Korean Job Discussion Forums

[bdot]

Hey all,

I have a school (sisaplus fyi) ringing me tomorrow for a phone interview. Can you guys give me a few tips on standard answers (level of detail etc... I've heard that your answers can be very short... is this true?).

Also what questions should I be asking them. If what the recruiter guy told me is true, it is a school for adults (which is what I'm after) with teaching hours from 6:30am - 12:00 and 6:00 - 9:00pm.

Thanks guys

[AnsanAnswers]

You can find a ton of information on the boards if you do some searching, but here are a few key pointers:

- Play up any kind of teaching experience you have. Whether it's tutoring, coaching, training or any experience where you instructed others make sure to mention it and sound confident when you do.

- Do a little bit of research on Korea (I'm sure you have already) and pick the top 3 reasons that you want to live and work here. You need to show that you are truly interested in their country and their culture.

- Be enthusiastic and flexible. Business is done very differently here then most places in the world and during the initial phone interview you should be prepared to have any documentation or information ready for them.

- Have your documentation ready! So many people are caught off guard by how quickly the application process can work and some will lose out on some opportunities because they don't have the required docs. Make sure you have all your paperwork (diploma, CBC, passport, transcripts, etc.) ready to scan, copy, fax and ship at a moment's notice.

As far as questions for them go here are some standards:

- Living situation; how far from school?
- Salary; how much and when will you be paid?
- Teaching hours; this can be different from work hours. I work for a public school so I 'work' 40 hours a week, but only teach 22 hours.
- Vacation days; how many?

This list is by no means exclusive, but it will get you off to a good start. Most time the phone interviews are very quick and you do not get into too much detail. You should use this as an opportunity to make a good impression and follow up with your recruiter to ask the majority of your questions.

Best of luck to you!

[bdot]

Thanks for the Answers Ansan.

Couple hours to go... might debrief yas later.

[baguingr]

within the first question or 2 try to gauge the interviewers level of English and speak to that level. Can make for a smoother interview and make them think you'll fit better as a teacher. It can be a bit hard trying to dumb down speech if you aren't practiced at it. The first time I started interviewing for jobs I made the mistake of actually trying to sound intelligent to my potential future employer, LOL, it had the opposite effect. They thought I would talk the same to students and they wouldn't be able to understand me. This mainly happened because I assumed that the all recruiters and schools managers (my first recruiter had native English) I would be talking to would be fluent. I ended up having some interviews that I have no idea why they bothered asking me questions or seeing if I had any questions because any meaningful communication was almost useless. So basically be aware that there could be a wide range of English level of the interviewer (depending on where the school is), this caught me really off guard.

[jrwhite82]

Talk about 20-30% slower than you normally would. You'll want to do this in class too to help the students listen to you.

Sound excited to talk with them.

[BackRow]

Try to come across as cheerful and as enthusiastic as you can stomach

[bdot]

Thanks so much guys... yeah, I'm pretty used to the whole dumbed down English thing... not so easy when you're trying to talk yourself up.

Anyway, the school never rang... the recruiter told me he got a random call from the school saying they had cancelled the interview... bit strange, slightly humorous too. I guess its the Korean way. ?

Will keep these tips in mind for the future however... thanks again guys