Korean Job Discussion Forums

[zinc]

WARNING: Before you start reading, please be aware that somehow, this topic got too much exposure, and eventhough there are a lot of replies, only few contain constructive and on-topic information. Do not waste too much time here... there's nothing much to learn.


I am very satisfied with my recruiter and school!!

That's a kind of comment we don't often see...
Why is that... Hmmmm...


When I read complaints about Recruiters and schools, I can't help but thinking:

Who signs the contract with the school?
Who should actually be researching about the school?
Who should ask to talk to a teacher presently working at the school?
It's US, and only US, TEACHERS.

Ok... Schools, I can understand. But, why getting so angry at recruiters...?
I really don't get it...
It's really like getting angry at your car if you have an accident!!
Yes, a recruiter is just like a car... and even better than a car, we can drive it for free, and we can change it as often as we want! A recruiter is just there to drive us around, but WE hold the wheel.

What is a Recruiter?
A middle men, and only there to be used and taken advantage of, Free of charge (there's no engagement, no contract between us and the recruiter. The only person working for you, is YOU. You do not "make a deal with a recruiter"!?! You make a deal with a school!! All the recruiter is is a person who puts you in contact with a school, and facilitates the communication with the school, only when you need it.
And the fact is, unless we are well connected and already in Korea, we need recruiters, because we wouldn't have access to the majority of schools if we didn't use recruiters to give us the link!! Most schools don't have a homepage; most schools don't have time to advertise... that's why they rely on recruiters to take care of their recruiting needs.


OUR job, teachers:
is to (1) look at the work conditions (as laid out in the contract) and see if we like it. If we do, then we speak to someone already at the school to check it out, and if that is also OK, then (2) we sign the contract and go to Korea.

Then if we're unsatisfied after working there for a few weeks, well we have a few options:

1) Join this forum and complain about our recruiter (LOL)
2) Join this forum and complain about our school (still, potentially not very constructive, but at least a bit more respectable than complaining about the middle man, ... but honestly, posting about the school on a Blacklist website would probably be more effective)
3) Join this forum and start complaining about ourselves (after all, we chose the school, so we're the ones, up to a certain point, that should take the blame (partly or entirely, all depending on the situation)... But who would do that anyway... It's so much more entertaining to complain about others!!)
4) Try to come up with a constructive solution with our school director (not impossible, but... yeah... good luck!)
5) Start looking for a new job, and try to obtain a letter of release (if you want to continue working in Korea). If you can't get the letter of release, try another country, like Japan for example, it's just beside, so the plane ticket would be quite cheap!
6) Go back home. If we hold so much anger, and if we feel the need to complain so much, well, perhaps "teaching in Korea" isn't for us... Time to move on, and find a new job/location.


I am very satisfied with my recruiter!!
I've found a job through "..." last time, and "..." at "..." was extremely helpful!!! He was always available for any questions I had about the school and the city where it's located, always replied quickly to my emails/requests, we've reviewed and corrected the contract with the school according to my requests, etc... I would give him 2 thumbs up for his work!! ... but first, I would give myself 2 thumbs up for using my recruiter skillfully!

Generally all was good with the school, I had a wonderful year (and many culture shocks as well), and I'm now getting ready to go back to korea for another year. Looking forward to it!! And I'm sure I won't be complaining about my school or recruiter after I get there and start working (LOL)


Sincerely, Peacefully, and no offense to anybody.

zinc

[crazylemongirl]

so you don't happen to work for longbridge do you?

[zinc]

[Angelus]

[zinc]

[periwinkle]

*yawn* How long did it take you to write the OP?

[Angelus]

Well thank you for editing your post. Lately, the recruiter promotion has gotten out of hand.
Some of your points are valid. Teachers do need to investigate the schools. However, I think the problem lies in the fact that even if they do this, either the school or the recruiter (or both) deliberately misinform them of the facts. Another factor that exacerbates this problem is that some schools do not honor the stipulations in their contracts. Hence, the teacher is left feeling used and abused.

Instead of equating a recruiter to a "car," a better analogy would be a lawyer. Some are greedy little ambulance chasers, and some actually want to help people. Nevertheless, lawyers are abhored as a single group.

[spliff]

[zinc]

[BigBuds]

[Aussiekimchi]

I AM a recruiter and I agree some of the blame should go on the recruiters, and much of it on those who blatantly lie about the jobs he or she is selling. In fact burn the B***ds at the stake.

BUT is it so hard to get a second opinion about the things that concern you? Why would you believe everything a stranger tells you on the other side of the world? At least ask to talk to a teacher at the school. And try to determine that the teacher is not just a puppet for the school director.

If you can't talk to anyone besides a recruiter or the school boss, you are free to say no to the job if you don't like it. If you are pushed into any job you have concerns about, you are a muppet!

[zinc]

That is great!
We've got Teachers speaking, we've got Recruiters speaking, we have Schools speaking... all in harmony, peacefully, without anger... simply exchanging ideas.
I really hope these kind of "open" and "positive" exchanges will happen more and more on this forum!
That's what a forum should be all about!! Way to go!!

[BigBuds]

If you want to learn more about me, I'll be at the Asian EFL Journal International Conference in Busan this Saturday. They have asked me to come and set up a table and talk to teachers there because of my good reputation. There will be a lot of professors from overseas universities there talking about teaching. It's a good opportunity to learn some usefull information about the indusrty that you are working in. Here's the schedule:

35 international speakers will be giving talks.
At the Conference you may:-
i) visit the Publishers�� displays
ii) visit with a Registered EFL Recruiter
iii) Enrol in the Asian EFL Journal TESOL Certificate (120 hours) for free
iv) Attend the EFL-Law sessions. Presenters: Ministry of Justice/Immigration
v) Attend lectures/discussions on Task Based Teaching
vi) Discuss enrolling in Masters courses with officials from (Birmingham University / University

Mc: Prof. Rob Dickey

09:30 Opening Ceremony

Dr. Park Dong Soon (President, Dongseo University)
Dr. Seoul Dong Gun (Chairman, Board of Education)
Plenary Guests

10:00 – 10:50
Professor Rod Ellis
University of Auckland
"Principles of Task Based Teaching."

11:00 - 11:50
Dr. Francis Mangubhai
University Southern Queensland
��What do we know about learning and teaching second languages:
Implications for teaching."

11.50 – 1:00 Lunch (visit the book exhibitions and other displays)



1:00 – 1:50
Mr. Huh Jarvis
Salford University
��Computers and change in ELT��


2:00 – 2:30 Parallel Sessions

Mr. Theron Muller
USA/Japan
Researching TBL and Language Agendas: To what extent do they influence focus on fluency and form in the classroom???
Birmingham University
TESOL Masters Program Discussion
Dr. Ahmet Acar
Turkey
Models, goals and norms for EIL pedagogy and task based language teaching and learning
Dr. Pornsiri Muangsamai
Thailand
Electronic tasks: does it work for writing development?
Drs. Gitoshree Deb & Meena Lochana
India/Oman
Task-based Teaching: Learning without tears
Drs. Yafu Gong and Shaoqian Luo
China
Exploring cultural factors in task difficulty in task-based assessment
Dr. Ming Cheung
Hong Kong
Training teachers to integrate multimedia in language teaching: can task-based learning help?
Dr. Joseph Jung
Korea
Task based teaching and the Korean classroom
Dr. Rob Dickey
Korea/USA
Content-Tasks in Asian English Language Learning
EFL-Law 1st Session
Legal and economic conditions for teachers




Parallel sessions
2:45 – 3:15

Ms. Naoki Fujimoto-Adamson
Japan
Globalization and history of English education in Japan
Dr. Karoush Lachini
University Qatar
The impact of Metadiscourse Markers conscious-raising on EFLersf
writing skill
Professor Francis Mangubhai.
University Southern Queensland
TESOL Masters Discussion
Ms. Lily I-wen Su
Taiwan
A CBLI for Civil Education in Taiwan

Jeffrey Mok
Miyazaki International College
Japan
Using situation-based learning for EFL classes
Hye-ryeong Hahn
Seowon University,
S. Korea &
Yonghong Jiang
Shenzhen University,
PRChina
Topic Management in E-mail Exchanges Between Non-Native
Speakers of English
Dr. Elza Tsang
Hong Kong
Do we hear what they say: Reflective practice in pronunciation learningEFL-Law 2nd session
Q & A session




Parallel sessions

3:30 – 4:20
Dr. Roger Nunn
UAE
Designing holistic tasks as task-based units
Mr. Todd Vercoe
Canada/Korea
Taking advantage of cognitive differences of Asians and westerners in the teaching of English
Darren Lingley
Canada/Japan
A task-based approach to teaching Canadian culture
Dr. Neil Heffernan
Japan
An integrated approach to teaching academic writing instruction
Mr. Greg Birch
Japan
Manipulating students' performance on task
Associate Prof. Mariko Eguchi
Japan
An English magazine project to encourage genuine communication in the foreign language classroom
Lisa Barrett
Macquarie University
Australia
"Using Information Technology to facilitate learning"
Dr. Phan Le Ha & Ms. Rosemary Viete
Monash University
Australia
Shaping new written discourses in the language of global education
Dr. Benedict Lin
Nagoya University
Japan
Vygotskian Principles in a Genre-based Approach to teaching Writing
Dr. In-Jae Jeon
Mokpo National University
Korea
Exploring EFL Teachers Perceptions of task-based language teaching: a case study of Korean secondary school classroom practice

4:30 - 5:00
Panel Discussion Wrap Up
The future of Task based/Content based teaching

Moderator Dr. Joseph Jung Dongseo University

[BigBuds]

Oops.......double post.

[flotsam]