Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Lou3511]

Hello all,

I have been looking at positions to come over to Korea for about a month, and I hear often that it's best not to go through a recruiter (which makes sense, of course, based on what the agencies are after). But how exactly does one do this? It seems that on most job boards (not just this one), 95% of the positions advertised are posted by recruiting agencies. And from the direct websites that I've tried going through, they've mostly been in Korean. I've also tried looking in the two English newspapers in Korea. Any suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated - I'm planning on going over there around the first of May (and could not be more excited about it).

My second question (sorry this is becoming so long), . . . from what I've read, the majority of the problems (situations/disputes between school directors and foreign teachers) occur at smaller schools or newly-established ones. Yet, I just read that it's best NOT to be at a school with a lot of foreigners (it lessens your individual importance, which makes sense). But, if you are the only one, will the director attempt to be more demanding of you, since you are the only one there that he has to "show off" (in the sense of a statue/trophy or the like)?

Again, responses would be greatly appreciated. I'd like to make my decision as to which institution I'll be teaching at within the next couple of weeks. I'm trying to get in (or as close as possible to) the Kangnam area of Seoul, but I know that's an area in high demand, so . . . we'll see.

Thank you all for your time though (and sorry for taking up so much of it).

Lewis

[buddy bradley]

[Lou3511]

yeah, i read about your experience on another thread . . . pretty shi++y to say the least - sorry to hear about it.

hope your "credit" gets better (whatever that may mean) . . .

[crazylemongirl]

My current job I got through a contact. However as someone new to the country you arne't going to have many networks so be prepared to do a lot of cold calling.

From the FAQs

Should I Just Come to Korea and Then Find Work?

A lot of people think that this is the way to go if you have the funds to pay for your own airfare and to support yourself for up to 2 months. The disadvantage is that you won't have accommodation and co-workers awaiting you.

1. Landing in Korea Without a Job?
2. Case Study: Help Me Get Over to South Korea in 4 Weeks
3. Cheap Hotels for One Month

[discostar23]

I think the major problem with using recruiters is even though they say they have *your* best interests in mind I think really they are only looking out for themselves.

I had decided I wanted to come to Korea last september. I put my trust in a recruiter who I had many phone conversations with. He reassured me that I would be over here in September. I wanted to be placed with my friend and he said no problem. Well september came and went then october. Finally I called him and told him off and funny the next day he had a job for us.

He told us our contract was standard and we should take the one for 110 hours a month because it was more money. Not really knowing anything about contracts in korea we signed and hoped we would be gone by the second week in november. Well that came and went. We finally got off the ground to korea on November 30th! Three months after we had orginally wanted to go.

So the school he had placed us at was a brand new wonderland. (yup wonderland). When we got here we had to start work the next morning and haven't seen any time off since (aside from holidays which most they would not like to give us) Since it is a new school we are working 10 hours a day. Good we thought in the beginning...lots of overtime

Pay day came and we discovered that nope we don't get overtime because our recruiter weaseled us into signing the larger contract!

So as far as recruiters are concerned I think not all of them are shits but most of them are

[Toby]

Find a school you like. If they respond positively, then talk to someone at the school. A foreign teacher who is already there. They will tell you what is going on.

[kangnamdragon]

The best way to not use a recruiter is to know someone who already has a good job and work with him or her.

[jazblanc77]

I have avoided recruiters like the plague forever but once in a while when you are looking, you rip off an email and it turns out to be a recruiter replying. They are all weasels who work for the school, NOT you... you get nothing for free my friends! Anyways, those recruiters sold my email address and spammed me to death until I hd to close down my account. I was actually starting to get viruses from emails titled "Hello from Pusan" for example.

[Homer]

If you have never been here (Korea) and have little or no experience then a recruiter could be a good idea.

Many recruiters are A-holes, but some do a good job and can help quite a bit.
If you find one that has a verification system (i.e. they check the schools out before recommending them) then it could be a benefit for you.

From what I heard, Footprints in Vanvouver does this. It would need verifying of course!

As for coming here on your own, if you have the cash go for it.
However, since you have never been here, know no Korean it might be tough at first to get around and find schools.

Its a trade off.

[schwa]

So if 95% of the positions advertised are recruiter-driven, focus on the other 5%. You only need one job. You'll get a much more realistic sense of who you'll be dealing with daily with direct contact. A director confident enough to advertise independently might have a more together operation. Might. You still gotta do followup research.

Being the only foreigner on staff can have its charms but for a newcomer it can be culturally daunting. But if youre confident & get a seriously solid gut instinct it might be worth pursuing. I'd say being exploited as a 'trophy' is far less common than simply being valued as an asset, so long as youre easy enough to get along with & deliver the goods. If you think you require some nurturing as a teacher, maybe a small staff of foreigners would help you adapt.

[mb2086]

Lou 3511:-

I will be arriving in Seoul on 30th April so if you want we could link up and go job hunting together and pool resources? If interested get back to me. Did you say you only want a job for a month?