Korean Job Discussion Forums

[djmarcus]

I'd like to get an opinion about what happened to me.

I recently got an offer to work at a Public school. Well my recruiter sent me a contract to sign and send back. Now this news came to me mid April and the position started in May which was less than 2 weeks. I thought and thought about it and turned it down. I had a couple reasons for turning it down. One, I did not want to leave my employer less than 2 weeks notice. Two, the area that they were sending me to did not sound like somewhere I'd like to live. So my recruiter basically said that I gave her school a bad name. But then she went on about how these things happen. But just made me feel like crap.

Did I do something really wrong here? It's not like I signed the contract and then changed my mind. Don't we get to decide Yes or No to a position?

[Thunndarr]

No, you did nothing wrong. You are not obligated to take any crap job the recruiter tries to shove down your throat, no matter what the recruiter may say. She was just angry about losing out on a quick and easy commission.

[djmarcus]

yeah, that's what I figured. Thanks.

But what if this recruiter belonged to an agency? Would I have effected their name in any way?

[sonshine20]

I suppose a recruiter's reputation is lessened every time s/he can't fill a position for the school. But that is not your fault. You did the right thing. Don't waste another minute thinking about it!

And I recommend finding a new recruiter.

[flint]

The ONLY way you could have affected their name is if they had told the School it was a done deal and then had to tell them that you weren't coming. Of course that would be their fault not yours, if it isn't true. Mind you, you can't expect them to tell the truth about it to the potential employer, odds are they blamed it all on you. "This ******** waygook said he was coming but backed out."

Don't we get to say yes/no? In the real world yes. In their world no, they expect us to take what they want and like it. A guy I know in Cheongju had a problem with that.

A recruiter sent him a contract for my old hagwon who needed someone to come in a week and he said he would look at it and get back to her. Two days later she called him, he told her that he had some problems with the contract and wasn't sure he wanted to sign it. She tells him that might be a problem. It turns out the director had already forged his signature to the contract and submitted it to immigration to start the VISA process. (Without his diploma or transcripts mind you.) Of course he is angry with this and says in no uncertain terms will he work at that school.

This is when the fun and games began for him. The director then tried to bully him into coming by threatening to screw any chance of him coming to Cheongju, and to trash him with immigration. He ended up sending the twit emails of apology so he would back off. Then, even after getting an apology for not picking his school, the director trashed the guy with all the hagwons in Cheongju. "He is a bad teacher and a bad person. You shouldn't hire him. He backed out of coming to work for me." No one wanted to hire him. If it wasn't for his old school going to bat for him he wouldn't have found a job where he wanted to be.

There are some good recruiters out there though. The problem is finding them. Angel Recruiting in Cheongju did a great job for me. Umpteen other ones I approached ranged from fair to extremely bad. Most were just concerned with filling a position, getting a comission, and not with what I was looking for.

[djmarcus]

Thanks a lot for this feed back guys. It's helping me to see this from a different perspective.

[Aussiekimchi]

Don't lose any sleep over it.
Both teachers and schools back out of agreements more so than not.
Teachers use more than 1 recruiter and they should, so sometimes something better comes along, or they just don't have the right feeling about something. It is frustrating until you learn to accept it. Your recruiter just has not done this yet.
Sometimes the school will back out of a deal because Miss California just walked off the street looking for a job and asking only 1.7mil with split shifts and shared accomodation.
Usually the schools are also using various recruiters and find someone better (in their eyes) at the last moment and make up some crappy excuse.
You are not obliged to anyone over here until you have signed a contract, got on a plane and began working. Until then, you have done nothing wrong.

[flint]

[krisinkorea]

I read about 30 contracts and many different recruiters before I came to Korea. So much so, it confused the hell out of me because they all sound similar without knowing any better. Both my friend and I applied at the same time and we'd turn down one job so the recruiter would say that they were still looking for a job for us but, really they never emailed or phoned again.

Think about yourself. You could say, heh, I'll take the job if the start date is this date_____. I have commitments or obligations and I cannot start until this date. If they want you bad enough they'll wait or negotiate. The recruiter we went through was relentless but, also, honest. The school waited a month over our expected start date for all the paperwork to go through. All in all the school has been good so far, that is, until it closed.

If they are blaming you.....why make a fresh start on a bad start. Do you really want a job that you feel like you were forced to take? Feel good about the decision but always know anything can go wrong.

Everyone is giving you great advice.

[jacl]

Two words: who cares?

They shouldn't expect you to jump and leave at a moment's notice to travel half way around the world to somewhere you have no idea about.

[Pak Yu Man]

Yes you did do something wrong. The poor guy didn't make a million won off of you for doing almost nothing.

Screw him.

[The Bobster]

[periwinkle]

Julice, by any chance? I dealt with her once, and she was SUCH a bitch.