Korean Job Discussion Forums

[different]

From a job ad by "BTS - Best TeacherS":

[alphakennyone]

Applying with multiple recruiters is only a bad idea if you're seeking a job in EPIK/GEPIK/SMOE. Otherwise, go nuts. Apply all over. If you see two recruiters clearly advertising the same job (this happened to me, two recruiters were offering me a middle school in Ilsan), and you're interested in it, then in that case you should only express interest to one recruiter.

Just use your head.

and you'd be surprised. A lot of people running hagwons have no idea about dave's esl or worknplay, etc.

[Morning_Star]

I would say it's best to work with one GOOD recruiter. Trying to catch too many birds with one stone will only lead you in complicated circles and you'll likely end up with nothing.

[andrewchon]

Some school directors do choose their own, but most hagwons are ma and pa operations. Not many public schools have a staff capable of interviewing a native English speaker. They spend most of their time teaching/paper work. They know how to: study English Korean-style. They know very little about: education system in other countries. e.g. B. A. degree in USA is four years and can major in say chemistry but have do some humanities studies. In British system a major in chemistry means B. Sc., 3 years and don't have to do any 'art' subjects. Does a British degree meet the ministry hiring guide line? Not if you go with literal interpretation, but obviously it does.
This year the applications are much more than previous years, therefore the ministry can't handle them all with existing staff. If the ministry get pissed off because same name appears in multiple applications, then you're in trouble. Use one recruiter for one ministry (SMOE, EPIK, GEPIK, etc. are separate ministries). Use more recruiters for job offers with specific public school ( even if that school is within the ministry). As for hagwon jobs, use as many as you can. In short: not BS; as often happens in Korea, you get only half the story.

[tomato]

[zipper]

Recently, I have seen a couple of middle and high schools posting ads directly on Dave�s. I hope that this trend picks up, because most recruiters are sleazy who just want to make a quick buck. If the immigration procedures were less intimidating, then I would imagine that employers would want to save more money and hire directly... I think that the risk of hiring a runner or bad teacher wouldn't be that much higher IMO....

[bassexpander]

Gentleman, thanks to a school I know, I have been given the Korean site that schools go to when they are looking for a teacher. Foreigners aren't on there. It's a chat site for school principals and hagwon owners.

I will be passing this along to the AFEK members soon.

[iammac2002]

A recruiter will definitely say stick to one, they want your business after all. I used like 10 different recruiters last year to move out of my then crappy hagwon, and it worked. The best one of them just phoned me one day and said he had a few jobs for me and that he'll rescue me... and he sure did!

[alphakennyone]

[bassexpander]

[romano812]

Here's what I like to do and I find it works fine for me.
I post my resume on Dave's and Serious Teacher (lots of replies from S.T.). Then I prepare a word document with everything I want in a teaching position (pay, location, grades, etc...). When a recuiter contacts me I send them an email along with this list of items and say this is what I am looking for. If you have something available please forward me the information and I will take a look.
Another thing I do is ask for further informtion on posted jobs that seem interesting.
Never agree to work with one recruiter! Never say, write, or state to a recruiter that you are working together or somehow associated! Never sign anything unrelated to a school contract!
The thing to remember is the recruiter works for themselves. They are trying to sell you a product. As such, they will try to make their product sound much better than it is. Ask for every specific detail you want and make sure it's in your contract. Also, make sure your recruiter is fluent in English. If you have the slightest doubt about that don't work with them. Some people may think this is harsh, but it can cause you problems if they aren't fluent.
I had a recruiter tell me one time, "Your housing is 20 minute walk from school". I thought that's not bad, very close. What they didn't tell me was "the walk" was 10 minutes to the subway station, 1/2 hour on the train, and then another 10 minute walk. Well, they didn't lie.

Have fun, good luck.

[iammac2002]

[iammac2002]

Yeah, and let the recruiter/director WRITE down the details of the location. If you hear your hagwon's name sounds a lot like Yongsan Hagwon, you think it's in Yongsan. If you show up to your (Myongsan) school and find out that Yongsan is in fact half an hour away, you'll be sad.

[wylies99]

OP, recruiters will try to get away with lots of BS. Try as many recruiters as possible until you find a job you want.

[Chambertin]

My story,

Do it.
Send out many applications. The pro stuff which is not official EPIK, ie. GEPIK, JEPIK, so on, really didn�t care about multiple entries.

Too often recruiters turn their backs on you and your desires.
Too often they change the [location] at the last minute in the GEPIK, JEPIK, so on.

Drawbacks.

Too many recruiters will confuse you.
Too many offers will make you reach for the stars.

Apply to a few, 4-6 job postings. Judge the responses you get and work with 2-3 of them. If any seem strange late on down the line then drop and replace.

When you get a job offer that matches what you will like then take it. Beyond all of this is that you properly research where you work. Wiki's on the town, pics of apartment, good contract, etc. Once satisfied then send in your stuff.

Never send them the original document, only an Apostilled copy.
The reason for this is that some recruiters are all sugar and roses to get you to send originals then everything changes as you cant get your originals back from them easily.

If you got the real stuff at home you can easily drop new copies to option #2.

Good luck out there.

For more info on Apostille, then search for it, or just look at my old posts, or learn on your own.
http://www.hcch.net/index_en.php?act=text.display&tid=37