Korean Job Discussion Forums

[cokenail]

I am interested in teaching in Korea so I thought I would ask the experts here: Who are the best recruiting agencies or schools to apply to?

Does anyone have a positive experience with some recruiters they could share? I need names or websites.

I have a B.A. and a TESOL diploma, and I'm a native English speaker currently living in Prague, Czech Republic. I'm having a bit of trouble finding a reputable recruiter or school in Korea to deal with.

Any advice would be very much appreciated!

Thanks
Adrian
[email protected]

[Daechidong Waygookin]

You dont apply to recruiters. Recruiters are your tools. Send them your info, let them offer you what they have and then choose. Maximize your chances by going with as many recruiters as possible. No loyalty. Its their job to get you something good, they will get paid for it by your new boss. Let them work for their money.

[Rather_Dashing]

But then again, if you do that you may receive the same offer twice

[cokenail]

I guess my question is then:

Which recruiters are the best?
Which recruiters are reputable in Korea. Which ones find good schools?
I'd also like to hear about some established schools (no fly-by-nights)
that I could apply to.

Thanks again!
Adrian

[Zenpickle]

I remember when I was looking last year that I heard good things about Footprints (a little too late). If I was going to go with a recruiter, I'd try them first. I know firsthand from someone who does hiring to not trust Omega Recruiting. They give deceptive info.

[teachingld2004]

It is hard to say "which are the best schools".. What is best for one, may not be best for another.Some people like the country, some like the city. SOme will take less money for the area of their choice. It is hard to say what is the best for others. Some schools are chains. Some of them are good some are not. All depends on may things.

[plato's republic]

on EFL-law.com there are two recruiting companies recommended, TEFL2KOREA and TEACHKOREANZ, one is british the other american, i think. maybe try those.
has anyone been through either of these recruiters? or even footprints recruiting? what was your overall impression? has anyone had any bad experiences with recruiting companies?

[fidel]

I heard on the grapevine that Omega is pretty good, however don't quote me on that, could be wrong.

[Rather_Dashing]

[fidel]

Yes, a joke, pretty lame I know but it got a few chuckles from me.

[Kill_creek]

Avoid Omega consulting like the plague! Seriously, the worst mistke I made was using them to help me get a job. I ended up losing tons of money and suffering three months of grief.

Do a search, more people can back this up. David Kang (one of the head recruiters of Omega is the biggest liar I have ever met!).

Just contact as many recruiters as you can, get the best offer. Also keep an eye out on the job board - some schools have realized that recruiters are unnecessary. So, maybe you can avoid the whole recruiter thing.

In the end, stay away from Omega and David Kang!

[Derrek]

Try worknplay.co.kr

Look for jobs on there, and you will find links to teaching jobs that worknplay staff recruits for. The recruiers there are Ann and Joyce. See what they've got going. I know them.

[suds]

I applied to a fair amount of recruiters. They seemed to fall into three main categories. There were some that:

-bad all around
-professional and responsive but produced no real good job opportunities
-average in response but produced some good jobs.

I found no recruiting companies that were quick, professional and that produced good quality job offers. For the most part a lot of recruiters are pretty good in answering questions and fairly professional but they will try and push jobs on you that don't fit your job requests no matter how many times you tell them what you are looking for. For the simple reason that there are way more crap jobs than good jobs and they want to try and fill as many positions as they can. They will say, "we only fit teachers to quality positions and look for your specific requests blah blah blah ...", but you'll have to turn down a lot of crap jobs they offere you before they may get around to offer you something you might want. Of course if you don't care about a)working outside Seoul, b) working split shift or full days e.g. 9-6 etc. c) like teaching kindergarten or d) are female, then it will be a lot easier to get a position, and the recruiter will love you. But if you want an afternoon/evening shift job in Seoul recruiters just = tons of frustration, because they will hardly ever get around to finding you a job like that. To find those type of jobs, you have to search around on Dave's or worknplays specific job postings.

In my job search I applied to lots of recruiting companies and they got back to me with jobs that in no way fit my wants. So I then went onto Dave's, worknplay, and a few other sites and found specific jobs advertised and then applied to those jobs that were advertised. Now the job I'm at seems good.

[Zyzyfer]

My school will be hiring in March but I'm embarassed to say that the boss is too concerned about image and is looking for youthful North American people.