Korean Job Discussion Forums

[sluggle]

A friend of mine was working with a recruiter who put him in touch via e-mail with the English-speaking teacher that is currently teaching the school he was placed at in Incheon. He will be taking over her position, and she has been very helpful in emailing him with everything he should be prepared for. Did you or anyone you know get put in touch with someone at the school you are taking over? I am just wondering if I should ask most recruiters as if this is a standard procedure.

[Fredbob]

It is rule #1 for most teachers here to try to get this information. It can help you avoid a lot of bad situations and most recruiters with any experience are prepared for it. This doesn't mean they are prepared with the information, it means they are prepared for the question. Some will be helpful, some won't, some may even try to pull a fast one on you, but you really should push for it anyway.

Just realize that you must take everything the person you contact tells you with a grain of salt- they could for example, be trying like hll to get out of Korea, but can't leave until their replacement is found! And, if possible, make sure they are not at their place of employment when they are talking or emailing with you.

As for myself, I've even gone to the extent of web searching using combinations of Google, Worknplay and Facebook to track down the person I'm replacing, many FTs in Korea keep blogs and MySpace or Facebook pages and have resumes posted online. On those sites they aften post the location and name of the school they are working at. This technique has helped me avoid some serious problems, once the person stops freaking out that some total stranger has been able to track them down only using the stuff they put on the internet.

[ChinaBoy]

I couldn't contact the last guy because he made a run for it.

Guess I should have paid more attention to that fact.

[bluethree]

Would you say this is a good idea with public schools as well? I've mainly heard this advice when people talk about hagwons.

[Fredbob]

Yes