Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Lavender]

Hello people,

I'm new here and I'd like to ask a question regarding my recent "encounter" with a Korean recruiting company. The company is not in Korea, but in my hometown, with Korean staff (they seem to have grown up in Korea and came here as an immigrant). Before I ask the question, here is a run down of what has happened:

I've been volunteering as an English teacher for this recuriting company for a couple of weeks now. (My reason for volunteering is that, I'm seriously considering entering the ESL field. To get a taste of what it's like in the field, I decided to volunteer as a teacher first). Last time I talked to them, which was last Friday afternoon, they asked me to do two shifts, instead of my usual once a week shift. I told them that I could not give them an answer right away, and we agreed that I'd call them on the following Monday.

I made the call around noon on Monday, and they told me that they did not need any teachers for the week or the next, and that they would call me when they needed me. This was a huge surprise, because, they indicated that they needed someone to fill in for extra shifts, in less than an hour before they closed on Friday. The receptionist that I've been talking to regarding this matter comes in at 11am every weekday, and my call was made around noon.

I asked them why no teachers were needed, and the reply I got was that there are no students that need tutoring. I found this to be very strange, so I dug a little deeper and asked if the students are on a holiday. The receptionist told me that they chnaged schools to one in downtown and so they can't come to the office any longer (tutoring took place at the office of the recruiting company, which is NOT in the downtown area). I don't understand how they could NOT have known about the students moving to a school downtown on Friday when they told me they needed someone for an extra shift.

My question is this: What does this mean??? Is this their way of saying they don't need me anymore? Or could it be that the receptionist was not informed by the director that the studnets were moving to a clas downtown? I've read in books that Koreans never say no, or yes, and that even though they mean to say no, they say something like: "well, perhaps we'll try it next time," but there is never a next time...

Any insight, people with similar experiences, please, put your two cents in. I'd love to hear what you all think about this. Am I reading too much into this?

Thanks for your input in advance.

[ajuma]

Ok, let's take this step by step. What do you mean that you are "volunteering?" Are you getting paid? Do you have a contract and a visa?

If you're getting paid, you're working illegally (don't flame me...it's the truth!) and are entitled to nothing. If you have a contract for a set number of hours at a set pay, then you should talk to the person who hired you.

If you ARE "volunteering" for no pay (which I doubt...sorry!), then there is no reason why they should have turned you down...but if you are "volunteering" WITH pay, (oxymoron???) then the reason they "didn't have anything for you" has to do with your refusal to work the extra shift.

As an aside...just because something is true in Korea on Friday, doesn't mean that it's true on Monday!!

[Lavender]

I AM volunteering, but not in Korea, but with a Korean recruiting agency in my hometwon. All the staff are Koreans, and they don't seem to have been born and raised outside of Korea.