Korean Job Discussion Forums

[winterfall]

I'm trying to get recommendation letters from my ps bosses before things turn south and I can switch jobs without problems. But they're really lazy or don't know how to write them in the western sense.

They keep asking for fill in the blank forms, I have no idea what those are.

Can anyone recommend / link to a generic recommendation template that leaves ample room for personalized comments?

[thegadfly]

The fill-in-the-blank forms are now standard for most teaching jobs in the US -- when you apply for a job, you give the address of your reference (actual location and email), and the employer mails or emails the forms to your reference, and then they are emailed, faxed, or mailed back. This takes the candidate out of the equation, and allows for a more "reliable" reference.

I have filled out about a dozen such forms in the last two or three years. They are generally a long list of traits, with a check box rating (1 to 5, sometimes 1 is best, sometimes 5 is best, depends on the form).

There are many templates for reference letters available if you do a Google search, but honestly, do you think your school is hemming and hawwing because they do not know HOW to write a letter? I nearly always refuse to write a letter of recommendation or act as a reference until the teacher has completed the contract -- I have been burned in the past a few times.

Some people take a letter-in-hand to mean free rein to do whatever they please in the last few months -- sort of like senioritis in high school, once your college of choice has accepted your application. I have had teachers come in late nearly every day, stop prepping for classes, stop teaching the lessons -- some teachers just show movies for the last month, or play games all day...so now, when a teacher asks if I will be a reference, I agree to give a letter to them on their last day of work, or any time thereafter. I let them LIST me as a reference, but no letter 'til the job is done...and I make it clear that my agreement is contingent upon finishing their time in a manner in keeping with how they started....

Here are some samples and templates:

http://jobsearch.about.com/od/referenceletters/Sample_Reference_Letters.htm

From that page, you have to click on links to get to the actual samples, but that will give you a place to start.

A boiler-plate reference needs to have your name, the duration of your employment, and the fact that you completed your contract (though it need not state that you did NOT complete your contract, if you did not). That is all that you really need in the letter, and that is all you can really require an employer to provide -- anything more than that is a favor, not a duty (though a letter this sparse would be a "proof of employment" letter, rather than a "reference" letter).

In addition, it may mention if you were punctual, if you completed the duties assigned to you, and if you honored the contract. These things, and anything else "nice" they may have to say is voluntary on their part -- so I would recommend being nice about how you ask, as if push comes to shove, the most that you could demand is a proof of employment letter....

[winterfall]

No they really don't know how to write one / they're lazy. They're not fluent in English either. No one can write above a 4th grader's level. But I need a reference so what other option do I have?

I'm trying to get a teaching evaluation report and recommendation letter.The evaluation report is for future teaching jobs in Korea. So there's no chance I'll be getting an official one from the states. I'm hoping to find a rubric and I'll just put the school's letterhead into that. There's a Korean one available but, I can't translate it.

The 2nd part, the recommendation letter is for grad school, general characteristics, notable attributes etc etc. Even though its a non-teaching related program. I'm sure it won't hurt to have one, this is a high risk alternate high school.

Well the thing about my school is they want and expect me to stay indefinitely. As soon I tell them I won't renew, that will definitely end our relationship. There won't be room to ask for favors. Besides since everyone is so lazy, I really doubt they'd do it if I wasn't around harassing them

[thegadfly]

[winterfall]

[thegadfly]

No, this is not a "Korea" thing -- it is a laziness thing. The people that told me to write my own letter and that they would sign it were in the US.

The people who told me that they would write their own letters and asked me to sign them were also Americans, though those instances occured in Korea (since I have not been in a situation to write recommendation letters for employees in the US).

When I was told to write my own, I just scratched that person from my references list and found someone else. When it was offered, I refused, and either wrote the letter myself or did NOT write the letter myself, as the cases warranted. Everyone gets a proof of employment letter from me, if that is what they request, but I only recommend folks that I actually would recommend....

In any case, though I don't participate in the practice, it seems a lot of people do, and it may be a simple solution.

The other problem you may encounter is that if you want the letter in English, and your bosses do not speak/write it that well, they may be embarassed to write one, or if they DO write one, you may be uncomfortable using it.

I had one person write me a very kind letter of reference, but it was so full of grammar, spelling, and punctuation mistakes that I never used it. The writer was an American also, and was a native speaker -- it was a personal letter of reference, and he had been my boss when I worked construction during the summers after high school/during college. His heart was in the right place, and he did me a huge favor by writing the letter, but....

Writing your own letter could also preserve face for your boss, if your boss's English is a concern, and it saves your boss some effort....

[Illysook]

I asked one of my co-teachers at my public high school to write me a reference letter and she said yes on the condition that I help her with it. She's really very fluent but there is always that confidence problem when Koreans use English. You have to help them get around it. I plan on giving her a few examples. A form letter might be a good idea for my vice principal and instead of making a box for "never tardy" I'll make one for "prepared for class." I'm rotten at mornings and it's awful that I'll arrive a scant 10 minutes before class some days, but I am aware of my faultiness on this count so I make sure to make my lesson plans and have materials ready before I leave each day.

...and I never plan movie days any more. Toward the end of each semester, my co-teachers get busy and they are tired so they start asking for them. I don't say no.

[winterfall]

Thanks everybody. No way around it. Gotta take a plunge into the Grey zone