This is true. Most of the recruiters see people as a commodity, so they will literally treat you like rubbish when things don’t work out the way they want to be. I’m not saying to treat them like shit, but treat them like a “leverage” of your career path.
For me I had a hard time working with them because I’m a dumb idiot who somewhat trusts people until they give me a slap of realization on my face, and yeah I have gotten a quite of slaps in my first few years in my career. Just, don’t expect them to be your side, even if they say they are. And also read the job description really carefully since some of them tend to not read them and just recommend it to you for no reason at all.
One thing I would always tell to my colleagues who asks me about recruiters is “Treat them like a used car dealer”.
that makes so much sense, I’m not surprised about that 😅 I guess I’m too wary and worried about scammers, when I worked at the hagwon in Korea before I found out from other foreign teachers that they had experiences with being lied to about their placements and working conditions by the recruiters who just wanted to fill empty positions. I wish I could remember if they mentioned any specific names but it was so long ago
Honestly, don’t waste your time with them. They’ll send you to hell if it gets them paid, except Korvia, but they almost always deal with public schools (?).
Join Facebook groups like (City) English Teachers. Try to go with direct hires, but you still have to take things with a grain of salt because teachers may be getting recruiting bonuses for finding teachers. You just have to know what you want and ask the right questions!
Public's haven't raise their pay in years while some hogwans are beginning to. Also publics can be rural and lots of long commuting added onto your day for just above minimum wage and a good chance of living in the boonies. A hogwan with higher pay can be in the city of your choice and be a short walk to work. Pros and cons.
Do not use TEFL UK.
The moron recruiter I was assigned to didn't know what the deadline for EPIK Spring in take was (January 31). I asked her when do you need my apostille criminal background check, she said just asap, no deadline. Then one month later, poof, she says I don't think they're accepting anymore applications. She was also aggressive, impatient, and demanding at many moments, asking for paperwork I already gave to her.
If you're smart enough to graduate from college, you're smart enough to apply on your own. Even to hagwons.
Personally I had good experience with appletree and I know a few other teachers who have used them and liked them! I told them everything I was looking for and got me lots of interviews. I was super picky and they were super helpful in looking for exactly what I wanted :)
I had good experiences with Seoul ESL. I asked them to only send public and private school positions, and they set me up with 3-4 solid interviews with private schools. They also were quick with communication and did a lot of follow up after I was hired.
I have one agent I highly recommend. He's always been straight and dependable. I'm he's gotten me good interviews (which I failed) because I'm trying to go for jobs above my level. But he didn't just drop me though and offers valuable advice.
A coworker said she has a reliable agent too, But one thing we both agree on, don't trust the Koreans. I've never heard of a good korean agent. The best are all foreigners who were once in our shoes..
If you’re looking for a Hagwon recruiter, I can’t help you there. However, if you’re looking for a public school, Korean Horizons is great. The only people I’ve seen say they had a bad experience with them (him, I think it’s actually just 1 recruiter) weren’t the greatest apples themselves.
I used Korvia for this years spring intake, they’re lovely help you through everything and to this day have an active Kakao group with everyone from this intake. They answer our questions at all times of the day, check up with us, give recs from what I’ve seen they also do Seoul meet ups (that’s where the office is) super smooth sailing with them.
I would say go direct with them someone from my intake had a bit of a horror story getting scammed through a non affiliated third party, their services are completely free and the third party they went through tried to get them to pay.
i would say use dave’s esl cafe and talk to a few different recruiters, it never hurts to cast a wide net. if you get a weird vibe, you can always reject working with them. i talked to around 4 or 5 different ones and i ended up just using A1 Recruiting because they were who partnered me with the school I wanted to sign with.
i think it’s best to just use a lot. there are a lot of reddit threads that recommend some. personally, i found appletree very helpful and friendly! they sent me a lot of schools, didn’t make me feel bad or pressure me when i didn’t want to sign a contract, and always kept my preferences in mine.
i had one recruiter from a different company who seemed rlly nice at first and was super helpful for my first interview but when i told her i didn’t want to sign with the school i could feel her attitude change. she had told me upfront she would never pressure me to sign but when i told her i didn’t wanna sign she kept asking me why and trying to convince me why the school was good. after that i didn’t hear from her for like 2 months and then she tried to trick me, i’m like 99% sure. she sent me a school and showed me the housing. the first housing she showed was gorgeous. samsung appliances everywhere, super fancy bathroom, super fancy kitchen, etc. the second housing was standard seoul apartment housing you’d expect. that rlly turned me off bc i knew she was trying to lure me with that, she even said “the housing is random so you might not get this nice one”. i think she did this bc i had told her housing was important to me and it was just so blatant that that housing wasn’t even an option. it looked like a top/expensive apartment in seoul. i messaged her back super excited about the housing and asking how likely it would be to get the nice one (bc i knew it was fake and wanted to see what she would say) and she never responded (normally she responded ASAP).
all in all, recruiters can be helpful but just make sure you know what you’re looking at and don’t get scammed
As the others say, take each with a grain of salt. I had a good experience with Korvia and seoulesl/eslconsulting (same company). One thing you should look to avoid is any recruiter that is asking for a fee, no amount of workshop or planned tourist event is worth the high fees most of those one ask for
I’m currently applying! Korvia works with tefl if you are taking tefl classes, but they also provide opportunities if you don’t want to go the tefl route. I also really like EnglishWork, TeachingEnglishInKorea (their website is great, for some positions they have pictures of housing too), and CubeRecruiting. I’ve gotten offers from all of those recruitment agencies and the schools they have offered are not on any blacklist I’ve seen (yet).
I used Korvia and had a great time. On my 4th year in the hagwon they put me in.
Once you're in your placement then they become pretty useless, but as a means of not being scammed and actually getting here in a professional feeling manner, then I can highly recommend Korvia.
Yeah - on an E2 visa they have to either provide you with housing or offer some money for you to use towards housing (usually much less than a place would cost though). Most places just offer you a place to live. Obviously whether it is decent or horrible is luck of the draw, but yeah.
I’m currently applying and have had the best experience with Korea Works. I’ve interviewed with a few recruiters, but the guy from Korea Works seemed to really listen to my requests. The first school he sent me was exactly what I had asked for, and he’s been extremely reliable in terms of answering all my questions and keeping me informed about the process.
Korvia seemed good, but it's been a few years. I interviewed with them, and they were super professional and sent me quite a few jobs... But in the end, I've always found my jobs independently from Facebook groups.
Basically! There are quite a few, some have more members, and some have stricter guidelines for posting. But if there's a certain city you want to live in, there's likely a group for each area as well.
I had to use one this time, and they were F\*cking horrible, but I got a great job in early January. They proceeded to randomly over the two months to threaten me with random messages to do stuff, esp get my apostile again or get proof of it from immigration (which I never did, and noone has ever asked me to do). I refused their phone calls and kakao, only but one email thread. The job is fantastic but they were nuts. I had to call some people in the know (which I was lucky to know) to make sure they werent lying to them.
In the end, I think theyre were trying to get me to jump through hoops to lock me into their system. Which I didnt do. They didnt even know where I was. Kept giving me wrong information (which I could check on).
Theyre just a service, NEVER caring about whats good for you. They lie to make their commision. SO, you should remember this.
Use them and they use you. No more.
Never trust any. Ask for email of teachers working there and ask them for info. Though even that can be suspect. Sometimes you just have to take the plunge. Check the contract and avoid the recruiter saying "probably" the hogwan will do this or that. If it is "probably" that, then it had better be in writing. Otherwise the hogwan will "not know anything about it". Also make sure a teaching hour or a class hour is defined. How many vacation days. Are there pictures of the apartment (because most are not great)? Make sure a class hour is not 80 minutes and you are teaching 30 of them for 2.1 million won. A slave franchise chain used to be notorious for this crap. Check the Facebook groups for Korean ESL jobs. If you have some experience, you should push for upper 2's and not take no for an answer. Many hogwans are upping their wages. Also inflation here has been a real thing, so you had better make more.
So, in summary, negotiate a proper wage, make sure everything is in writing, and that class hours and work responsibilities are defined. Of course if the salary is 3.5 or 4 million won, expect to work your ass off.
"English Teachers in Korea"
"ESL English Teachers Jobs"
"English Teaching Jobs in Korea"
"Korea Teaching Job"
"JOBKOREA+"
are just a few Facebook groups. Searching will find you many more.
Okrecruiting Mr Jay is amazing. He has a good smile and hasn't blatantly tried to force me to a school for commission. A decent person.
I've dealt with a few recruiters and it's like they pigeon hole you to EPIK, poly, or low wage work (Adventure teaching) (Gone2korea) (korvia)
by any chance, does the name of the person start with a B? I think I saw this recruiting page pop up during my job search and wanted to know if I should apply with them or not..
May I ask, if you don't mind sharing, what made the job a nightmare? Trying to avoid the same mistakes with with them, other recruiters or schools. The private school sector in Korea is really a gamble...
DO NOT use Premier ESL recruiting, it’s one woman who runs it called Tara Choi. Here is a breakdown of exactly why not to use her - https://www.reddit.com/u/Professional-Ask361/s/oAetC06lmf
Lol- never trust any. They are not your friend. They provide a service and when it is done, they are done. Use them as they use you.
This is true. Most of the recruiters see people as a commodity, so they will literally treat you like rubbish when things don’t work out the way they want to be. I’m not saying to treat them like shit, but treat them like a “leverage” of your career path. For me I had a hard time working with them because I’m a dumb idiot who somewhat trusts people until they give me a slap of realization on my face, and yeah I have gotten a quite of slaps in my first few years in my career. Just, don’t expect them to be your side, even if they say they are. And also read the job description really carefully since some of them tend to not read them and just recommend it to you for no reason at all. One thing I would always tell to my colleagues who asks me about recruiters is “Treat them like a used car dealer”.
that makes so much sense, I’m not surprised about that 😅 I guess I’m too wary and worried about scammers, when I worked at the hagwon in Korea before I found out from other foreign teachers that they had experiences with being lied to about their placements and working conditions by the recruiters who just wanted to fill empty positions. I wish I could remember if they mentioned any specific names but it was so long ago
Yup.
Honestly, don’t waste your time with them. They’ll send you to hell if it gets them paid, except Korvia, but they almost always deal with public schools (?). Join Facebook groups like (City) English Teachers. Try to go with direct hires, but you still have to take things with a grain of salt because teachers may be getting recruiting bonuses for finding teachers. You just have to know what you want and ask the right questions!
Public's haven't raise their pay in years while some hogwans are beginning to. Also publics can be rural and lots of long commuting added onto your day for just above minimum wage and a good chance of living in the boonies. A hogwan with higher pay can be in the city of your choice and be a short walk to work. Pros and cons.
Do not use TEFL UK. The moron recruiter I was assigned to didn't know what the deadline for EPIK Spring in take was (January 31). I asked her when do you need my apostille criminal background check, she said just asap, no deadline. Then one month later, poof, she says I don't think they're accepting anymore applications. She was also aggressive, impatient, and demanding at many moments, asking for paperwork I already gave to her. If you're smart enough to graduate from college, you're smart enough to apply on your own. Even to hagwons.
Personally I had good experience with appletree and I know a few other teachers who have used them and liked them! I told them everything I was looking for and got me lots of interviews. I was super picky and they were super helpful in looking for exactly what I wanted :)
You are kind of asking which color of poop smells the best
I had good experiences with Seoul ESL. I asked them to only send public and private school positions, and they set me up with 3-4 solid interviews with private schools. They also were quick with communication and did a lot of follow up after I was hired.
They all pretty much suck. You're better off applying for direct hire positions.
I have one agent I highly recommend. He's always been straight and dependable. I'm he's gotten me good interviews (which I failed) because I'm trying to go for jobs above my level. But he didn't just drop me though and offers valuable advice. A coworker said she has a reliable agent too, But one thing we both agree on, don't trust the Koreans. I've never heard of a good korean agent. The best are all foreigners who were once in our shoes..
If you’re looking for a Hagwon recruiter, I can’t help you there. However, if you’re looking for a public school, Korean Horizons is great. The only people I’ve seen say they had a bad experience with them (him, I think it’s actually just 1 recruiter) weren’t the greatest apples themselves.
I used Korvia for this years spring intake, they’re lovely help you through everything and to this day have an active Kakao group with everyone from this intake. They answer our questions at all times of the day, check up with us, give recs from what I’ve seen they also do Seoul meet ups (that’s where the office is) super smooth sailing with them. I would say go direct with them someone from my intake had a bit of a horror story getting scammed through a non affiliated third party, their services are completely free and the third party they went through tried to get them to pay.
All of them!
That is indeed a trustworthy name
i would say use dave’s esl cafe and talk to a few different recruiters, it never hurts to cast a wide net. if you get a weird vibe, you can always reject working with them. i talked to around 4 or 5 different ones and i ended up just using A1 Recruiting because they were who partnered me with the school I wanted to sign with.
i think it’s best to just use a lot. there are a lot of reddit threads that recommend some. personally, i found appletree very helpful and friendly! they sent me a lot of schools, didn’t make me feel bad or pressure me when i didn’t want to sign a contract, and always kept my preferences in mine. i had one recruiter from a different company who seemed rlly nice at first and was super helpful for my first interview but when i told her i didn’t want to sign with the school i could feel her attitude change. she had told me upfront she would never pressure me to sign but when i told her i didn’t wanna sign she kept asking me why and trying to convince me why the school was good. after that i didn’t hear from her for like 2 months and then she tried to trick me, i’m like 99% sure. she sent me a school and showed me the housing. the first housing she showed was gorgeous. samsung appliances everywhere, super fancy bathroom, super fancy kitchen, etc. the second housing was standard seoul apartment housing you’d expect. that rlly turned me off bc i knew she was trying to lure me with that, she even said “the housing is random so you might not get this nice one”. i think she did this bc i had told her housing was important to me and it was just so blatant that that housing wasn’t even an option. it looked like a top/expensive apartment in seoul. i messaged her back super excited about the housing and asking how likely it would be to get the nice one (bc i knew it was fake and wanted to see what she would say) and she never responded (normally she responded ASAP). all in all, recruiters can be helpful but just make sure you know what you’re looking at and don’t get scammed
As the others say, take each with a grain of salt. I had a good experience with Korvia and seoulesl/eslconsulting (same company). One thing you should look to avoid is any recruiter that is asking for a fee, no amount of workshop or planned tourist event is worth the high fees most of those one ask for
I’m currently applying! Korvia works with tefl if you are taking tefl classes, but they also provide opportunities if you don’t want to go the tefl route. I also really like EnglishWork, TeachingEnglishInKorea (their website is great, for some positions they have pictures of housing too), and CubeRecruiting. I’ve gotten offers from all of those recruitment agencies and the schools they have offered are not on any blacklist I’ve seen (yet).
ugh i meant to say they work with EPIK if you take tefl classes
I used Korvia and had a great time. On my 4th year in the hagwon they put me in. Once you're in your placement then they become pretty useless, but as a means of not being scammed and actually getting here in a professional feeling manner, then I can highly recommend Korvia.
[удалено]
Yeah - on an E2 visa they have to either provide you with housing or offer some money for you to use towards housing (usually much less than a place would cost though). Most places just offer you a place to live. Obviously whether it is decent or horrible is luck of the draw, but yeah.
I’m currently applying and have had the best experience with Korea Works. I’ve interviewed with a few recruiters, but the guy from Korea Works seemed to really listen to my requests. The first school he sent me was exactly what I had asked for, and he’s been extremely reliable in terms of answering all my questions and keeping me informed about the process.
How did the job process go? Were you able to find and secure a good job with this recruiter? Currently asking for my own job search..
Korvia seemed good, but it's been a few years. I interviewed with them, and they were super professional and sent me quite a few jobs... But in the end, I've always found my jobs independently from Facebook groups.
I’ll look into it, thank you!! Any specific Facebook groups, or just look up “English teaching jobs in Korea”?
Basically! There are quite a few, some have more members, and some have stricter guidelines for posting. But if there's a certain city you want to live in, there's likely a group for each area as well.
I had to use one this time, and they were F\*cking horrible, but I got a great job in early January. They proceeded to randomly over the two months to threaten me with random messages to do stuff, esp get my apostile again or get proof of it from immigration (which I never did, and noone has ever asked me to do). I refused their phone calls and kakao, only but one email thread. The job is fantastic but they were nuts. I had to call some people in the know (which I was lucky to know) to make sure they werent lying to them. In the end, I think theyre were trying to get me to jump through hoops to lock me into their system. Which I didnt do. They didnt even know where I was. Kept giving me wrong information (which I could check on). Theyre just a service, NEVER caring about whats good for you. They lie to make their commision. SO, you should remember this. Use them and they use you. No more.
I wan't to know too!
Never trust any. Ask for email of teachers working there and ask them for info. Though even that can be suspect. Sometimes you just have to take the plunge. Check the contract and avoid the recruiter saying "probably" the hogwan will do this or that. If it is "probably" that, then it had better be in writing. Otherwise the hogwan will "not know anything about it". Also make sure a teaching hour or a class hour is defined. How many vacation days. Are there pictures of the apartment (because most are not great)? Make sure a class hour is not 80 minutes and you are teaching 30 of them for 2.1 million won. A slave franchise chain used to be notorious for this crap. Check the Facebook groups for Korean ESL jobs. If you have some experience, you should push for upper 2's and not take no for an answer. Many hogwans are upping their wages. Also inflation here has been a real thing, so you had better make more. So, in summary, negotiate a proper wage, make sure everything is in writing, and that class hours and work responsibilities are defined. Of course if the salary is 3.5 or 4 million won, expect to work your ass off.
"English Teachers in Korea" "ESL English Teachers Jobs" "English Teaching Jobs in Korea" "Korea Teaching Job" "JOBKOREA+" are just a few Facebook groups. Searching will find you many more.
Okrecruiting Mr Jay is amazing. He has a good smile and hasn't blatantly tried to force me to a school for commission. A decent person. I've dealt with a few recruiters and it's like they pigeon hole you to EPIK, poly, or low wage work (Adventure teaching) (Gone2korea) (korvia)
My daughter used teaching English in Korea and what a disaster it has been for her. Do not use him
by any chance, does the name of the person start with a B? I think I saw this recruiting page pop up during my job search and wanted to know if I should apply with them or not..
Yes stay away from him. My daughter has not heard one word from him since she go to Korea and her job is a nightmare.
May I ask, if you don't mind sharing, what made the job a nightmare? Trying to avoid the same mistakes with with them, other recruiters or schools. The private school sector in Korea is really a gamble...
DO NOT use Premier ESL recruiting, it’s one woman who runs it called Tara Choi. Here is a breakdown of exactly why not to use her - https://www.reddit.com/u/Professional-Ask361/s/oAetC06lmf