Korean Job Discussion Forums

[iggyb]

It has been a typical TESOLer Korea day today as I watch two job opportunities sour at the same time:

I have been waiting for my Visa issuance stuff like others here. Today, I got an email from the recruiter (who has been good so far) telling me that SMOE is now demanding proof of my previous teaching experience in Korea in the form of an official Korean document.

I had offered them as proof scans of my old passport pages with the Visa stamps. Each page showed the dates of the Visa and had the name of the school in Korean written in by immigration officials.

Now, that is not good enough. They want this specific "Proof of Employment" Korean letter from each.
The last time I worked in Korea was December 1999.

It has been right at 10 years or more since I left these hakwons. The management of each has surely changed if not the owners, and they have seen dozens and dozens of teachers come and go since then.

And they are hakwons.....They are not going to bust a gut trying to remember me or tracking down my documents (if they even kept them this long) or rush to give me a proof of employment letter.

I know the owner of one of the schools sold it not long after I left and opened up a different one. I have no idea what the name of it was or even remember what her full name was...It was 13 years ago....

I told my recruiter ---- it sounds to me like SMOE is preparing to cancel the contract.

I am a certified teacher with an MA-Teaching (English) with TESOL certificate add on with over 5 years of teaching experience including TESOL experience in American high schools.
But they are not going to give me a Visa until I provide better proof I worked in Korea than the proof that my passport shows...
Sure...

The other job

Because so many people are now saying EPIK and SMOE have overbooked and are starting to cancel contracts, I decided to accept a university teaching position that was recently offered.

As I was preparing to gather the Visa documents, I took a look again at the original job ad, and something I should have noticed right from the start jumped out at me:
The ad makes no mention of airfare ---- nor does it mention the end of contract bonus.
Those things are so standard, I just overlooked it and assumed it would be in the contract.

Then something in the ad jumped out at me - the wording "This position is a full-time, biannually renewable..."
It dawned on me ---- "These guys are actually going to try to get around paying the bonus by breaking the contract into two six month pieces!!!"
If this were a part-time gig aimed at F-series Visa holders, I might could have understood. But this is a known university looking for multiple full-time teachers.

...I had made note of the fact they do not offer housing or key money but do a fairly good monthly allowance, and I had been in contact with them about that.
But, now --- I realize they are not going to offer airfare or the yearly bonus or key money....
....And they expect to hire MAs? Especially MAs already in country - who will be familiar with standard contracts in the ESL market???
No wonder they ended up offering me the job from overseas.

---- So, I'm back to square one in my job hunt....except public school jobs are off the table for at least a few months.
SMOE hasn't backed out yet, but the chance of my getting the official letter from my previous hakwons ---- getting it before the 24th --- is non-existent.
My recruiter is probably going to try to contact two of the former schools, but I have little hope this will be resolved.

[Morning_Star]

Whiner. It's mostly your fault if I might say so myself. You dug your own grave.

Besides, it's common knowledge that you're supposed to ask for a recomendation letter everytime you leave a job as references for future jobs. Oh well, learned your lesson.

[cruisemonkey]

Your recruiter should have known (and told you at the beginning) official Record of Employment certificates are necessary to prove work experience for any PS position.

[iggyb]

I wondered how long it would take someone from the "most ESL teachers, like me, are complete losers" crowd to chime in...
I didn't have my money bet on 1st response.

This crowd must be flying high right now. I bet they live for this moment each year --- when the deadline for SMOE and EPIK and such starts to roll around and they see people getting the usual Korea TESOL treatment.

I can only imagine what they do with themselves while one hand is scrolling with the mouse through all the posts...

Life - and your Korea experience - is what you make it, don't ya know...

P.S.

Holding onto a letter of recommendation from a hakwon for 13 years wouldn't have worked in this situation to begin with.

[martinpil]

why would they want specific proof when they hire teachers from abroad with no experience at all? The proof is just to put you on the right scale.....not that there is any scale anyway since the difference between 2.0m and 3.0m is chicken feed when you realise that 3.0 is as highas it gets.

[iggyb]

That is a question I asked my recruiter.

If they are severely overbooked, anything is likely. You would think they'd still try to retain those with higher qualifications, but expecting quality thought from the Korea ESL market is a losing proposition.

[iggyb]

My recruiter says SMOE isn't moving to back out of the contract. Maybe so. I can't have confidence in that given what we're seeing from other applicants and what the change in demands are.

The move by EPIK to shift many contracts to SMOE is one factor in my thinking: SMOE is the smaller pool of schools. If EPIK is dumping a significant amount of contracts on the smaller system, I'd have to think there is a significant glut in the amount of contracts offered. It's likely this will hit a fair number of people, and since I do not have my Visa yet, I am at minimum in that pool of contracts.

Time will tell...

...I'll be scouting other positions, however...

[cruisemonkey]

[iggyb]

Oh, come on cruisemonkey, let him salt the wound...

...you have to get your thrills in life where you can. Stop being such a killjoy...

P.S.

It is my fault with the 2nd job offer issue I noted in the original post: It should have jumped out at me when I first read the job ad that airfare and end of year bonus were not mentioned - and - that the ad mentioned "biannual" contracts.

I am surprised nobody else mentioned that early on, because I know I've heard from several people who applied for the same position...

[Carla]

[Demophobe]

I am just saying here...

I kept all documents from day one. All job letters, recommendations, appointment papers, certificates...everything. I have a LORR (release and recommendation) from my first job here in '95.

Guess it's a good idea to do so, as iggy's situation is testament to.

Iggy...you seem to have quite the background, both in training and Korea. Why are you still slugging in the hagwons? I realize that at this moment, things are as they are, but earlier?

[iggyb]

The law could have changed since the many years ago that I read them, but at least back then, an employer could get out of paying an end of contract bonus by shortening the time to less than 12 months. 12 months was the key to activating the bonus rule.

If they changed the law, then maybe it was due to the number of places trying to pull the 11-month trick.

6 months is awfully short though. It is hard for me to believe the law has changed to the point what is basically a temporary job also gets a contract completion bonus.

-- Technically, maybe you could take a school using 2 6 months contract to court over the 12-month issue, because a school can't write elements into a contract that breaks the labor law. If they do, that item is null and void, but it would be a fight not worth having given your chances of prevailing...

[iggyb]

I'm not in the hakwons. I'm in the US looking to get back for a few reasons. My primary aim is to teach in Seoul where I can do some volunteer work with NK-related NGOs. I'm also returning to help out my wife's family since the death of her father recently. I got a late start on the public school hunt, and my narrow focus on location cuts down the pool of possible jobs...

--- Concerning those documents you kept, from what I'm being told now, the only one that will work is a proof of employment form letter. At least that is how it seems based on what I'm hearing from the recruiter and cruisemonkey's comments...

[Mr. BlackCat]

My understanding when I applied to SMOE was that you needed a record of employment from previous employers in Korea and this had to be sent to them directly from those employers. Thus, there is little you can do to prepare beforehand. Considering the nature of ESL in Korea, though, they should realize the difficulty in finding and contacting these people. Almost immediately after I left my last hogwan it went under and I had to call around to get the info I needed. And that was only after 3 months. I can't imagine 10 years.

However, I do believe these letters are only necessary for you pay scale. Which is to say it isn't essential for your employment, just how much you get paid. So you could still have the job, you'll just get paid less.

As for the university gig you mentioned, are you sure 'biannual' doesn't mean every 2 years instead of twice a year? Everyone I know at a Uni has a 2 year contract. The dates should be obvious in the contract anyway. Also in relation to everyone I know at a Uni, airfare is hardly ever offered (though it can be negotiated) and if it's a private university then they may pay into a private pension fund which is more difficult to collect upon departure. Just ask.

[Carla]