Korean Job Discussion Forums

[jajdude]

What are the main questions you would ask over the phone about a job?

Since time is precious during a job search the right questions may help you avoid unnecessary travel and time spent to visit employers and schools, if from the telephone conversation you can decide whether or not it is even worth your time to do that visit. Of course you may not learn everything over the phone, but maybe enough.

Here are some questions, obvious or not:

Where is the school?
When do you want a new teacher to start working?
How old are the students?
What is the schedule? How long is each class?
How many students are in each class?
Are there other foreign teachers working there now? If so, can I contact them?
How long have you been in business? How many students are in your school?
What is the pay? Is there overtime? When is payday? Is it monthly? At the end of the month, or delayed a week or so?
What materials do you use?
Is the housing single and fully furnished?

Also you could of course get information via email. Ask for a sample contract.

That's all off the top of my head. Any others?

Another thing or two to check for:

Does the person on the phone speak good English? If not, does anyone working there speak English well? I've talked to a few who had poor English and apparently that was the best at that particular school. It tells me to forget that place.

Will the employer make an effort to meet you in person if you want? Some will say, OK, come here, it's a trip, an hour or two or more away, but it's up to you to get there. If they seem unconcerned about you getting there, that's a bad sign. You may be totally unfamiliar with the area.

If they are in the ASAP mode because someone just bailed.... could be trouble.

If it is in the boonies without other foreigners, you might understand why someone bailed.