Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Jrich]

I have recently been screwed over with the company called EforS. They have an American recruiter now, and if you have dealt with this company, you know who he is. In my 5 years in Korea, he takes the cake for sketchiness. Be careful, don't let his friendliness win you over. Just proceed with caution!

[sojusucks]

I would be interested in hearing more about your story. Feel free to pm me. I use these stories to help other new teachers identify bad situations. Thanks.

[Jrich]

This company is also strangely called "In The World". Just a heads up for everyone out there!

[Otherside]

I'm sorry Jrich, you have to give more than that.
Your post is no more than, "I was recently screwed over by Jrich, he seems like a nice guy, but watch out, he's really dodgy, proceed with caution."

If you're going to post up a warning, at least give us the story.

[Jrich]

I'm sorry for not giving you the full story, Otherside. It's a rather long back and forth kind of story, so I neglected to type it all.

I'll give you the shortest version possible. I was interviewed by an American named Tim, who after 10 minutes in the interview offered me a position. However, it didn't start for 2 months. After a lengthy interview with him and his boss, and after them showing me everything I would teach, they said they would give it to me.

Tim was busy filling positions and interviewing, so he said contact him back in 2 weeks and we will meet and get it done. He said that he had "penciled" me in for the school that I wanted. 2 weeks later, I contacted him, he said he was busy substituting and would call me in the evening. He never called, so I gave him two days to contact me before I contacted him back. I texted him asking him when we could meet and sign the contract. He eventually wrote back stating that no jobs were available in the next 3 months anywhere near me. No explanation.

That was it. I texted him back asking why. No reply. I texted back asking him to please call me. No answer. I waited a couple more days, and at this point I contacted his boss, who had been with the company since the beginning. I told him the situation, and the boss asked for my name, and said he would find out about the situation and would call me right back. No call.

At this point, of course the position was gone. I basically wrote Tim explaining to him that its not cool to do business like that. Sometimes I expect that from a Korean recruiter, but not from him, who was a very genuine and friendly guy who has been here 7 years. I said some harsh things, out of frustration.

He eventually replied, acting nice, explaining how busy he was, and said there must have been some miscommunication and he wants to work together. He would be finished work at 7pm. I laughed to myself and said are you kidding me? He gave a lot of obvious excuses, and was probably a little worried for his job.

I wrote back explaining what was I supposed to think after all of that. I even apologized for being a little harsh. Honestly, he could have sent a text explaining something in less than 1 minute. I had turned down other offers in the past three weeks because I thought we had an agreement.

Of course I know that nothing is final until you sign a contract, but I thought with his genuineness and him being a fellow expat, it would have been a sure thing. So I trusted him. I recently just got back from my wedding in Thailand, so now having a wife, not only was this frustrating for me, it was also frustrating for our living and financial situation. It seemed for everything I asked him, he never answered - only went around it. He also dodged my phone calls.

Sorry for the rant, but that is the story in a nutshell. So please, be careful when dealing with this guy and this company.

[Skippy]

Thanks for for the "short" version Nice to get details. This recruiter seems less sketchy more just unprofessional. Ya I get what you mean when some tasks are easy to do. It is not that hard to send an email saying things have gone sideways and you should look elsewhere.

Plus to boot you are in country. Which should make things easier. I can understand the confusion and problems with recruiters and people over seas.

Maybe he is run ragged or just he has no skin the game. He is doing the hiring for the school, but he gets no money for it or he can fill it easier with anybody for the same money.

One detail, I think missing is the area? Where does this recruiter operate? (If I missed it).

[Jrich]

The recruiter operates out of Geumchon office, but they have random schools all around Seoul.

[some waygug-in]

Sounds like he's following the oldest tradition of recruiters.

Tell them anything, get the first warm bodies to sign up and leave the rest

swingin' in the wind. The school's he was hiring for probably saw a

22 year old blonde female just after you interviewed and went for a

more "attractive" candidate.


Just because someone is an expat, does not mean they will be on your side.


Recruiters have only 1 side, their own.

[nautilus]

You think thats bad??

You kidding, right? Thats nothing.

When you've been lured into a job by a recruiter who then disappears with your documents, without paying you or recompensing your airfare...or getting your visa done....costing you millions of won in the process....then consider yourself s***wed over.

[Jrich]

Nautilus, I'm not trying to have a pissing contest. I only wrote this post to share my experience and to warn those to think twice about getting involved with this company.

[missty]

Wait, that's weird. I think I worked for this company last year. Is this an afterschool program?

I don't recognise the name of the person you spoke to though, so maybe they have had a change around of administration or something. Which would make sense, as when I last tried to contact them over some missing documents they basically ignored all contact.

I would say you had a lucky escape to be honest.

[eddiejonz]

I would like to preface the following with this caveat: I do not generally participate in online forums � I�m more of a bystander, simply searching for the information I need and moving on. However, this post is going to be a touch personal since I know Tim and the company EforS, as well as the entire saga with you, Jrich, from beginning to end. You seem to have left out a few LARGE holes in your story. Please allow me to fill them in for you. It�s only fair, right, since you are encouraging people to stay away from this company, that they get both sides?

First of all, you were twenty minutes late to your interview.

There was a job available for two months in the future, which you were �penciled in� for. There was no contract signed, no meeting with a principal. You say you�ve been in Korea for five years. You should have some understanding of the hiring game by now. Why would you continue to turn down jobs in the meantime if you were so worried about caring for yourself and a new wife? Nothing is ever set in stone until you have a contract in your hand. Even then, depending on your situation, things are still never certain. It�s ESL in Korea. Welcome.

Regardless, when the positions you wanted (but were not guaranteed) were filled, you were still offered other contracts. Two, in fact. You turned them both down. You were unwilling to travel for a job with only five working hours a day. Most of the teachers at that company travel at least an hour to their schools. Why? Because they are generously compensated with high pay for low hours and a fairly stress-free environment. It�s part of the gig.

When you didn�t get what you wanted, right when you wanted it, you sent a highly inappropriate text message to Tim, which I�ve taken the liberty of reposting here, so that no one is under the misimpression that you simply said some things �out of frustration�:

�You gave me your word. I told you I would wait. You don�t even have the decency to text me back. How pathetic. I will spread your name around to the whole expat community and tell them how slimy/sketchy you are, an embarrassment to the foreign community� Good luck with your job, I�m sure it won�t last long since you are terrible at it. You are the biggest coward I have ever seen, hiding behind silence, what a *beep*! Thank god I am not a loser like you, and I am sure deep down you know it� Peace out!�

Out of my own five years in Korea, you certainly take the cake for least professional/most in need of anger management.

And yet, still, Tim responded kindly and told you there had been a miscommunication. You had said you were willing to wait. Then you said you were only willing to accept a position with very specific criteria. There was nothing available that matched said requirements, so Tim didn�t feel the need to contact you every five minutes to tell you this. He, like most other managers at similar companies, works over 12 hours a day and doesn�t have time to hold your hand whilst also effectively managing a large staff.

As for responding professionally to your disgusting text message, you should know that it was not because Tim�s job was in danger. And, in fact, when your appalling text was brought to the attention of the owners and other managers in the company, it was your name that was distributed amongst a large network of schools and businesses as a do-not-hire.

I do not personally work for EforS although I have in the past. Afterschool programs are just not my style so I did my year and that was that. As far as the company goes, I can honestly say that I was always paid on time and the managers met all of my reasonable demands (and even some unreasonable ones).

Naturally, in spite of your slanderous post, and regardless of my rebuttal, EforS will still continue to receive dozens of applications for employment everyday. They are a reputable company that provides exactly what most English teachers are looking for in this country: high pay, low hours. I also realize that most competent people who have made happy lives here in Korea have done so because they don�t spend most of their time in online forums, whining about every little thing that doesn�t go their way. In fact, they, like me, simply use this medium as a source of quick information. So I realize that this won�t reach a particularly large audience and that�s okay. I simply want you, Jrich, to know that I watched this whole thing unfold from the other side and you have undoubtedly misrepresented your experience.

That said, I hope you�ve found employment elsewhere and are content with it.

[Pablo]

It's a beautiful day. Can't we all just get along? Someday we are all going to leave this place (and I'm not talking about Korea). Is this how you want to spend your time?

[Skippy]

It is great when you can get another side of the story...

Thanks eddie for posting your side or well view from the other side.

[luckylady]

and like any good lawyer will tell you - the truth is always somewhere in the middle of those 2 sides.