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Korean Job Discussion Forums
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Epik_Teacher
Joined: 28 Apr 2010
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 Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2010 12:21 am Post subject: |
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| jvalmer wrote: |
| Epik_Teacher wrote: |
| I bet 2011 is the last big year for EPIK then most of those type of English programs get the axe! |
EPIK will be around for a long time. The question is if it will go back to the good old days when they had only 1 or 2 NET's in every town, instead trying to get every school to have one. It was kind of fun going to 2 different schools during the week. Although staying put at one school does have it's benefits. |
True, EPIK has had many different incarnations in the last 15 years starting as Koretta. And it always goes thru the same downward spiral BS towards the end of each incarnation. We are seeing the end of the current life of EPIK, to be reborn again in a couple of years. And very greatly cut back! |
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WillTurnerinVanCity
Joined: 05 Dec 2007
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| Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2010 7:57 am Post subject: |
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| Aussiekimchi wrote: |
I don't know if any of the foreign recruiting companies are in the Recruiter's Association. We aren't.
When they contacted us a few years back, it did seem like an organisation trying to band together and grow in strength to increase the recruiting fees. I would not imagine they have sinister plans of stopping bad teachers from getting a job, or tainting the names of prospective incomes. They would be more wanting to hire the bad teachers in their bad schools and then change their cell phone numbers. Have never looked at their website and am not really sure what they are all about.
Maybe Will at Footprints knows more. |
My role at Footprints wouldn't have much to do with any Associations, and decisions to belong to them would be up to Ben and Jeff. I've never heard of the Recruiter's Association.
However, I think earthquakez does touch on something important. I think there does need to be an organization to properly handle situations like this. The Better Business Bureau, for example, has a process where (let's just apply it to ESL) a Teacher would lodge a complaint, and then the School would be able to respond, and then they continue towards mediation or arbitration, or otherwise resolve it. If it is in favour of the teacher, it is a strike against the school with the BBB. Works the same for everyone in the relationship (Teacher Vs School, School vs Recruiter, Teacher vs Recruiter), but I think the key is that the BBB isn't part of the relationship. So a Recruitment Association probably isn't a neutral party to handle complaints, though I think they should use their collective power to help set something up.
There should not be a system where accusations or complaints are taken at face value. Would it shock me to know that there is a system like this in SK? Nope. I lived there just like the rest of you. I object to it. I think we can all agree that a system that allows for unfounded, unsupported or otherwise unjust complaints about teachers to be lodged without any sort of due process is wrong, unfair and, at the end of the day, slanderous against the teachers.
I realize, earthquakez, that this won't change your mind about recruiters, and I'm sorry you feel that way. I think we do a good job. I've heard nothing but good things about Aussiekimchi and ESL Planet, which I've said before.
However, as slanderous and unjust as this form that the association has may be, what about these forums? We all belong to a forum that any Teacher with an axe to grind can use to slander their School, Boss, Co-Teacher and (dare I say it?) Recruiters to make sure they are blacklisted and hurt their business. If Jane Doe posts a thread that is 90% untrue about a school or recruitment agency, it is taken at face value on here. My very first post on Dave's (since removed) was a result of one individual drawing conclusions and making insinuations about me as a person, and my work history, without any provocation. It isn't a great feeling, but we've chatted a few times and I'm not mad (it was years ago at this point). How many "Don't ever work at..." threads have you seen? Was the school ever allowed to respond (would people have listened?). How do we know that we're not getting an extremely slanted view of an event? Where is the other side of the story? If ABC School (made up, though I'm sure there is a real ABC School) in suchandsuch-gu is a 7th Level of Hell, that's fine...but what if that is one franchise of a huge chain that is otherwise wonderful to work at? All of a sudden ABC School's name is mud, when 99% of the schools with that name are perfectly fine.
Earthquakez - I haven't looked this association up, but I trust your word. I think the association is misguided, and you have every right to be angry about that form. It is as useless as it is unfair. But that association's form is just one aspect of this issue. I would argue that we, here on Dave's ESL Cafe (and I will paint myself with this brush), are equally responsible, and should be held equally accountable.
So how do we change this?
-Will at Footprints |
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earthquakez
Joined: 10 Nov 2010
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| Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2010 3:53 pm Post subject: |
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Aussiekimchi and Will - thanks for the feedback. I take Will's points on board re teachers slagging off schools. But I think there's a fundamental difference here in power.
As we've seen, no matter what Korean employers do in the schools like break contractually guaranteed vacation, tell teachers they can go outside Korea and then make them lose their money because they then tell them to stay at school in vacation, the deliberate timing of 'seminars' to screw around with teachers' free time, have the foreign teachers take on the Korean teachers' workloads by making them teach alone etc etc, people KEEP COMING to work in EPIK, GEPIK, SMOE.
No matter how much somebody slags off this and that hagwon (and you'd have to admit that some hagwon owners have a well deserved rep for lying and breaking promises/contracts), no matter how shitty the realities of working at a lot of them that give 10 or less days vacation and less than 5 sick days, people KEEP COMING to work at them!
Foreigners can be denied a job through the association of Korean recruiters that includes just about every company from Korvia to those tightwads who advertise on craigslist. I'm glad to hear you both work for recruiters who don't belong to that scumbag association. The bad employers (schools and hagwons) keep getting foreign English teachers no matter what stunts they pull. A blackisted foreigner is going to find it hard to come up against the invisible wall of the blacklist, much of it based on spite as the form on the website shows.  |
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earthquakez
Joined: 10 Nov 2010
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| Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2010 4:26 pm Post subject: |
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Here's the KFTRA's website so you can check what recruiters are on there.
www.kftra.co.kr
Note that there's a recruiter called Planet People, sounds like they're trying to sound like ESL Planet.  |
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digiboy
Joined: 20 Nov 2009
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| Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2010 4:35 pm Post subject: |
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I got 2.5+2 So, my base is 2.7...(not including after school lessons...)
I clear about 3.1 to 3.2 each month...it varies bc I teach a different amount of lesson each month... |
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