Korean Job Discussion Forums

PK · Joined: 25 Nov 2008

I would like to start a thread about Korean English teaching recruiting agencies. Does anyone have any specific or general info. / criticisms? I am ready to start working with whomever will hire me, and I would like to know tips / advice about what to watch out for. Any help is much appreciated.

PK

hiu254 · Joined: 01 Dec 2008 Location: Smells like Ajumma

I used an agency called 'Flying Cows' who are based in Nottingham and were great with me.

maingman · Joined: 26 Jan 2008 Location: left Korea

donttbotherworkinkorea.com

afsjesse · Joined: 23 Sep 2007 Location: Kickin' it in 'Kato town.

This topic has been covered a million times. THey're are numerous recruiters. Ranging from ESL Planet, Footprints, WorkNPlay, Park English, etc.....

I highly recomment ESL Planet. As have many many others on this board.

HyundaiGenisis · Joined: 14 Dec 2008

The first thing you should do is find out what you are looking for in a job in Korea. What's important to you? money, job security, vacation? I personally went with ESL Planet and was satisfied with their work... there are a number of recruiting agencies to choose from though. I would recommend applying at multiple recruiting agencies and see which one finds you the best job for you.

PK · Joined: 25 Nov 2008

I have no teaching experience. I have no connections in Korea. What are the chances of an inexperienced, unconnected first time English teacher landing a solid job with out the help of a recruiting agency? I'd like to hear stories of people that have been taken advantage of after attempting to land a job on their own with out a recruiting agency. I also want to hear stories of specific recruiting agencies to black list and the reasons for this.

afsjesse � I tried to search for discussions on this same topic. Could you (or anyone) please explain to me how to search for topic similarities on this site. The �site search� bar has not been helpful when I type in �Recruiting, Recruiters etc.� I just tried this again before writing this response.

HyundaiGenisis � Applying to multiple agencies is my plan of action. Thank you for your input.

Mdvl_lady50 · Joined: 22 Oct 2008

I'll just throw my hat in. I've been dealing with over four recruiters since the start of the holidays. I was lucky enough to have two interviews on New Year's Day night and a subsequent one last night. All three schools have offered me jobs -- no split shifts, kinder to elementary which I like in that I teach ESL to the younger kids in the States. Although I wanted to live on the coast, I accepted the job in the suburbs of Seoul. Not only did the assistant to the director call me for the preliminary interview one night, but then the director as well did a few nights later.

The recruiter to be named that I'm going through is Longbridge Pacific. The man who is handling my visa nightmare (it's not that bad, just time consuming) is Fred. He seems a stand up guy. If you live in the States, all states are not created equal in getting easy CRC checks (I already possess one in that I teach, but not valid out of the state of Arizona). Arizona is so incredibly paranoid about illegal immigation and visas, the Dept. of Public and Safety will not even touch it. The local cops will only take your fingerprints. So it's FBI time for me. Then there was the niggling question that I had no cardboard fingerprint card to bring to my local cops. Fortunately, FBI has a website that is downloadable and they will accept. It's working out okay, but it does take a bit more time. I've found Longbridge to be okay so far. Also they've gotten back to the school that I'll probably be working for, and all of my concerns have been answered in a timely manner.

Joe And Kims Recruiting that is advertised on this site are generally satisfactory, but the lack of English in communicating can be disconcerting. I think it's your comfort zone with who you deal with in and out of the school. I also like my hours -- I'm out of the school by 6:00 p.m. nightly. That was the one thing in my contract that wasn't exactly clear, as the rest was standard boilerplate - that I insisted on, and they accommodated.

afsjesse · Joined: 23 Sep 2007 Location: Kickin' it in 'Kato town.

OP, bookmark this webpage. It's an actual eslcafe forum search created by a user. It works very well and if you type in "recruiters" you will get all of the information you need.

http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=006359271486458796786%3A_ooozypbm6u

On a different note. I think most people would agree with me when I say that Korea is the easiest place on Earth to get an ESL job without any experience and/or credentials.

When I came here in Oct. of 2007, I was in the same boat. I just graduated from college and wanted to get out of America. I landed a job in Busan. Albeit a dodgy one that screwed me somewhat in the end.

I would highly advise you to contact Rowan Hall at ESL PLANET. Do a search in the function and read the flattery this guy recieves. But contacting a few recruiters is not a bad idea either.

I would suggest that you apply with EPIK. The salary for a Metropolitan city is only 1.8 but with overtime etc... it adds up. If you go to a rural area like I am, you would easily make 2-2.1.

Working in a crapwon is very unwise in my opinion.

Good Luck.
Jesse