Korean Job Discussion Forums

[proverbs]

i don't know how many people would actually admit this - but has anyone actually failed an interview at a hagwon? or better yet, maybe you work as a recruiter at a hagwon - have you rejected a lot teachers on their interview?

i had several interviews (in-person and over the phone) the past few years and even though i felt i did absolutely horrible on the interview, i always got an offer right away.

i know some hagwons are stricter than others, so i just wanted to find out.

[thegadfly]

I have never been turned down for a hakwon. I have never been a recruiter, but I have done the hiring (or at least had a decent say in who was hired) at a couple of places. I have personally interviewed about 150 teachers in my life, and hired about 15 of them...so that means I have NOT hired over 130 people on the basis of the interview...so yeah, about 9 out of 10 folks I have interviewed have "failed" the interview....

I have been turned down for jobs in my life -- just not at a hakwon yet.

What is your question?

[Mr. Pink]

Everyone's failed an interview in their life...some more than others, that is why there are so many NETs in Korea. If they had succeeded at interviews in their home country...see what I did there?

After doing some pretty challenging interviews for "real" teaching jobs, I can say there has only been one interview that challenged me while I was in Korea and that was to do AP prep...and that wasn't too much of a challenge. Rather the question was more about me questioning the investment in time in preparing an AP program. As a current AP teacher, I can say THANK GOD that job didn't work out. For 1 AP class I spend untold hours preparing it each week. I could not imagine preparing for 3-4 different APs and teaching them 10hrs a day...where is the prep time with that?

What was the question again...oh yeah...everyone fails at least once.

[valkerie]

I used to manage an EFL programme for a big company in Japan and one of my responsibilities was recruiting foreign teachers.

I have a lot of stories about that, the guy who sent a photograph of himeself wearing swimwear (think Speedos!). The people who got through screening (initial application and phone screening) then couldn't find the building. Or filled out the form with every single job ever, many they started and quit within months!

The (many) people who listened to a clear and simple set of instructions for the required demo then did everything you just said not to!

[tanklor1]

Yup, forgot how many. Really depends on who's interviewing. If it's a native speaker I can pass it. If it's a Korean who barely knows English I'm highly likely to fail it.

[lifeinkorea]

Usually they filter people by resume. It's not like back in your home country where they give people interviews and then contact "the one" who got it. You are just being matched. So all they are doing is verifying you have a clear accent.

Think of it like those Kelly service temporary jobs. Do people fail there?

[proverbs]

[3DR]

[Satchel Paige]