Korean Job Discussion Forums

[hatfiejl]

[tardisrider]

Here are a couple of things that are often confusing to new comers:

1. When dealing with a chain of hagwons, focus on information about the individual branch rather than the reputation of the hagwon in general. You might hear "XYZ hagwon is great!" but the XYZ branch in SumDamDong may be very different from the XYZ branch in YukEeGu, especially if these different branches are franchised rather than managed from one central location.

2. Understand the role of recruiters. Recruiters are not trainers or sponsors. Recruiters get paid (by the school) to find teachers. After that, the recruiter's job is done. During the recruitment period, a recruiter may be in a position to negotiate salary and/or contract terms, but if the school has a take-it-or-leave-it attitude toward the contract, the recruiter can do nothing except try to find another teacher who will sign the contract. After the initial recruitment period, recruiters don't mediate contract disputes or any other issues, nor do they have other responsibilities to either the school or the teacher. Of course, a truly ethical recruiter would never recruit a teacher knowing that ABC hagwon is not going to honor the terms of a contract, but realistically most recruiters truly don't know or care anything about ABC hagwon other than that they what the management is looking for in a teacher. Some people will say that "truly ethical recruiters" don't exist. It is my belief that there are "ethical" recruiters and "unethical" recruiters, but that the nature of the job simply requires a recruiter to match a body with a contract and then move on without further consideration.

[hatfiejl]

[ttompatz]