Korean Job Discussion Forums

[proverbs]

well, i just finished my first year here Korea as a teacher. i really liked the experience and have decided to come back another year. however, i may want to come back as a recruiter rather than a teacher.

can anyone give me advice on the best way to do this? do i just contact all the hagwons and tell them i can get them teachers? do i have to work for a recruiting company?

during my year here, i have received more than a dozen requests from friends and friend's friends about getting jobs in Korea. i would always point them to this website or worknplay. they all would contact me with questions about my experience, visa info, salary, locations, etc., so i became sort of an expert at all this stuff.

i enjoyed teaching, but thought maybe i can be a recruiter next year, as i am still constantly getting emails from back home about jobs. i also heard they make a good chunk of change .

any advice would be greatly appreciated! TIA.

[laguna]

[proverbs]

not sure what you mean.. i need $50,000?? what do you mean i can't obtain it in Korea??

[kiwipenny]

If you have made many contacts and know of other recruiters perhaps you could start by working part time for another recruiter in order to build up business.

I've been here 6 years and have made enough contacts and always get people asking me to help them out.. but yet to start a business from it.. and yes it can take a bit of money to set up but easy to save up.

For the OP I would suggest networking some more before just recruiting full time... I had some friends working full time and recruiting part-time and getting some good money for it.. I will try n find out from them what company they used. Then PM you if you like~


But to Laguna's comment... Why couldn't you get money to start the business here? It's a goldmine!! With a bit extra on the side you could save 3 mill a month that would be enough to start up a small business after a year. Little less vaca and a lil more work and no probs ^^

[shcforward]

[kiwipenny]

OP could Just get a silent (korean) partner ~~~ but would be easier starting off part time in case it's not all it cracks up to be...

[Donkey Beer]

Learn some Korean, find a silent partner and get good at telling lies / double talk.

After that, all you need to do is create a website and spam through message boards and mass emails.

[ttompatz]

[OculisOrbis]

[proverbs]

sorry - i forgot to add some important information - i am a F4 visa holder. my korean is still horrible, but im studying a lot more to try and improve. i also have some great friends that i made in korea who speak excellent korean. im sure they would not mind helping me a bit. all my friends, and the people that have been contacting me for jobs, have to come with an E2 visa, so the process is much more difficult for them.

[ttompatz]

[PatrickGHBusan]

I understand where you are coming from OP but perhaps a bit of a reality check is in order here so here goes.

1- To be a recruiter you do not need to be IN Korea. You could be a US-based rectruiter. This has several advantages and some disadvantages.

2- You are not an expert on this stuff (visa rules and placement of teachers), all you did was answer questions informally. That is quite different from working with actual applicants and schools. In the latter case you need factual information and to really know and understand the visa regulations, where to send the paperwork and so on. Since you would place E2s you need to know the process inside out.

Now comes the hard part, those rectruiters that make good money work their asses off. If you want to recruit on your own (start your recruitment agency) at minimum you will need the following:

1- A website that is easy to find (this means advertising and this means $$$)

2- A business phone where you an be reached.

3-PROFESSIONAL contacts in Korea, not friends who want to "help".

4- You will have to promote your services to schools , this requires time, money and some good networking skills. You will be competing against larger recruitment agencies who have more contacts and money than you. So get ready to work hard.

Now the recruitment and placement process.

1- You should know that on average a recruiter has to go through roughly 10-15 applicants in order to place ONE teacher. Out of that lot you get people who do not qualify but still apply, people who submit incomplete applications whom you have to contact to request the remaining documents, people who apply with 20 recruiters and who will dump you when another recruiter places them (thereby wasting your time)...

Say out of 15 you drop 5 initially as they are crap applicant, you have 10 people left. Usually a recruiter will call an applicant for a phone interview-initial contact. This means 10 calls right there, more of your time and money (long distance fees as not everyone uses skype).

After those 10 calls, you can remove an another 2-3 applicants as the phone interview will show you you do not want to deal with them. You are left with about 7 possibilities. Then you start to look for jobs for these applicants ideally according to their preferences. You also have to deal with questions from these applicants as the process moves along.

Then you reach the placement step as that 1 teacher out of 10-15 accepts a position. You then usually deal with the visa process (more time and money).

Finally the teacher is placed and you get your placement fee (roughly 800 000W to a million Won (sometimes less, sometimes more) but wait, that placement fee is CONDITIONAL. Usually a school will require a 1-3 month probatory period. If a teacher leaves within that time frame, you have to pay back the placement fee or replace the teacher for free.

Some schools are bad places to work, you would typically wish to avoid dealing with them. Your success will depend on your placement and on the results you get.

You will also place teachers than end up making you look like an ass by pulling a runner for no good reason or by simply being piss poor at their jobs. Then you have to deal with an angry school and do some fence mending.

If you place in a school that ends up being bad and you offered post placement services, you need to help that teacher out and protect your reputation as well.

Now what services do you want to offer?

Will you go the deeper route and offer post-placement support for your teachers?

This means you will need contacts with immigration and othe relevant agencies and be ready to act as mediator if one of your teachers has problems (more of your time and money).

It is not as simple as creating a website and mass emailing. It requires a heck of a lot more legwork, effort and commitment.

Contact any serious recruiter and you will see they do not just sit there and watch the money roll in.

You can earn a decent living as a recruiter but you will definitively have to work hard for it.

[proverbs]

thanks for all the input guys!

Patrick, i can't thank you enough for the excellent post. some of the information was new to me, so i definitely have a long way to go before i start anything.

i want to be successful - and i hopefully i can do this by being honest and helpful for all my clients. and i knew going in that i would have to work hard, so that is not an issue. i guess the best way to start is to find a part time teaching job that gives me some time to do recruiting on the side. the other option would be to work at a recruiting agency for awhile. although i did hear recruiting agency take a good portion (i'm talking like 70%) of the commission.

[proverbs]

[OculisOrbis]

Its the county or municipality government office.