Korean Job Discussion Forums

[looking for my place]

Please help. I signed a contract here in October to start working in Korea this January. After very poor communication and lack of doubt about the professionalism of the organization, I decide to decline ( begining of December). Now, today, the Canadian lady has called and told me that I need to be on the plane and if not she is going to take legal action against me. Can they really do this?

[jay-shi]

I wouldn't worry too much about it. Was the contract your were sent signed? If not, which is most often the case, no worries.

What recruiter are you dealing with?

[looking for my place]

Ya the contract was signed, but it also says conditional upon receiving a police check, negative T.B test etc, which I never did. The prob was that I was shooting for position of head teacher but she told me to sign the teacher contract and they would try to get me the head teacher position. I never received any confirmation of being granted the job until I actually wrote to ask what the heck was going on. By that time I was so but off I just refused the job.

[chronicpride]

Speaking as an ex-recruiter, don't worry about it. She's giving you the hard sell to commit, because she doesn't want to lose credibility to her client/school whom she has already told that you're 100%. She probably never had any back-up teachers lined up as 'safeties', in case you fell through, so she's resorting to this tactic. Meanwhile, in her eyes, you've just been demoted to a 'long-shot', as she's scrambling for teachers right now. Expect to never hear from her again as soon as she secures a new teacher or the school tells her that the position has been filled. Just ride it out and it'll be over shortly. This market operates quick and has short memories.

[looking for my place]

Ya, I think that is what is happening. I gave a months notice as stated in the contract, never handed in all that was needed for the contract and have many emails on file, the main which states

I have attached a final contract for you to sign and date. In order for your application to be processed we must have the contract and your documentation sent to Korea within the next few days. They have the final say on who is chosen. I have recommended you for the position but they will not even discuss it until your contract and documents are received. You can decline later if you wish but I suggest you get your application in.

I think they are very desperate because they were even offering $100 for every teacher I could help recruite........What a heart attack I just had. My stomach still hurts.

[chronicpride]

They wanted to get the degree/transcripts, contract, and passport photocopy so they can try to get you into the E2 visa ASAP. Much more difficult to break a contract, once the E2 is secured, as your new employer would possibly have to resort to paying your original school a sum of money to give you a letter of release from that visa. Having that dark cloud over your head would make you persona non grata to every single school or recruiter that you would encounter in your job hunt, unless you were a 20-something, attractive female from North America.

[looking for my place]

Yes well at the interview I was told to bring a copy of my degrees (no transcipts though) photocopy of passport and and I signed the contract. The point is I was told to sign the contract in order to complete the application process and that considering me for head teacher (I said that the only way I would go was if that position was secured) would not even take place without this information. Then, after a month of silence, I assumed I didnt get the position and started to make other plans for my life. Did they even secure the E2? I have no idea. I didnt even know I had the job.

Frankly, after this experience, I don't really care to work in Korea but am concerned with legal action taken against me in Canada for not going. The last email I got about 14 days ago, was a friendly email that said the Korea school would be informed, thanks and good luck with my future and now this!!! This recruiter is threatening that I need to be on that place by January 14th or she will take legal action against me.

[chronicpride]

You have nothing binding between you and recruiter. Besides, if that Canadian recruiter actually had a business license to back her up, my jaw would hit the floor.

If recruiters actually bothered to sue teachers for breach of contract, they would be in front of their lawyers more often than in front of their emails, as teachers back out of contracts, literally, every single day in the world of recruiting. To combat this, recruiters try to line up 'safeties' in the event that the preferred teacher doesn't pan out. ie., a good recruiter will try to win over as many non-picky teachers as possible and keep them in reserve, in the event that a lead candidate craps out, so they can quickly BS the school on why the first teacher dropped out and then begin to sell them on the 'safety'. If a recruiter is too cheap to advertise for teachers or lacking the communicative skill to line up 'safeties', then when shit happens, they freak out and resort to saying the token line about legal action. That line has almost become a cliche.

She fucked herself by not understanding that a teacher is never 100% until they step off the plane, so a recruiter should always have contingency plans until that moment.

Most Korean immigration offices are requiring original degrees and transcripts these days for visa processing, so I highly doubt that they started the visa process. If you only sent a photocopy of the degree, that doesn't mean anything. Unless you sent your original degree to a Korean embassy and they made the photocopies and notarized them for you for legitimacy. And that's the old way of visa issuance, which has since changed this past fall. Immigration wouldn't process anything with what documents you had given them.

Don't let this sway your desire to work in Korea. The job-hunt game has a lot of BS attached to it, but I love living in this country, all things being considered. And as most of your time over here will be spent outside of a classroom, that's something to be mindful of.

[looking for my place]

Thank you so very much for your help. I appreciate it more than you know.

[Yu_Bum_suk]

She just gave you very, very good reason not to get on the plane.