Korean Job Discussion Forums

ayahyaha · Joined: 04 Apr 2011 Location: Seoul, South Korea

I'm currently looking for a job in Korea.

I worked in Korea before, and that job is listed on my resume.

A recruiter called me yesterday and told me that the school I have listed told her that I had never worked there.

I called my former employer myself, saying that I was checking out a candidate's employment history, and the person I talked to -- without any hesitation -- said that he had never heard of me. There was no pause to check a list, etc. (This was not a small school. There were probably 60 foreign teachers at any given time.)

I worked there several years ago, so I pointed this out. He replied "I worked here then, and I have never heard of X."

Full disclosure: I was fired in the 11th month of my contract, though it wasn't for anything serious. I considered it a standard 11th hour firing with basically a made-up reason.

Are they just trying to screw me? I absolutely don't get it.

Any light on this situation would be greatly appreciated. Has this happened to anyone else?

CentralCali · Joined: 17 May 2007

Do you still have the bank records from your time there? If so, you should be able to prove you've worked there. Send in a written request to the school for verification of employment--the school's required to provide that to you upon your request.

How long ago was this "standard 11th month firing"? If you're lucky, you have proof of employment (the aforementioned bank records, copy of your contract, and the written notice of firing). File a complaint with the Labor Board. If you didn't get written notification of termination, then you're probably out of luck at the Labor Board as the former boss will simply say you just quit coming to work. Even that will be good for your immediate purpose as it'll be an admission that you did, in fact, work there.

ayahyaha · Joined: 04 Apr 2011 Location: Seoul, South Korea

Kepler · Joined: 24 Sep 2007

My work visa has the name of my school on it in Korean. Perhaps you could make a scanned copy of your previous work visa and send that to recruiters.

Ramen · Joined: 15 Apr 2008

omit the school from your resume. Razz

SeoulFinn · Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Location: 1h from Seoul

I agree with the previous poster that it might be best to omit the school from you resume.

I'd think the Korean Tax Office should have some info about you. That is, if your previous school even paid your taxes!

koreatimes · Joined: 07 Jun 2011

If you worked for a hagwon legally, then you should have something in your passport (how did you stay 11 months on a tourist visa? Wink

) Passports are good for 10 years. Did you work more than 10 years ago?

sojusucks · Joined: 31 May 2008

11 month firings and eliminating people from employment records? Sounds like a crapwon. Odds are that they never filed your taxes or health insurance and pension, too. Did you have a visa? Maybe Immigration can help you verify the employment.

BTW, can you name the hagwon?

ayahyaha · Joined: 04 Apr 2011 Location: Seoul, South Korea

Thanks for all the advice.

I hate to eliminate the school from my resume because having previous experience in Korea is a big plus.

I do have my E2 visa in my passport, and it says the name of the school but not the specific branch, so it doesn't help my case that much. The recruiter I showed the visa too said that he believed me that I worked there, but that's probably not enough for potential employers.

I don't want to name the school, sorry. I'm in the middle of a job search and it doesn't seem prudent. Anyway, I'm sure it wouldn't be a surprise to anyone if I did name it. Maybe after I am happily in Korea again.

oldtrafford · Joined: 12 Jan 2011

it won't affect your pay, people get paid less than 6 years ago. why bother coming back here? it aint for the money on a standard hoggie or epik contract!!

wylies99 · Joined: 13 May 2006 Location: I'm one cool cat!

Many hagwons go out of business or change their names. Anyone with experience in the ESL industry in Korea should understand this fact.

OP, try to explain that maybe the hagwon has new ownership and the older records may not be complete.

jrwhite82 · Joined: 22 May 2010

What the school is doing isn't right and if they fired you without cause, that wan't right either.

But at the same time, you should never list something on your resume that could work against you.

You have to weigh your options. Is it better to list a job you got fired from (wrongfully or not) or leave a gap in your employment history?

99% of the time, the answer is to leave a gap in your employment history.

When it comes to working as a NET, working 11 months at a school will probably wind up working against you in the job search. Although you have experience in Korea, which is an obvious. Your experience actually shows that you failed to complete the contract (although it wasn't your fault), which, unfortunately is a major strike against you.

Also, most employers would only give you a bump in pay if you have over a year experience. Which unfortunately 11 months is just shy of. Again, not your fault, but those are the rules of the game.

There should be plenty of jobs out there for you, even if you don't list that experience. So good luck! You'll find something! Make sure to check the contract review sticky above to see if anything has changed since you were last here.

Tigerstyleone · Joined: 01 Feb 2009

60 Foreign teachers ? 60 ?

And you say this is a hagwon. A hagwon with 60 foreign teachers.

UNBELIEVABLE

Skippy · Joined: 18 Jan 2003 Location: Daejeon

As above. Schools change, go out of business or even grow. A few years ago I went to check on my old schools. Smallish hagwons - 2 of the 3 where gone. The one that was still around did not have any of the old crew around! Different schools in place for the other 2 but gone - new names, new owners.

The more time in before the more likely they will forget you. Plus you said the school has many teachers. You expect one school to remember that one teacher from 4 years ago. If it is that huge they have probably had thousands of changes of both kind of teachers. What where you expecting to here some typing the background and yes we had Mr. Ayahaha he worked for use from.....

Also I think you got Yaya-ed. The person you called simply put, did not want to make the effort, so they went ya-ya (actually in your case uhuh-nope). It is so much simpler to say no, he did not work for us, then to actually get up and find some papers or somebody who remembers you. The call they got is more of a bother for them then a boon. So the quicker they can get you off the phone the better.

In the end you got a little messed up. But in my opinion it would be much worse to be remembered and then bad mouthed then just forgotten about.

ayahyaha · Joined: 04 Apr 2011 Location: Seoul, South Korea

Sorry for the long delay on this update. Thank you (albeit belatedly) for the advice and perspective.

What happened in the end:

1) I kept pushing it with the school. I called them multiple times hoping for different people, and had a Korean friend call on my behalf as well. Ultimately, I found someone reasonable and emailed scans of my E2 and photos of me actually teaching in the school. They eventually conceded and told the recruiters that I must have worked there even though they had no record of it.

2) The firing never came up, because they did not/could not/would not consult their (probably non-existent) employment records.

3) I got a job with a decent increase in pay due to previous experience in Korea, as I had wanted in the first place.

BTW: This school still exists and is under the same management. It is also a big enough school that anyone living in Seoul/Korea probably knows it just from seeing it around. So, I couldn't use the "out of business/different management" excuse -- although it's a useful one sometimes.

All is well, and I'm working now. (Not there, of course.)

Thanks again. I am really happy that I was persistent.