Korean Job Discussion Forums

[blonde researcher]

Perfect English For in Korea,Has anyone heard of this agent?

They promote selling contracts teaching in some public schools in Seoul. Schools are not owned by the government and have to go through immigration for visa numbers .
This is NOT SMOE or EPIK or GEPIK. 30 hour teaching and 10 day holidays in contracts
They seem to sub agent to a Korean company Daekyo for the jobs and Daekyo sell the teachers to the schools. The contract is sponsored by Daekyo not the school

I have been told you have to pay this agent a fee when they get you a job.

[TeeBee]

Don't pay any SA recruiters any money! You really, really don't need to.

I've put together a website for advice on this very thing. You can check out the bit about recruiters here:

http://safkorea.wordpress.com/recruiters/

[ttompatz]

[blonde researcher]

Im really trying to find out more about this particular agency
Who are they ?? Are they even a registered business or just one Korean person calling themself this business name?
Any Website they can be located ?? Has anyone else had dealings with them? good - bad?

[TeeBee]

I know of one person who was placed here by PEFK, and she seemed pretty happy with them. But this situation you describe sounds really dodgy to me!

If your friend can, I think he should end his dealings with these guys. No-one should have to pay to get placed here. PEFK is trying to double dip here! The schools pay the recruiters to find teachers for them.

What is this "contract to get a job"? Does this mean he signed a contract saying that he will pay them to find him a job? Is there some penalty for not using them? This doesn't sound like legal practice in SA. Surely your friend can change his mind and use someone else?

[blonde researcher]

Yes it seems a fee has to be paid to the agent.

In anticipation of getting out -- he really needs to know if this agent has any business credentials if things get worse and he can't get his documents back.

Are they legit
Thanks for the help on this.

[TeeBee]

I have an older version of PEFK's documents, so not sure if it's still valid, but it states:

"You do not have any financial obligation towards us when you sign and return the contract to us. The signed contract only comes into effect after you have been accepted to start teaching in Korea."

From this I understand that if they don't place him then there is no financial commitment on your friend's part. But it is a little vague on what "accepted to start teaching in Korea" means.

I'm not well informed about the legal ramifications here, but I doubt PEFK could hold your friend liable for the recruitment fee if he decides not to work through them. I mean, what would happen then if his circumstances changed and he couldn't go anymore? But the fact that his documents are already in Korea may be a problem, especially considering the time it takes to get a criminal background check in SA.

Depending on your friend's time scale in terms of heading to Korea, and the amount of grief trying to get away from PEFK may cause, he may consider just biting the bullet and hope that they place him in a decent place.

[blonde researcher]

bump

[TeeBee]

This makes me angry. I really dislike how South Africans get exploited by these recruitment companies, who deliberately mislead people about how to get a job in Korea.

I think the documents are the biggest problem here. If your friend has time, he might want to get another batch together to apply through a different recruiter or through the government education departments, as suggested by ttompatz. Lots of people use several agencies to find jobs. But, like I mentioned before, the criminal record check takes forever. 40 days minimum, last time I checked.

I think PEFK should be treated like any other service provider in SA. If you aren't happy with the service that they are providing, then tell them so and go to someone else. They haven't met their obligations, and so your friend has every right, in my opinion, to tell them to jump off a cliff. I don't think there'd be any legal implications of doing so, especially as they aren't doing what they said they'd do. Unless there was some penalty clause in the contract he signed...

[blonde researcher]

Im thinking EPIK of GEPIK will take the application and then perhaps wait for the new criminal record to arrive.

[TeeBee]

That's probably a good move. EPIK or GEPIK are definitely a better option. I was placed in a GEPIK school myself, though through a recruiter. If your friend needs a recommendation for a recruiter (who doesn't charge a cent but really helps you during the process and after you arrive), please pm me and I'll send a name along.

[moosehead]

I think it's important you urge your friend to report recruiter scams to the S.A. Embassy - other embassies post info about ESL in K on their websites - maybe it's time SA did also.

[Otherside]

[TeeBee]