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PureLuck
Joined: 06 Jun 2014
Location: Seoul
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 Posted: Fri Oct 24, 2014 7:57 am Post subject: Resigned, got my LOR, what do I tell future employers? |
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I'm looking at a lot of job interviews the next little while so I need to know how to tell employers why I quit my hagwon. Are they generally pretty understanding?
I guess I can (and should) be more candid with recruiters since they're just going to try and get me hired somewhere. |
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thegadfly
Joined: 01 Feb 2003
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| Posted: Fri Oct 24, 2014 7:11 pm Post subject: |
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I would say that it depends on why you quit. They paid you late several times? Yeah, I'd have no problem with hiring someone who quit for that reason. They demanded you work weekends or overtime, especially unpaid overtime? Sure, that is worth quitting over. You felt unsafe at work, due to some sort of harassment? Yeah, no one should put up with that.
However, if you didn't like having to plan your own lessons, discipline your own classes, show up on time, or actually have to work for your money, then yeah, as an employer, I would have a problem with that.
Without knowing the reason you quit, I'd have to say "depends." |
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Stan Rogers
Joined: 20 Aug 2010
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| Posted: Fri Oct 24, 2014 7:13 pm Post subject: |
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| I'd just say "job sucked." |
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thegadfly
Joined: 01 Feb 2003
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| Posted: Fri Oct 24, 2014 8:08 pm Post subject: |
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| Well, Stan, when I interview people, and they have not finished a contract, I definitely ask why they left early. If someone said, "the job sucked," I would definitely ask why...though I already would have a bad impression of the interviewee. All jobs suck -- that is why someone else is willing to pay us to do them. If they didn't suck, they would be called hobbies, and we would need to pay in order to partake. |
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Stan Rogers
Joined: 20 Aug 2010
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| Posted: Fri Oct 24, 2014 8:33 pm Post subject: |
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I was being sarcastic.
I think your advice is good except for this part
"You felt unsafe at work, due to some sort of harassment? Yeah, no one should put up with that."
I would avoid bringing that kind of thing up. |
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thegadfly
Joined: 01 Feb 2003
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| Posted: Sat Oct 25, 2014 12:36 am Post subject: |
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Yeah, fair enough Stan  sorry for missing the sarcasm. Imma blame it on the cold medicine -- I'm even slower than usual.... |
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Stan Rogers
Joined: 20 Aug 2010
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| Posted: Sat Oct 25, 2014 12:48 am Post subject: |
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| No worries. BTW I love your avatar. Sums up most of the "discussion" on this site. |
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PureLuck
Joined: 06 Jun 2014
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2014 3:57 am Post subject: |
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| thegadfly wrote: |
I would say that it depends on why you quit. They paid you late several times? Yeah, I'd have no problem with hiring someone who quit for that reason. They demanded you work weekends or overtime, especially unpaid overtime? Sure, that is worth quitting over. You felt unsafe at work, due to some sort of harassment? Yeah, no one should put up with that.
However, if you didn't like having to plan your own lessons, discipline your own classes, show up on time, or actually have to work for your money, then yeah, as an employer, I would have a problem with that.
Without knowing the reason you quit, I'd have to say "depends." |
Thanks. I think my reasons are definitely legitimate but the perspective you're giving me is going to help me frame it in the best possible way. |
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SeoulNate
Joined: 04 Jun 2010
Location: Hyehwa
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| Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2014 5:20 pm Post subject: |
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If you want another job, make sure you leave out anything about:
1) cultural differences
2) management of teachers
3) overtime/extra work that is unpaid
All of the above is par for the course at most places and will get you bumped for someone else |
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PureLuck
Joined: 06 Jun 2014
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Mon Oct 27, 2014 11:24 pm Post subject: |
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| SeoulNate wrote: |
3) overtime/extra work that is unpaid
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That's conflicting with what another poster said about the employer insisting I work unpaid overtime, which was part of the reason I hated this job. I think if someone wouldn't want to hire me over that, that probably means I wouldn't want to work for them in the first place.
That having been said, I'll try to avoid it, but I will definitely ask about it in the interview process to make sure I'm not getting hired somewhere with a lot of unpaid Saturdays. |
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thegadfly
Joined: 01 Feb 2003
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| Posted: Mon Oct 27, 2014 11:53 pm Post subject: |
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Well, Pureluck, this can go two ways.
Working Saturdays without pay? Absolutely, I would understand about quitting over that.
Expecting to get paid overtime for the necessary prep for the classes you teach? No, that's part of the teaching deal.
Doing work that is NOT preparing for a class or checking homework for a class you teach? That could be a grey area. I mean, being asked to participate in a graduation ceremony might take a couple of hours, but it should only happen once a year, and while you may not be paid for it, there should be some food/drink associated with the event...and I don't think that is worth quitting over.
Being asked to judge a monthly contest, every month, without any pay, yeah, that swings back to understandable reasons for quitting....
It is all in the phrasing -- you need to still sound positive about your previous job, even if you hated it. Even if it WAS horrible, you want to be somewhat tactful. Too much bitterness being expressed is definitely off-putting.... |
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PureLuck
Joined: 06 Jun 2014
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2014 6:34 am Post subject: |
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| thegadfly wrote: |
| Working Saturdays without pay? Absolutely, I would understand about quitting over that. |
Thanks. That's what it was, but your response helped me realize that if I am going to bring up the unpaid overtime I should specify that it was Saturdays. |
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radish kimchi
Joined: 20 Mar 2014
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| Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2014 9:53 pm Post subject: |
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| PureLuck wrote: |
| thegadfly wrote: |
| Working Saturdays without pay? Absolutely, I would understand about quitting over that. |
Thanks. That's what it was, but your response helped me realize that if I am going to bring up the unpaid overtime I should specify that it was Saturdays. |
Still unclear. We don't know how long you have worked there. If you are 10 months into the contract, then why not finish the year and get your severance and final flight money?
Most likely, this isn't the case. 6 months would mark the crucial point in my opinion. If I were to let a teacher go, I would want at least 6 months to recoup any losses, unless there was another teacher waiting in the wings.
Since you got a letter of release, I would assume you did the 6 months. Saying you mutually ended it should be good enough.
If you didn't work 6 months, did your schedule change? Did you work M-F, then 3 months later Saturday was included?
It is possible from another poster you were not going to get paid for Saturday work. Was this because you didn't finish the weekly number of classes and the school wanted them by adding a regular 6th day? Did you simply not agree to 5 days with one being a weekend day?
For a hagwon, I would be reluctant to bring this up. Weekend days are prime days for hagwons to make money. Since you have the letter of release, I would just say the owner had a personal matter, emergency, "possibly" a death in the family. So, they couldn't pay for additional work now. If this is a well known hagwon, then maybe say they thought they needed more teachers but enrollment hasn't gotten better. You agreed to leave because you wanted a different location.
Again, it's unclear if this would be a good excuse if you are moving somewhere nearby. If the school is having you work 25 classes with 5 office hours during the week, and they want weekend work without pay then pose this as a question to the new school instead of saying it as a reason for leaving.
This does 2 things. It doesn't sound like you are unwilling to work on Saturdays, and it tells you if the new school would want the same thing. There is no guarantee that later on the new school wouldn't want the same thing.
Find out now while you have the letter of release what the new school wants, not so much why you are leaving the old one. This will make it easier for the new school to accept you. |
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