Korean Job Discussion Forums

[itsme]

I don�t get it. In the West, being even one minute late for an interview is considered to be a huge no-no. Is the East different in this respect? So why do recruiters think that they can call whenever they want, as if I�m running some 1-800 number? In my CV and in my Emails I tell them �I am under ______ time zone. I am within ____ time zone. ____ time zone!!!� So after they email me 20 times, confirming that I will have an interview at 7 PM, they call at 9:50 PM.
Am I being too obstinate? Here I am, looking for a job� Does that mean I have to be a dancing monkey for the interviewers too? �Please please please give me a job� Sure 2 AM sounds great, talk to you then��

Here are a few gems from some of my latest interviews:


Girl: Any questions?
Me: Yes. I value my time and so I would like to teach in block schedules as opposed to split shifts. When I am not teaching I would like to be free to do other things. Is this ok?
Girl: The apartments are quite large. The city is quite metropolitan. The sky is blue, water is wet.
Me: uhhhh yeah. So� hmm� May I have the email address of a FORMER teacher so I can ask him/her about his/her experience?
Girl: Yes here is ___�s email address. He has been here for 3 years now and has just resigned for another year.
(Get this!!!)
Me: Do you have an email address?
Girl: Uhh.. I forgot it.
Me: (laugh)
Me: Ok I have to go clip my toenails now.
Girl: hu?
Me: Bye bye.



Guy: Yes I have the perfect job for you in _________ city.
Me: Have you personally visited this city before?
Guy: Why yes I have. I have been there many times.
Me: Will you describe the city to me?
Guy: (Busts out laughing for like 10 minutes non-stop.) Well it�s nothing special.
Me: I see.
(Later I look up the city in a lonely planet guide and the map of this city is basically a blank page in the book with a couple of lines going through it.)

Observation: It seems as if all cities reference themselves to how far they are away from Seoul, and ALL are �close� to Seoul. I just so happened to look up a few of these close -by cities and some are 4 HOURS from Seoul. 30 minutes= close. 4 hours = maybe once a month trip.

[Hater Depot]

A few weeks ago I was doing interviews pretty frequently. One night I had to juggle a couple, so I told him to call me back at 11 my time, as I was planning on staying up late. He said, sure.

I went to bed at 2 am. His call woke me up at FOUR-THIRTY IN THE MORNING but I missed it as I fumbled for the phone in the dark. Never heard from him again, not even e-mail.

[Zark]

If these things frustrate you already - prepare for a long and unhappy TEFL career.

The main reason you are needed is because people can't use English well - can you see the examples from your communications?

Other, much more difficult things will frustrate you once you arrive. Try to mellow out a little.

BTW, I have accidentally called my own family a 4:30 in the morning - getting time zones a bit confused. And that is after 16 years of living overseas.

[davyteacher]

I had a friend in England who was told he would be contacted from a recruiter and have a telephone interview for an ESL job.

Obviously, he was prepared for the interview and hoping to do well to get the job. Here is the interview.............

Recruiter: Hello is this Bob (not real name to protect witness)

Bob: Yes it is.

Recruiter: Where are you from?

Bob: I am from England.

Recruiter: Oh! Do you like football (AKA soccerrrrrrrrr)

Bob: Yes, I enjoy watching football on the weekends and being part of a team in a football team.

Rectuiter: OK. Thank you for interview, we will email you. Bye

Bob: Oh. OK Bye...

Recruiter: deerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr (hung up phone)

It`s lasted 2 minutes probably because the recruiter didn`t want to pay too much on the phone bill.

Before you come to Korea be sure to listen to the Beatles song "Magical Mystery Tour".

[gypsyfish]

You make some good points about professionalism in ESL in Korea, but the knife cuts both ways.

I've conducted interviews with teachers who are clearly not prepared. One prospective teacher continued to mispronounce the word pronunciation as she was pontificating the importance of correct pronunciation to the students in her pre-employment teaching demonstration. Teachers come dressed worse than their students. Teachers complain about their current jobs and insult their supervisors and coworkers in the interviews. In their demonstrations, teachers spend most of the time talking about themselves. (Not necessarily a bad thing because it gives you an idea about how they conduct their classes.) Teachers misspell words on their resumes (english vs. English) or on the board during teaching demonstrations. Teachers even 'teaching' wrong information during their demonstrations.

I worked for seventeen years in non-teaching jobs before I became a teacher and saw unprofessional behavior in job interviews there, too, but a lot fewer than what I've seen in the two years that I've been interviewing prospective English teachers.

By the way, specifying that you won't work split shifts might make sense because you can winnow out employers that you don't want to work for, but how professional is it to dictate your requirements to the person who may hire you?

[Hater Depot]

[The Kung Fu Hustle]

I agree with gypsyfish. The percentage of potential English teachers who have CVs ridden with rudimentary errors, list wrong email addresses or phone numbers and who refer to "South Korea" as "North Korea" is remarkable.

1-line-demands emailed to an employer every hour do not come on so well either.

[Jaygee]

[Gorgias]

You must understand, that Korea is "last-minute-country." Almost nothing is planned. If it is, some obvious thing will disrupt the plan. I don't know why this is. Europeans are probably the most organized people in the world (Americans too), so I read what you're describing that way. It just takes some getting used to, and when some plans are layed out for you, be sure to check into it, because there might not be a bus to that place, or you won't have enough time to get the visa and come back on the return ticket, or that day will be a holiday, stuff like that.

I wouldn't get discouraged. Personally, I have found all my jobs by sending out masses of (personalized) spam emails. It worked great everytime, if you are not happy with who you've found, send out another batch of spam applications and I think something good will turn up for you.

[BigBlackEquus]

[UncleAlex]

In the West it is a no-no to be late for an interview.
But in the East it's a no-no to be late for picking up
one's phone at 4am when a recruiter unexpectedly calls

[dulouz]

[itsme]

I think that everyone has brought up great points.

It's not that I am telling the recruiter my "demands" as if I was hiring them, (which, by the way, I am.)
"I want a blue notebook and I will go to meetings if I can sit in front and you must address me as sir teacher." No.

If they would send over a contract that was not so ambiguous then I would have less of these questions to ask. Basically jobs are like: "You will be teaching 120 hours a month; OK well the school is open from 9 AM to 10 PM.) Thats 240 hours a month. Am I expected to be at school all of the time when it is open or just when I am teaching? If they are going to schedule me to teach one class at 9 AM and then my other classes spaced out throughout the day randomly then I should have the right to say "ok that's fine with me" or "No thank you I will look for another job."
The recruiters that I have dealt with seem to email me these contracts that could mean 800 different things depending on how I read them. Then they will email me back in one hour saying that I must hurry because it is the last position available. Hurry hurry just sign, don't you trust us?

I have also read many posts by people stating that sometimes one just has to take a risk and deal with the unexpected. I agree somewhat but that does not mean that I should give up all of my standards, cross my fingers, close my eyes or call the 900 number psychic hotline to make my decision.

If they think they are hiring Bozo the clown then they will treat me like Bozo the clown in all aspects of our "partnership."