Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mcviking]

So I did my stint in Korea and had an average time. Got screwed by a hagwon, screwed over a hagwon, and then was in a broke ass hagwon. After a year and a half I came home, and now I am ready to go back. Here is the problem.

I got told by a recruiter that they talked to my old schools and they couldn't recommend me. No reasons listed. Now I am honest with myself, I am not the best ESL teacher in the world. I am kind of a grump. I make sure my kids do their work. I don't play games if they didn't do their work. I am pretty authoritarian. I wasn't a very good show pony, but my kids actually did learn a thing or two from me. I showed up on time and never hung over. I never brought my personal life to work. But I never let my bosses push me around either.

Point is, am I Effed from returning because of bad references? I have heard of much worse people then myself getting and maintaining their jobs in Korea. I guess I could leave out the bad hagwon experiences out of my resume, but wouldn't it come back that I had 3 e-2 visas?

[Totti]

If you're willing to wait for a public school job, I recommend talking to ESL-Planet. They don't waste time and are pretty straight forward with their info. They're also a bit more sympathetic to people who've had a bad hagwon experience!

[earthquakez]

To the OP - it seems par for the course that many Korean employers slag off ex foreign teachers even when they were renewed a number of times and didn't have incidents with their schools.

Soju sucks mentioned something about a friend not so long ago, I know 4 people including 2 very professional women, who were slandered by their old public school employers. It's not just hagwons.

After I finished at my last EPIK school and a senior English teacher said I could put him as a referee, the hagwon I went for an interview at told me that the K teacher had mentioned rubbish such as the kids saying I slept in class and was always late. These fantasies were from the evaluations I had to go through from high school kids who were vindictive because I ran a tight ship and wouldn't tolerate being late, eating, sleeping, playing, punching, using phones etc.

What made it more cynical from my viewpoint is the fact that the senior teacher asked me to 'understand Korean culture' and note expect Korean teachers in the classroom. So I taught these high school kids alone and of course was the focus of their dislike when I enforced (completely non corporal) discipline.

Luckly the hagwon boss laughed at my look of complete astonishment and said my cv showed I could be trusted.

[cyui]

I don't know man,but there are plenty of jobs' in Japan and China and Saudi or hell just stay in the USA and acquire additional qualifications' and find a good opition here.

Who needs to deal with that crap of being screwed over a 4th time?I don't understand why people ( including me) wanna go back after being screwed over so badly the first, second and third time.

It also really irks' me how noone ever calls thier former employeer /co-teachers' out for this kind of stuff. A nasty phone call or e-mail would usually do the trick.

[DorkothyParker]

This is a bit after the fact, but I really recommend anyone gets a letter of recommendation before leaving their job. Lazy boss? Write it yourself and have them sign a few copies. They'll do it.

Sorry I can't be of more help, but in the future, eh!

[olsanairbase]

[isitts]