Korean Job Discussion Forums

[merrilee]

Every offer I get, whether it's from a hogwan, public school, or university- I'm always told, "This director (or professor) really wants to work with YOU." I'm assuming that's a big load, because virtually every offer I get states that.

Is/was this the same scenario you experienced?

It's annoying me, because it quite disables me from knowing who's sincere.

[Mody Ba]

Absolutely. Nine times out of ten(at least),it IS a big load"."The director wants to work with YOU." They tell that to ALL the warm bodies.

Sincerity? Don't expect much of that here, especially from the hakwons(private schools).They are in the scam for the $$$$$$$."Education" here(at least at the private schools) is usually a matter of grabbing as much money as quickly as you can.

They will also often tell you "We need you IMMEDIATELY".Oh, yeah.Because they either sacked one or more of their other warm bodies working for them or the warm bodies got sick and tired of being exploited and pulled a runner.

From one fellow Texan to another ,be careful who you agree to work for over here.Also,often,even the written contracts do not mean diddly squat.Please be careful!

[Pootie]

read my second post in "Watch Out" I'll write more later...

[waterbaby]

Or how about playing "other" applicants against each other, usually as a hurry up:

"We have a few people interested in this job that we've interviewed but the Director would really like to work with YOU. We have to give the other people an answer tomorrow..."

They could well be right (Of course they want ME! ), but it does lack sincerity when you hear from a few different people.

[Hagwon Muppet]

I'd be more surprised if an offer said 'the director DOESN'T really want to work with you'. Wouldn't you?

As far as I can see hagwon owners go by 'feel' more than anything here so if they interview a few people they will offer the job to the person whom they like most. Qualifications, experience etc seem to come second.

So when they make you offer its likely to be honestly because they want to work with YOU.

Of course, once they get you it doesn't mean they won't pull every stunt in the book. Just that they really wanted to pull them on YOU!!!!

[Harvard Material]

Within two months the director will not acknowledge your presence; that is my experience. The English language fails them as soon as a direct answer/contract expectation from the director is necessary. Your complaints, desires, demands, thoughts, are intercepted by a manager who represents you. Therefore, management deals with the director directly, and you deal with the management directly. No, the director does not 'want to work' with you, nor will he or she physically.

As your fellow Texan stated - BE CAREFUL. Don't concern yourself about the director. Keep your thoughts on/with the manager. That is where a strong relationship makes a difference.

The 'boss' will take you out for lunch. The management is your co-worker (in a sense), not the owner.

[merrilee]

Hagwon Muppet- what's funny is that I actually have been told 'the director does not want to work with you.' The recruiter told me the director decided this after our phone interview... except that we never had a phone interview. But whatever.

Thus far, the instances in which I've been told the school really wants to work with me, it's only after sending pic and resume- without any sort of interview.

[jajdude]

Another common statement is, "We are different from other schools," whatever that is supposed to mean. Heard that one a lot in Taiwan too. Different? How? Better? After a while I guess the main thing to hope for is "better than average," which hopefully means not a bad place to work.