Korean Job Discussion Forums

[vchampea]

In the personal statement for CIEE, one of the questions is
Describe an experience in which you have had to make cultural adaptations. What skills or qualities did you draw upon to be successful?

I answered


While teaching one of my classes in Thailand, some of my students were having difficulty pronouncing certain words. I knew these were the students who could not read English very well (or not at all) so I wrote the English word using Thai transliteration. Once they began to pronounce the word correctly I took the transliteration away and used the English spelling only. Eventually the students were able to read and pronounce the word correctly. I continued to do this in other classes for students having trouble pronouncing or reading English. This strategy was especially helpful for students with poor reading skills.
In this situation I drew on my Thai language skills. This is not something many teachers have unless they have taken the time to study and practice. I was one of the few teachers who could read, write, and speak some Thai. Even a little bit of studying in Thai language helps tremendously in understanding the mistakes the students make and how to help them. I made no attempt to teach the children English in Thai but my Thai teaching assistants appreciated that I did not have to call on them for help every time my students got confused or could not understand me. I�m not fluent at all, so the students had to speak in English to me, but I had a basic understanding of Thai pronunciation and grammar. This allowed me to �troubleshoot� their mistakes so they could actually overcome them and reach a new level of understanding.

Maybe this is not a good example. Although my TA's in Thailand were impressed with this, Korean schools want you to speak only English. If you were a recruiter, would this sound like a good example of a cultural adaptation?

One other unrelated question. CIEE requires an application fee. Is that a big no-no when looking for recruiters? I thought CIEE looked more professional because their application process is longer and requires quite a lot of information from the applicant, so maybe the fee is worth it. I don't know how much the fee is.

[ttompatz]

Only a fool would pay a recruiter for a job in Korea.
(you are aware of the old saw about a fool and his money).

They work for and are paid for by the school.

There are hundreds of recruiters for Korea. Use all of them and find the perfect job.

Time to change recruiters.
Time to read the FAQs (before you end up in a position like the one when you were in Thailand.)

.

[vchampea]

Thanks, that's what I figured. After searching the net for a few hours I realized how many recruiters there are. I just thought maybe CIEE was really excellent, like the JET program in Japan.

[ttompatz]

[vchampea]

Yes, I can see that CIEE is not a government program. But they may offer more than the typical recruiter. It's too vague to really tell. Their website says 24 hour support while in Korea. I just sent them and email asking for more details about the "24 hour support."

[Skill]

I guess they don't sleep.

[jamasian]

I guess I'll be calling them tomorrow. I have not found ONE single person that has used their teaching program before and I don't really like how the $1900 doesn't cover the costs of all this paperwork.

"Your CIEE program fee covers many things related to preparing, training, and supporting your experience. This includes valuable program support before you go and in-country as well. We are your reference board and problem solvers should you need advice or assistance. Additionally, your program fee covers your pre-departure school assignment, an in-country orientation program, one-way transfer from orientation to your host school, insurance coverage, program handbook, teaching guides and tools, visa application acquisition, and housing. Please refer to the compensation section of this website for details."

I see that the fee covers a 2-day orientation (i'm guessing with hotel and food included), a ride to the school, insurance (which I like. isn't int'l insurance better to have?), teaching guides and tools (shouldn't schools have that free?), housing (is that our deposit?).

There's so much I want to ask a past-participant but I have googled and googled and found nothing.

I really want to use them to make money for one of their study abroad programs.

[ttompatz]

I reiterate what has been said many times before.

ONLY A FOOL would pay to get a job in Korea.

NO recruiter can help you much after you land. They don't have the resources, inclination or legal standing to do anything other than give you a shoulder to cry on (and that includes CIEE).

Their insurance is worthless (simply supplemental to NHIC or worse, just travelers insurance (not valid on a resident/work visa)).

Save your money, take a job and save even more.
THEN take a year off, go to China and study Chinese (or just enroll in a Chinese language school here).

.

[vchampea]

After finding so many other recruiters for teaching in Korea I just forgot about CIEE. I don't know how CIEE gets away with program fees. I'm not willing to try it. There's too many other recruiters that charge no fees and tell you exactly what you're getting from them. It's interesting you couldn't find any info about anybody who's tried CIEE before.

[northway]