Korean Job Discussion Forums

[jpe]

Kind of a sticky situation, but I feel like I need to address it and possibly save myself a lot of grief...

Three years ago I worked at a hagwon in Cheong-Ju. I asked for a week's vacation (as stipulated in the contract...another teacher did the same thing so he could go on a trip to Thailand), to return to Canada because I had a girlfriend there at the time.

A little while later they told me that the school was losing money (I'd noticed I wasn't getting as many classes anymore) and that they wanted to end my contract after 6 months (which was when I planned to take my vacation). There wasn't a whole lot I figured I could do, and I didn't like the job all that much anyway, so I agreed and they paid for my flight home.

When I wanted to get a different job in Korea, my old recruiter advised me not to mention my old job, which I thought was strange because I'd ostensibly been let go under no fault of my own, but she told me it wouldn't look good to future employers. Later another teacher I knew who'd worked in SK for a number of years told me they must have been unhappy with my teaching, because otherwise they would never cancel a contract halfway through, even if they were losing money. There were a few hints that this might have been true (Korean teachers having me teach "test classes" for them, etc.)....it could be some combination of both an issue with me personally and a financial one. I honestly have no idea.

Now that I'm trying to get a job there again, I'm not sure what to do...I've given the school's number to other employers this week, but I'm not sure if I'm wasting my time. I really hate the idea of trying to be dishonest, especially when anyone could just look at my passport and see that I'd taught there before, and I figure having the previous experience helps.

Not sure if this is a common scenario, but any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[koreatimes]

A 6 month reference is not going to influence your salary greatly. I don't feel any new school would need to know how well or how badly you taught there. If it were 3 months or less, it would be questionable but still not something I would leave out of a resume.

Put down what you did during those 6 months. Did you learn teaching techniques? Did you become more aware of teaching materials? You want your next employer to know what you got out of the 6 months, not that you worked for 6 months. Contrast it, say something like, "It was 6 months, but it felt like 2 months." That makes it sound like you'll be more committed this time around if there is doubt without it ever being actually talked about.

And 6 months is better than 0. There are plenty of people who never taught in Korea. An employer will hire you instead just on that basis. Noting the old school is one thing, but don't use it other than to show work history. This means you tell them you have no references other than the name of the school. They could call the school on their own if they wanted, but that's up to them. If it really matters and they don't like what the old school says, find another school.

When you get 1 year at your next school, it will then be 1.5 years. Anyone that passed you up will be more likely to hire you at that point.