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Korean Job Discussion Forums "The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Teachers from Around the World!"
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waters
Joined: 03 Feb 2005 Location: usa
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Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2005 6:22 pm Post subject: advice with job offer/people recruiters!! |
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Can anybody please tell me if they know anything about people recruiters.... http://www.peoplerecruit.com/
I was offered a job from them, winnie. They contacted me by phone and mail.
The school GnB English Institute in Ulju County, Ulsan. with the normal pay, housing by myself, ect. They said that I would be the only foriegn teacher there... is that the norm in the schools over there?
They also said that I would have to send my original college diploma. Not so sure about that?
Any information for a newbie would be grateful.
thanks waters |
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Grotto

Joined: 21 Mar 2004
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Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2005 8:41 pm Post subject: |
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post the contract |
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chronicpride

Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2005 9:17 pm Post subject: Re: advice with job offer/people recruiters!! |
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waters wrote: |
Can anybody please tell me if they know anything about people recruiters.... http://www.peoplerecruit.com/
I was offered a job from them, winnie. They contacted me by phone and mail.
The school GnB English Institute in Ulju County, Ulsan. with the normal pay, housing by myself, ect. They said that I would be the only foriegn teacher there... is that the norm in the schools over there?
They also said that I would have to send my original college diploma. Not so sure about that?
Any information for a newbie would be grateful.
thanks waters |
Being the only foreigner is not the norm, per se. Unless you are in the sticks and they have low enrollment. Or a newer upstart with low enrollment. How long have they been around for? Are you the first foreigner to work there? If not, make damn sure that you talk to the past teachers there. Smaller outfits usually have diddly squat for experience about dealing with foreigners. Who are you replacing and why? Make sure the leaving teacher is the one who answers this.
As for GnB, there are good ones and bad ones. GnB is the cheapest mainstream hogwan franchise that one can buy, and they give them away like Subways back home. There is no corporate franchise oversight in the affairs of the franchisees, so all that you are left with is some Joe Businessman who bought a name.
As for the original degree issue, we recently covered this here. It's a ploy from recruiters to try to make you accountable and less chance of having 2nd thoughts, during the extremely dicey couple of weeks leading up to your confirmed visa issuance and your flight. It's wiser to get your degree notarized by the Korean Embassy nearest you, and send them the notarized copies. |
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Sage Monkey

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
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Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2005 9:34 pm Post subject: |
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Last edited by Sage Monkey on Thu Mar 29, 2007 9:45 am; edited 2 times in total |
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Crazyteacher
Joined: 13 Nov 2004
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Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2005 9:41 pm Post subject: People Recruit |
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Well, I have experience with them. DON'T TRUST THEM. They seem like a nice buch of sweet girls BUT they set me up with a horrible school in a horrible place in Korea.
What ever you do, be sure to severe all connections with them immedietly. You have been warned. They say they care about you, but they don't give a shit about you or me. |
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plato's republic
Joined: 07 Dec 2004 Location: Ancient Greece
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Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2005 3:13 am Post subject: |
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would you like to share your experience with people recruit??  |
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Atkinson

Joined: 15 Oct 2004 Location: Land of the Golden Twist-tie
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Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2005 3:13 am Post subject: Re: advice with job offer/people recruiters!! |
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waters wrote: |
Can anybody please tell me if they know anything about people recruiters.... http://www.peoplerecruit.com/
They also said that I would have to send my original college diploma. Not so sure about that?
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I was placed through People Recruit. Winnie and Heyya and Wonnie were amazing the whole time. They set me up with interviews meeting my criteria given a difficult situation (I wanted to work at the same place as my friend who was coming over at the same time).
After getting the job, they arranged everything for me, including transit from the airport, getting to my new apt, and meeting with my school directors, even though they're in Busan and I was moving to Seoul. After arriving, I received several follow-up calls from them, checking in, and got a Christmas card with a cute little bell attached.
I sent my original degree certificate, and got it back when I got here. Dunno if that's normal or not.
All in all, People Recruit did their job very well for me, and I would recommend them to a friend. |
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Atkinson

Joined: 15 Oct 2004 Location: Land of the Golden Twist-tie
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Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2005 3:27 am Post subject: Re: People Recruit |
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A note on recruiters in general:
Crazyteacher wrote: |
Well, I have experience with them. DON'T TRUST THEM. They seem like a nice buch of sweet girls BUT they set me up with a horrible school in a horrible place in Korea.
What ever you do, be sure to severe all connections with them immedietly. You have been warned. They say they care about you, but they don't give a *beep* about you or me. |
A recruiter is an agent who represents anybody who will pay them. It is a mistake to expect a recruiter to thoroughly research every school that they work with. That's entirely the duty of the job-seeker, and nobody else. If you get no interviews, it's the recruiter's fault, but if you end up working at a crappy school, that will be your own fault. So you need to take responsibility now, during the job search process.
The fact that I came out with a good job at a good school is not because of People Recruit. It is because I did my job, which is checking out the school and the area through the interview process, online searches, and by talking to foreign teachers working there already.
Just about all schools, including the "horrible" ones, use recruiters. Just about all recruiters, if you look at their websites, claim to work only with "reputable" schools. Do the math. The number of "horrible" hagwons makes it impossible for recruiters to refuse their business, so expect there to be some bad apples in the bushel, no matter how "sweet" your recruiters are. |
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TheUrbanMyth
Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Location: Retired
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Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2005 6:44 am Post subject: Re: People Recruit |
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Atkinson wrote: |
A note on recruiters in general:
[A recruiter is an agent who represents anybody who will pay them. It is a mistake to expect a recruiter to thoroughly research every school that they work with. That's entirely the duty of the job-seeker, and nobody else. If you get no interviews, it's the recruiter's fault, but if you end up working at a crappy school, that will be your own fault. So you need to take responsibility now, during the job search process.
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But is it the job of the recruiter to lie to and threaten the teacher? People Recruit placed a friend of mine (not Mr. Crazyteacher) with a bad school. They lied to him about the pay and working conditions. To list just one thing, they promised to reinburse his airfare when he signed the contract. After he signed the contract it was "well we are losing students so we can't afford to reinburse just yet. When you get your ARC then we will reinburse you." So he gets the ARC, and...you guessed it.
They told him that they couldn't afford it, and that they would pay him at the end of the contract. After five months of dealing with an abusive WJN (she liked to storm into the teachers' room and accuse him of being a "bad teacher" among other things), he'd had enough. So he wrote up his letter of resignation and handed it to them. After the WJN pitched a screaming fit, she dialed People Recruit. The person at People Recruit told my friend that if he left this job they'd see to it that he would never work in Korea again.
Fortunately for him, the WJN was breaking Korean Labour law practices. I advised him to trade keeping his mouth shut about this for a letter of release. He is now working at another school and is quite satisfied with the conditions there. |
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PolyChronic Time Girl

Joined: 15 Dec 2004 Location: Korea Exited
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Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2005 7:21 am Post subject: |
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My first job in Korea: I thought I was doing everything right by rereading the contract, looking up the school info on Dave's, and asking to speak to a teacher. I was confident that the school was good when they provided me a "teacher's" email and home phone number. I called the teacher and he told me how peachy keen it was and how he was soooooo happy to work there. And you guessed it.....a wolf-recruiter in sheep's clothing He didn't even work at the school, and apparently there are quite a few recruiters who use this sly method to trick newbie teachers. After a year in the Korea School of Knocks, I learned the special jargon that some recruiters use and now you can smell them from a mile away: "Oh, you may only make 1.7 million, but wouldn't you rather work for a honest hagwon than making 2.5 at a slum?" or "Yes, you will be teaching 7/ 45 minute classes a day, but there is no preparation involved"
Just try to reseach the schools on your own. By no means should you sign a contract without speaking with the school boss him/herself. Never, Never take a recruiter's word for it. If you're in Korea, you have the advantage of looking yourself and not relying on a recruiter. Are all recruiters bad? Of course not. I'm sure there are excellent ones but be careful of ones that promise the pie in the sky.
And also...good point made. Don't expect recruiters to "take care of you"...they are a limited resource and really are just lining up teachers with the schools that are paying them. Just look at what schools they have to offer and you, alone, must take it from there. Recruiters can actually be a valuable resource as they help garner contracts for you to look at. Because, most likely, recruiter or not, you're gonna be on your own after you sign the contract. |
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Kim Jong Jordan

Joined: 13 Mar 2004 Location: The Internet
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Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2005 10:07 pm Post subject: |
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I used people recruit and had no problems with them. I sent a notorized copy of my degree instead of the original, and they paid for my airfare. They arranged everything for me and they still e-mail every once in a while to see if I'm doing okay. Overall I really liked them as did 4 other teachers in my school who used them. |
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Atkinson

Joined: 15 Oct 2004 Location: Land of the Golden Twist-tie
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Posted: Wed Feb 09, 2005 9:55 pm Post subject: Re: People Recruit |
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TheUrbanMyth wrote: |
Atkinson wrote: |
A note on recruiters in general: |
But is it the job of the recruiter to lie to and threaten the teacher? |
Thanks for your friend's story about People Recruit. If I recommend them to anyone in the future, I will meniton that I have heard at least one bad story about them.
Just to be clear, I was not talking about People Recruit in the message you quoted. I was especially not defending PR since I only have my own one-time experience with them to go on. The only point I was attempting to make was that if anyone else was under the impression that a recruiter works for you, or is responsible for your satisfaction with your job, it may be helpful for them to know now that this is not the case. |
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