Korean Job Discussion Forums

[chickyabroad]

I did a search to answer this question, but didn't come up with anything that would help me.

I'm applying to SMOE and have everything together except for the reference letters they want. I'm not even sure why these are necessary, since I listed two references on my application and I know my recruiter is going to contact them. But I'm not pushing that point right now.

What I'm wondering is what kind of reference letter are they looking for and will it reflect poorly on me if I don't get one from someone at the hagwon I worked at last year? I did list them as a reference on my application, but getting an actually letter from someone there, in English, would take too long at this point. My best bet would have been the head teacher, but she is in the process of getting married and moving to the US right now, so I don't think I would be a high priority. Instead, I was planning to use two of the tutors on the celta course I did in Jan. But of course they aren't used to writing 'open' recommendation letters (i.e. a letter that I will see as the recruiter wants me to have them sent to me first before forwarding them to her) and want a sample. I've found plenty of samples of recommendation letters for jobs, but I'm not sure how to modify it for a certificate program. I took one of the example letters from this site and changed it a bit; I'd appreciate any suggestions or (helpful) opinions (especially as it seems a bit short):

[KYC]

They care more about the references you listed rather than the letters. For the letters, I used 1 from my old supervisor and 1 from a friend. It was fine.

[yoja]

From my own experience, I believe the following:

1. If you have Korean-speaking references that are in Korea, they really don't care about the letters. Just give them the names, contact numbers, and explain the capacity/relationship of the reference to you.

2. If your references are English-speaking and live outside of Korea, they want a letter because it's written (and they won't have to actually speak to the person to see what they thought of you), and they ask for a phone number to encourage honesty on the part of the applicant.

[chickyabroad]

Thanks, KYC, that's good to know. Now I can stop stressing about the actual letters as much.

Yoja - SMOE (and I think GEPIK and EPIK too) requires both contact information of two references for them (or the recruiter) to contact AND two actual letters of reference, sent separately from the application. From what my recruiter told me, these all don't have to be from the same people. Whether or not my references are in Korea or out, I need to give them contact information so they can contact them directly and also send them two letters.

[yoja]

yeah, that's what I was told too.

I submitted some generic letters that I already had, from a position I held some years ago, and I was never able to find a contact number for one of them. I also supplied additional phone numbers for people (more current references) in Korea they could call and speak to, and suddenly they didn't need the contact info for the letters of reference anymore. Those written references were NOT contacted before I was offered a position.

But that was my experience. I'm sure everyone's will be different.