14) you have ties to the Phillipines and are "BUILDING A HOUSE THERE" oh yeah nothing screams stability like "I am building a home in another country 2000 miles away.

15) You've travelled to other countries ( in your resume ??????) oh goodie, lets hire him.

16) YOu mention your "experience" um no I am no expert, but perhaps you could say WHERE and for how long.

17) "Taught children at English 20/20 in Seoul until they changed the contract and gave all foreigners a Letter of Release"
LMAO, okay for one you just mentioned Seoul experience in the previous point of your experience, then you bring this up......WHY???? What can they possibly deduce from this? Well for one perhaps you and the other teachers sucked so bad the school had to close. That only you got it and that you are making up a story, or that you simply like to bring up details that do not actually matter. either way is a strick against you.

Whay would the change the contract AND give aletter of release? what time line are you talking about, and why should they care?

1 "Then taught adults for a year at TEPS in Ulsan, Korea" Why are you using the word "then" its not prose man, bullet points, goes back to you terrible format

19) "Finished a contract teaching high school and adult classes in Heungdeok, Jeollabuk-do, Korea March 7, 2008" Thats awesome, WHEN DID YOU START ( again goes back to your terribel format, have you ever heard of DATES or organsiation?

20) "Several other positions of 10 years" DOING WHAT??? you state that you have worked for SEVEN years at the outset, so what is this experience, is any of it teaching, or did you teach typewriter maintenence in an old folks home, or sell quilts on the highway

21) A phillipine drivers liscence eh? Never heard of Phillipine in the singular. So is it only good one one island? This matters to a KOrean why?

22) "Have well developed sense of confidence developed as an instructor in the military and as a Shop Foreman & Service Manager for various truck and equipment repair businesses" Forget the fact that yo forgot the word "a" which should have been the second word, WHO CARES, it doesnt belong in a resume.

You randomly spring up jobs that have no bearing on the job at hand and have not cited ( unless of course these are some of the "various jobs of 10 years)

23) You've done far too much stuff, you come acros as a job hopper and totally unstable this asside from the fact that in all this experience you have yet to figure out how to write a cover letter or do a resume properly.

24) As an English teacher your english in the resume is highly suspect, but hey at least you mentioned 3 times that you are an American.

25) THIRTY YEARS working mechanicall stuf, how old are you, and how can you do all this other crap, it is NOT believable AT ALL, you come across as a liar, on top of stating stuff that is not applicable to the job applying for.

26) "In those positions I both delegated work to employees and solicited business from customers" In what positions? at this point youvementioned like 183 jobs you have held

27) "Command of technical and industrial English language is considerable due to varied experience" and yet in your comand of it in your resume is below sub par.

2 When I apply for positions with specific qualifications I always point out my expertise and the total lack of response mystifies me "

um well for one you DO NOT mention any specific qualifications anywhere, and if you do its so sporadic that its impossible to piece together. Expertise in what?




Man no offesne ( you asked for the feedback) you come across as scatterbrained, uneducated, a liar, ignorant of the knowledge you claim to be advanced in and basically hopeless.

If I was looking at this resume I wouldnt have goten past the cover letter, and once I looked at the resume youd have been in the trash faster than you can say "No really I am an American"

I would not hire you to empty the wastebaskets at my school.

If you view this as harsh at all, id just like to point out that you are getting no responses, so clearly its not me, it's you.

I have taken extensive courses on how to produce resumes, and have a degree in English. And even though I am sure you can find many mistakes in this post, this is an informal chat forum, this is your resume, and your resume suggests that you know about jack squat when it comes to how to write a resume, or how to use the English Language correctly.



So YOu have been goven about 30 things wrong with basically everything, and basically your biggest problem is that you are saying too much and you are repeating a lot of it, there is NO organisation, no sense, there is quite literally NOTHING redeeming about either your resume or cover letter that isnt overshadowed by the negative things you are saying, or how you are saying it.

Good Luck man, you will clearly need it if you have a prayer of becoming employed by anyone.

[ModernNomad]

In short, I would look up cover letter and CV examples online and follow the formats. Second, I would take out all the personal info. You have the experience and qualifications to be hired, but your info needs to be streamlined and professionalized.

[ACT III]

Without going into detail since I think others here will adequetely tear it apart, go to about.com. Look up cv or resume and cover letter how to's. You need to remember that these things are only to give them enough info to get an interview. Write a resume of the stuff they want to know and only that. Keep it short. One page. Cover letters should only be sent to places you know something about and really want to work for. When you send that cover letter write exactly why your the best canidate for that gig in as little space as possible. If they are curious they will read the resume and interview you.

Always ask yourself. "do these people care about my...?" example we don't care about you living in philippeans.

[PatrickGHBusan]

My two cents....

1- Like Tom said, remove the Philipines reference

2- Do NOT hide that you are married and expecting a child like it was advised by someone here. You need to be up front about this because dropping a spouse and child on an employer after he hired you thinking you were single is not starting off on the right foot. Note that stating you are married and with a child you may get fewer offers but the offers you do get will consider this in what they put on the table regarding accomodations for example.

However, if your wife is unable to work she might not get a visa at all...you need to check on that.


3- DROP the I am not some young guy that goes and gets hammered at the bars...it is not something you want in a professional cover letter.

4- Remove all non-relevant information from your CV. It is cluttered. For example, an ESL employer does not need to know you have a qualification to fix motorcycles. That is not relevant to the job. Consider that employers or recruiters get a ton of applicants, the CVs that are cluttered get tossed into the bin. I know, I have been on numerous hiring committees.

Best of luck.

[bupyeong]

I've never seen such a ridiculous attempt at a cover letter / resume.

If you do get a job here, it'll just go to prove that they'll hire anybody.

[Steve_Rogers2008]

[Street Magic]

[sigmundsmith]

First I will be mean and then constructive.

This is the most ridiculous application letter/resume that I have seen. There's no continuity in anything that you have submitted. It's difficult to read (both) and when someone who looks at many applications and letters, they are not interested in all your side things. When they read something like that it comes across as less committed to the job of teaching. You are all over the place. Please take the advice of another poster. Do a search on the internet for application letter/resume templates.

In your application letter, state things (briefly) about what you want and where you want to teach. Don't go into a story of your complete life story. Keep it focused on teaching. Write about how your dedication to teaching inspires you and how you enjoy it so much that it has made you a better teacher. Talk about what you can offer for Korean students in the classroom to improve their English language skills.

Yes, you can state your preference for adults (don't go on about split shifts just state your preference) but that you are also willing to teach other age groups as well.

Don't mention anything negative in your letter. This indicates a red light warning to someone reading it. Possible future trouble.

Wouldn't even mentioned about your plans of getting married (in your resume you can mention engaged). Building a house? Why would anyone wanting an English teacher care that you are building a house?

Now for your resume. Again, you need to have some sort of chronological order. Yours just explains what you have done but doesn't inform the reader who you have worked with and for how long.

Name, age, nationality, email, contact number. You don't necessarily have to say that you are living in the Philippines.

Education: Most recent to the last. Mention TESOL ceritficate then University education then you can even had high school. Remember, put the name of the institutions, dates attended (start and completed) and certificate awarded.

Employment. List the names of the companies you have worked for. Dates worked - start to finish. Duties, like what you did. Keep this simple (they dont' want to read little specifics, they want the important things that stand out to show that you have experience) and you can mention reasons for leaving. Be careful with this one. Don't say things like the boss was an idiot. Keep it positive.

Also, you could insert a very brief teaching philosophy as well. 4 or 5 sentences. You can place this under you personal/contact information.

One thing I noticed. You said you plans are to return to Clarion University. Is that definite or is that some goal? Is that distant education or is it physical return? Throw it out either way.

Was in HR in London before coming here. Read many resumes. (back to mean now) and this is one of the worst i have seen.

Start over again. Get some feedback from friends - show them your new resume and letter.

These things are your selling tool. Yours at the moment is not selling anything at all.

[pangaea]

You have included way too much personal information. Your cover letter should be a short introduction to you as a teacher, not the story of your life. Leave out the references to drinking and what you like to do in your time off. If you want to come across as a serious and responsible individual, you do that by making your cover letter and resume professional, concise, and to the point. I agree with the other posters - look up cover letters and resume templates online. Monster.com has a section with examples of these.


Some suggestions:

Use bullets. Number headings should not be in your resume.

Do not use paragraphs in your resume. Use short, specific statements.

Organize your information. I agree with Street Magic's list. You don't have to follow it exactly, but it's a pretty standard format.

Leave out information that is not relevant to the job.

I am not claiming my resume is a perfect example but mine was organized like this:

Name, address, phone number, email.

Qualifications

(using bullet points to call attention to information I considered most important - for example, "Seven years of experience teaching ESL." No details as supporting information should be included under work experience.)

Employment

Name of employer, location, dates.
Bulleted list of responsibilities - NO PARAGRAPHS. Short and to the point. "Taught business English to adults in a corporate office." If you had other responsibilites like grading, holding conversation courses, etc. list them here in bulleted format.

Education

List your degrees and relevant certificates. List courses you have taken that are relevant to the position. A TEFL course is relevant. Motorcycle maintenance is not.


Like I said, mine is not a perfect example but I spent time looking at resume and cover letter examples on the internet and took a free class at a local career center on building a resume and interview techniques. If the recruiter and employer can't quickly scan your resume and find the information they are looking for, they are going to toss your resume. They do not have the time or the inclination to sift through paragraphs of irrelevant information to find out your qualifications.

As for your cover letter, it is a professional introduction to your employer. Keep it concise and to the point as well. You may mention qualifications that you consider important, such as your years of teaching experience and the fact that you have a TEFL certificate. However, it should not be a repeat of your resume. Check out some of the cover letters examples online for format and information to include. Also, personalize your cover letter for each employer rather than sending one generic cover letter for every job.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

[NYCESOL11211]

This is hysterical.