Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Oddelo]

Anyone have any thoughts/opinions about this school?

It seems very weird to me how this job offer all came about. First off, I submitted my resume through RBI Korea. The next day I got an urgent sounding email asking me the earliest I can start and if I have my crim bckgnd check- which I do. Next thing you know, the recruiter calls me to tell me that I have a phone interview lined up in a couple of hours! He pretty much told me what to expect (I'm still a newbie at these things), not to ask too many questions and to keep the phone interview short, under 5 minutes. His bottom message was pretty much "just make sure you get hired first, then ask the questions."
So the interviewer calls me, it's a current teacher, very nice, and explains in detail about the school. Then the supervisor gets on the phone and asks if I have any questions, barely telling me any info. They never once asked me about myself, my interests, my reasoning for picking S. Korea, nothing!
Few hours pass, and I get the contract emailed to me implying I am hired. My first job offer so far. To make matters seem more unprofessional, they even left the name of the previous for-hire employee on... I assume accidentally. Just all seems fishy.
Also, the RBI recruiter just sent me two more job offers, Namcheon�dong, Busan Wonderland, and another for Gaegum, Busan KJC.
It's all a little overwhelming, and it sounds desperate.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

[marsavalanche]

[kardisa]

Sounds like my boyfriend has the same RBI recruiter you do. The guy set up interviews today with a couple of schools (Suncheon Kid's College and iSponge) and then emailed a few hours ago about the position at Wonderland. I'm going to tell you the same thing i've told my significant other: if you take the Wonderland job you're either dumb and/or completely naiive (likely both). The fact that he seems desperate to fill the position is a bad, bad sign.

[Son Deureo!]

The slapdash interview procedure's all too normal in Korea. As far as they're concerned, we're all pretty interchangeable and you probably have the look they want. They don't think they need to know any more than that.

I don't know anything about Kid's Club in general or that particular branch. Wonderland has beaten out some tough competition for the reputation of the worst hogwon chain in the country. Do some searches on this site and on Google for more details, if you haven't already done so.

My advice would be to try to find out more about that KJC job. It's a Busan-only chain, and it has a pretty good rep among teachers in Busan. Block shifts (usually a 5 hour block of classes plus an hour of mandatory prep time), they'll give you your vacation time, no hassles with pay or pension, and they even offer voluntary overtime (mostly recording and editing). The only downside is the intensives, 2 five-week long periods where you'd be on site for 10 hours a day (only 6 hours of teaching, the other 4 are "prep"/deskwarming). As far as I know, it's all corporate owned, no franchises so policies are pretty predictable throughout the chain. All in all, KJC's a pretty soft landing for a first time teacher in Korea.

[Oddelo]

Thanks guys for your input! It's appreciated greatly.

[shocking]

If it's Kid's College in Namcheon, stay well clear of them. They recently screwed me over on a contract offer.

[Milwaukiedave]

You might do some research on Kid's College in general they have a very bad reputation.