Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Imperial]

Hello,
I'm pretty new to the EFL Korea thing, although I've done tons of research and been lurking here for months.

I would be much obliged if I could get some feedback from the more experienced people here about certain hagwons and recruiter practices.

One of our recruiters hasn't told us the name of the school whose interested in our application: is this normal? A bad sign?

Is it necessary for us to be wary of what's written in the Korean contract? I've read that the English contract is as binding as the Korean version.

Also does anyone have any information on LCI english academy?
The reviews on LCI kids club i've dredged up seems to indicate that it is a terrible hagwon to work for.
I don't know if these are the same schools necessarily.
If someone could answer these questions truthfully and thoroughly I would be very grateful.

[Skippy]

First off recruiters will NOT tell the name of the school because they want to make money. If a recruiter told a teacher the name of the school what is to stop said teacher to saying thanks do not need your services I will find the school on my own. Give it another day or two and another phone call. Once the recruiter has contacted the school for you they will then give you a name. Recruiters are your basic middle man they want their cut and when things get sorted out they will be more helpful.

Next you have to understand the nature of Hagwons in Korea. LCI is a popular chain. Now with chains some schools are centrally owned and operated by a company others are franchises or even just a name and (crappy) book system bought by some individual Korean who wants to make a buck. The centrally owned system can be good they will be more organized (pay on time, better materials), but they have a tendency to be heartless (your done we don't need you - go). The individual owned schools can be either great or just hellish. So one LCI school in a chain is horrible does not mean that all LCI schools are horrible. Just because of the five Irish people I met in the last year 4 have been drunks does not mean ALL Irish are drunks.

Understanding eslcafe and most forums. When was the last time you read "I Love my school let me tell all the reasons why". Not often I bet. Most postings (about schools or teachers) are going to be negative in one way or another if your lucky they might neutral. So for every three posting why LCI is hell you will not see those three that it is an OK school. Also people like to complain (myself included) so they will complain to all and everyone. People usually keep quite when things are going good.

Be careful of dates. A school 3 years ago might not be the same today. Schools get sold, managers get changed, teachers move on.

My advice is carefully read the contracts, ask lots of questions, and speak to present teachers and former teachers if you can. If a school will not give you any contact info for their teachers I would be vary cautious.

Good Luck

[Imperial]

Thank you for the advice.
I wasn't aware of the nature of recruiters to keep mum on the name of the schools their representing.
Unfortunately, my research didn't include that particular detail and well... transparency is crucial for me, and I'm glad to know that it isn't a red flag for anything.

I'm aware of the tendency of forums towards complaint.
We refused a contract from a recruiter because of the discrepancies between what was promised by her and what we wanted, what the school was offering, and what the information said dredged up about LCI's various chains.
Perhaps, it was a mistake but we just didn't get a good feeling when all things were considered and decided to let the recruiter know about our misgivings and reiterate what our basic requirements were: which consequently isn't much at all: single housing, schools further south on the peninsula, and no split shifts.
Maybe we were acting the prima donna but why waste everyone's time when two of our desires weren't being met?
Is this the right attitude to take with us when dealing with the recruiters and hagwons?

[Skippy]

The only problem about being picky is you might be looking for a while longer for a job. If you start to get low on cash you will start to get desperate and then you will start taking bad offers.


Also some advice is Seoul is good, but if you can see yourself doing it other cities are fine like Daejeon, Daegu, Gwangju etc.

[g35doc]

[quote="Imperial"]Perhaps, it was a mistake but we just didn't get a good feeling when all things were considered and decided to let the recruiter know about our misgivings and reiterate what our basic requirements were: which consequently isn't much at all: [b]single housing, schools further south on the peninsula, and no split shifts.[/b]
Maybe we were acting the prima donna but why waste everyone's time when two of our desires weren't being met?
Is this the right attitude to take with us when dealing with the recruiters and hagwons?[/quote]

Those requirements are definitely not too much to ask for. If anything they are quite minimal.