Korean Job Discussion Forums

[butter808fly]

Okay..... hello everyone. New here and seeking a job in Korea (haha.. like you couldnt guess). Im working with two recruiters, one doesnt seem legit from the getgo, the but the other is linked on efl-law website.

Ive only been searching for a month or more, but so far gotten two job offers. Yes cool, BUT...... both jobs offered are from bunk schools (or at least the franchise) is on blacklist etc. Korea Hearld and Kids College.. and now my 3rd offer... SLP. Come on! It seems and my theory is that recruiters recruit for schools that nobody wants to work at.. is this true? Im starting to get a bit frustrated.. but havent lost hope Im just curious.. 1. do recruiters just send you bunk schools until you refuse to work in crappy conditions 2. should i get yes another recruiter or 3. should I try a different means of finding another school.

I hear word of mouth is best so here is my shameless plug!

I live in California.. Im a nice girl, have my BA in Psychology, Im smart and I love kids. I dont have teaching experience persay, but definatly can do the job as teaching is a natural personality trait of mine.

Ive read up about Korean culture and find it more interesting by the day. I hope to understand why Koreans act as they do and represent America in the best light possible. Im realiable, creative, and hardworking. Im really ready to leave now!

There are MANY tips and tricks on Dave and am grateful for all the help Ive read. I just have to vent a bit

(frankly, there seems to be a very large market for franchise owners who know how to run the show!)

[Holyjoe]

If you're not impressed with what recruiters have to offer, then cut out the middleman and try contacting some schools direct.

Look at sites such as WorknPlay or English Spectrum where schools advertise directly for teachers. It can be hit and miss, but at least if you end up at a bad school you can only blame yourself

[crazylemongirl]

There are plenty of mom and pop places that use recuriters. I wuold be very wary of using just what people say on the internet as the basis for getting a job as the franchises vary a lot. Also some public schools use recuriters as some of the teachers came through recuriters (although i got my job from a contact) I still think thatthe best way to secure a good job is to come over and check things out for yourself..

[ghostshadow]

Be very careful, the recruiters only gets paid when you come and work in Korea for a period of time. Once you are here they get paid and they are done. Many would not have your interests. Only a few handful have been around long enough to care so that they have a close relationship with the schools. As stated earlier it is always best to cut the middle man and go directly to the schools. When you look at the postings out there you will start to get a feel of which are from recruiters and which are from the schools. There are even cases when the recruiters will offer you a contract without even having a school in mind, hold your documents until they find something and send you over there. Try to go with big name schools like YBM or something, they have lots of franchises so stick with the company owned schools. They don't offer the highest pay but they have solid jobs and usually very professional.

[Zyzyfer]

I had a recruiter go out of his way (unnecessarily, I might add) for me yesterday when I went to an interview. The school seemed nice as well.

My rule of thumb in looking at recruiters is the volume of their jobs, and the quality of their posted jobs. If they've got 20 jobs listed with a 10-line description that magically sums up all of their jobs, it's not worth looking at.

[Saxiif]

Don't worry too much about the franchise name, unless an individual school is blacklisted then the name of a franchise really doesn't mean anything.
That said its probably a good idea to avoid schools that do both elementary and kindy since that means longer hours and split shifts in my experience. If you like the little ones look for a pure kindy job and they'll grab you but otherwise refuse any school with a kindy program and you'll probably wind up happier.

As for recruiters just use as many as you have time to talk to

ESLTour and Peoplerecruit are pretty OK and Teach2Korea should be stayed away from...

[paperbag princess]

esl career click is another bad one. they put two of us at a really shitty hagwon. they placed the other guy even after they knew how hard a time i was having.

it's better to come here and pick your hagwon. i currently have an amazing recruiter, pm me if you want his details.

[fasequeira]

You've probably heard much of this, but anyway...


The most important thing you can do is research.

-Find out as much about a prospective employer as you can. That may mean talking to the director if they speak English.

-Definitely get as many e-mail addresses from current teachers and try to communicate with them about the school and conditions.

-Don't be over concerned about salary. Some schools have lower than average salaries, but much better working environments, housing, support, resources...etc. Many institutes will offer higher salaries just to get a teacher in. This doesn't mean that the school is good.

-If you have enough money to buy a ticket over here, then that is the best way. Many places will reimburse you or give you something in place of the airfare they would have had to pay to get you here. You will have to negotiate that.

-Big name chain schools will often be blacklisted because they have up to 120 schools nationwide carrying the name, but a small number of them are horrible. Check into the specific schools.

Someone mentioned YBM (ECC, SISA). They have a number of blacklisted schools. I have been working for an ECC on the East coast for 4 years and there is nobody in town at a hagwon with better working conditions. It is also the biggest school in the city by at least 4 times over the next institute.

Recruiters get a lot of money sometimes for getting anyone with a degree into any school. When it becomes the bottom dollar, they often ignore the bad situations they throw unsuspecting first-timers into.

You're also right, connections or people you know are the best way to land a secure job. However, it sounds like you don't have any at the moment.

I have done recruiting for my school in the past, but typically I would be bringing in people I know from home. I'd offer you a job here, but we don't have anything until September.

Anyway, a long post and I'm sure you already know most of what is in it, but hopefully something helps.

Good luck

[butter808fly]

Hey, thank you everyone for your help!

I guess it does make sense that just because one school part of a franchise is blacklisted, the whole franchise itself isnt corrupt. Although, there are a few posts about avoiding a particular franchise in general. I assume someone who is really upset might post something like that. Funny, Ive seen ECC mentioned a few times and now I see it recommended? Hrmmm.

Recruiters. I will definatly beware. I am on my way to cutting out the middleman if possible.

[chronicpride]

I'd even be wary of putting a whole lot of stock in the blacklists, too. There are some blacklists out there that have been proven to be scams, and many teachers are not always the pristine, honest angels that they make themselves out to be, when they report that they've been 'wronged'.

You're assuming that the teacher's testimony of the school is being completely unbiased, candid, and unfiltering with his/her report. Knowing that 99% of the time, their story will go unchecked or undisputed, in an online environment that only hears the teacher's version, time after time. That leaves room for a whole of lot of potential BS and fabrication.

Questionable reputations and untrustworthiness lurk amongst teachers, just as much as recruiters and hagwon owners.

Take the blacklists with a heavy grain of salt.

Best advice is to fly yourself here on your own dollar, see the schools and apartments first-hand, meet and talk with directors/recruiters/teachers, sign for something that you like, get reimbursed.

It's a lot more risky and stressful doing this on the other side of the earth, via emails, and trying to trust what you read on the internet and hoping that your research sources are honest and factual.

[fasequeira]

Funny enough, my director informed me today that we need a teacher for August.

Who knows if you are interested or not...

here's the link to the dave's post

http://www.eslcafe.com/jobs/korea/index.cgi?read=12518

If you think it might be for you, e-mail me or message me.

If you e-mail the address in the post, it is our school's recruiter. She used to work here but has been back in Canada for a couple of years. I may be able to give you a better lowdown on the situation here.

Of course, as I mentioned before, and as chronicpride said, your best option is to get yourself over here somehow to check things out in person.

Happy hunting.

[rapier]

O.P:-To be honest, i think the job market here is dwindling, due to a variety of reasons......
1) its flooded with more recruits than ever due to unemployment in the west
2) The Korean economy is in trouble- there's at least half the number of schools/hagwons now than there was a year or two ago:
3) Recruiters are monopolising the trade...and do everything in their own time......in addition, they generally only recruit for immediate-type positions...


You have a good degree, and you're a woman to boot. 2 years ago you would have been absolutely bombarded with job offers- at that time, when I first posted on here I recieved over 90 responses/offers, in the space of a week... A year ago, it had lessened to a trickle.
Now? Its obviously even less than a trickle...I reckon schools have more people to choose from and have become very fussy......
Good luck with it- I'll be after a new job myself in a few months...

[JacktheCat]

There is a lot of recruiter basing on Dave's, but truth-be-told, they can save your ass in a pinch.

One recruiter I can whole-heartedly recommend is FT Union

Sure, Stephanie is not the most organized girl in the world, but she is honest and has a lot of good contacts.

[chronicpride]

[butter808fly]

great comments everyone, thank you!