Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Frogis]

Dear Dave's ESL Cafe,

Hi I'm relatively new into this whole working in South Korea field, in the fact the idea didn't strike me until about a 45 days ago, however I seem to be having trouble finding a job. I've gone through two different recruiters trying to find something that seems legitimate & won't try to screw me totally in one way or another, but every time a job looks more and more promising, something always comes up that makes me think twice and go "wait a minute, that doesn't seem right".

For example, the current school that I have a possible contract with seems great, in ChungJu called the Learning Well school, however when I asked my recruiter for multiple names of foreign teachers working at the school she only gave me one and said that she couldn't get any others. The one teacher I talked to said that everything was great, however I feel like if I can't talk to more than one foreign teacher the person I talked to could of been a setup/forced into saying the things he said.

Anyways the question I pose is: Am I being too critical and paranoid about trying to find a job in South Korea or should I continue to think the worst and only agree to a contract if I am certain beyond doubt that the school isn't going to pull a fast one on me?

Thanks very much

[gartonator]

always tricky with 'current teachers'... when i was teaching in 07 i remember being in touch with people, trying to be honest, but trying to recruit them at the same time... if there is definitely more than 1 teacher at the school, it shouldn't be absurd to get 2 references... or just ask if you can call the school at a time when more than 1 teacher would be free (that's what we did I think, passed the phone around actually)

anyway, if everything checked out except that, I wouldn't make it a deal breaker... 45 days is slow, but I think I spent about 50-60 my first time, from the date I actually started really researching, to the day I arrived in Korea... I've met people who did the whole thing in less than 2 weeks (however, they were teaching illegally for 1 month in korea, then had to do a visa run, our boss was supposedly 'connected' with immigration, whatever, I think a lot of schools do this if they need teachers and are established)

hope it helps,
B

[Khenan]

I'd say that in general you're probably doing the right thing. Supposedly there's a lot of bad jobs out there, and I've definitely seen plenty of jobs that paid much less than I would accept.

Are you in a hurry to get a job and move on? If you have the time to wait it out, you probably should. Keep in mind though that probably no job is going to sound perfect on paper - and the longer you wait, the more jobs you turn down, the more discouraged you will get.

Sounds like you're looking at hagwons... try and get yourself into a more-or-less reputable one, and that's probably the best you can do for yourself in preparation. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

Good luck!

[bassexpander]

A lot of schools only have one foreign teacher.

It's OK to be critical. Take your time.