Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Smithington]

I almost did it today. I had an interview with seven people today for a job. All of them asking inane questions. What do I like most about Korea? What is your relationship status? etc. It was tiring, and I wasn't impressed by the fact that, although everyone spoke English, they would frequently break into Korean to talk about me - like I wasn't there. I had a negative feeling about the school, and - as I already had another offer - I decided I didn't like the school atmosphere and would not be accepting a job there.

Then we meet with the vice principal, who could also speak English, but who again frequently broke into Korean to speak to the co-teacher in front of me. I was just getting uncomfortable vibes about the whole school. Finally (again) came questions about my relationship status. I thought "screw this" and was just about to excuse myself, stand up and walk out. But I didn't.

I'm curious. Does anyone have any stories of walking out of an interview. Because I almost did it today.

Stories please.

[diver]

[goreality]

This guy had an advert for a job on an ESL site. Turns out he was lying and just meeting native people to practice English with. I was kind of upset but thought it was creative at the same time. I don't know if it counts as walking out because I did stay and chat with him over a few drinks.

[morrisonhotel]

I almost hung up on a phone interview where the guy seemed to be more interested in whether I would fit in with his drinking buddies on Friday nights rather than as a teacher.

I should add that this guy was a qualified teacher with a BA in TEFL, PGCE, and several years of being a DOS.

[iggyb]

This doesn't fit, but I heard from a friend about an interview that was probably set up just to humiliate the applicant:

The guy was interviewing for an engineering job at Boeing. The interviewer said, "I notice you made a D in Thin Walled Structures...You know...an airplane is a thin walled structure...?"

I didn't hear how the interviewee responded and if he slunk out immediately after the question, but it is a good job interview story.

[jrwhite82]

Twice.

Well I walked out before one started. I got to the school 15 minutes early for the interview. The coteacher was there and did the preliminary interview. The VP I was supposed to interview with was called and told us she would be 45 minutes late. I told them I'm sorry, but I'm not going to wait here for 45 minutes for someone who invited me at a specific time. I walked out. They called me 3 times to apologize and try to get me to come back, but I wasn't interested.

The second time it was for an international school. They asked me my religion and after telling them I was told I was the wrong kind of Christian and that they believe I am a heretic. After my initial feeling of offense, I laughed and told him his manner of thinking is not Christian and then told them, "Thank you for wasting my time." And walked out. Usually, I don't like to burn bridges but in these two cases, insulting my faith and blowing me off, I just didn't care.

[Zyzyfer]

Ahhh...interview horror stories.

I've posted about this before, but I had one interview a little over a year ago that I should have walked out of. The Western woman in it stated that she hadn't read over my resume, and that I should explain my work history. When I gave the briefest account I could, she didn't ask a single question about relevant experience. Since this was an editing job, she focused on the fact that I had hakwon experience listed and treated me like I had just crawled out from the dungeon and was trying to escape. I didn't like her very much.

Then one of the two Koreans in the interview starts testing my Korean. I had stated when being invited in for the interview that my Korean wasn't very strong at all. I can't answer work history/employment queries in Korean so I bombed that part. The Korean woman then looks at the intern handling invites and asks her why I was invited in for an interview.

The intern dutifully states that I have editing experience. No reaction.

I should have walked out of that one. It's the only interview I've flopped where I was blaming the interviewers rather than my own flaws.

[Bagua18]

[Captain Corea]

[cheolsu]

[YTMND]

As surprising as this might seem, Korean recruiters vet schools fairly well compared to China. Japan is also worse but not by much. In Beijing, you don't just interview with the school, you meet with the recruiter first. You don't need to dress up for this, it's just a formality so they know for certain you are a native English speaker. After that, they introduce you to the school. Chinese do ABSOLUTELY nothing to help you find where you need to meet them. In Japan and Korea, I would meet with the recruiters at a subway station.

In China, "Go to the tall building!!". Which tall building?, "The one near the station!! You are late!!!". Which exit?, "The one next to the ticket gates!!! You are very late now!!!". Ok, I found 2345B, but the next one is 2347D, there is no 2346C (some bizarre numbering/lettering system). The station associated with electronics, Zongguancun, has exits A1, A2, B1, B2, then E. When trying to meet a local Beijinger I had to give my phone to security so they could convince the local Beijinger there were no exits labeled C or D on that side of the subway station. They refused to meet me outside Exit E (which might have to do with the "e" in the word "electronics") for an hour and wouldn't tell me if they were even at the station. You think you have it tough in Korea, just spend a lovely day in China. You get "Bag, watch, lady massage" whispered in your ears in Shanghai and insufficient information in Beijing.

"Oh you went out the wrong exit, go to even number exit!!!" which means a different LETTER exit. After an hour of this I got to the recruiter's office and I was greeted by a young servant girl working for the manager who spoke perfectly good English and told me the quickest way to the office within 10 seconds. WHY ON EARTH DIDN'T THEY PUT HER ON THE PHONE AN HOUR AGO!!!!!!

I get to the elite manager who couldn't be bothered to meet me at the station, and what does she do? She just reads my resume, "You from the USA?" "Yes, I am from USA", "You want teach Beijing?" "Of course, that's why I am here.", "You want to work with middle school or older students?" "Yes", "Sorry, right now we only have kindergarten schools and maybe 1 adult language school." Why couldn't they have told me this when I talked to them to begin with?

Another time, I told the recruiter the same info and they were closer, so I didn't have to worry about location issues as much. I told the school specifically that I did not want a kindergarten position. They are in a district about 45 minutes from central Beijing, 2.5 hours from where I was staying (considering all the subway line changes and bus time needed). They guaranteed on the phone I would be teaching high school students. I get there, and there were no high school students to teach. There was one big room with kindergarten books and a few kids coming in with their parents for a class. We sat down and talked. Not only would there be no high school classes, but they didn't want to get an apartment for me until 3 or 4 months of employment. They said I could work part-time, but there would be no compensation for living expenses. That was kind of the final straw with Beijing. I got lucky applying for a job in another city. The recruiter with that job offer had another one in Beijing and I am working there now.

So, anything could happen. Interview with a Busan teaching position, and you might find yourself taking a Seoul position with another school. It's not public school protocol, but anything could happen in recruiter/hagwon land.

[pkang0202]

You think that interview was intrusive OP?

Try interviewing at a Korean company. Standard questions are:

Are you single? Do you like Korean girls? How many bottles of Soju can you drink? What do your parents do? How much money does your parents have saved up? What can of jobs does your brothers and sisters have? Would you want to marry a korean girl? What university did your parents go to? What does your grandparents do?


I have no idea what personal information about my family has anythign to do with my job but it was explained to me that companies like to ask those kind of questions to gauge whether or not you are trustworthy. Someone from an affluent background is less likely to cheat/steal from the company than someone who is poor and the family is riddled with debt.

[jrwhite82]

[furtakk]

[Malislamusrex]

I haven't walked out but when they asked

"what do you think about teaching here?"
"I said not very much, how do I collect my expenses for coming here"