Hi!

[Scott]

First I'd like to say that this is site is definitely a big help for someone thinking of leaving their comfortable Downtown Ottawa apartment to move to a strange land.  I was wondering if anybody could give some idea as to whether or not we should be using a recruiter (Canadian Connection) or trying to find jobs on our own.

Any ideas?

Scott ---

[Arsalan]

In all honesty, if this is your first time going out to teach English in South Korea (or any place for that matter), I would recommend going to a well reputed recruiter (Canadian Connections was the first for me, and had a great experience with them: www.canconx.com). 

The reason I say this is mainly that most people are not ready, or fully aware of the change that will occur.  There's a variety of things to consider, and much of it gets to you through instruction by the recruiters.  For instance, Can Connections gives a week long session in Korea to everyone going for the first time.  You get the chance to meet other teachers, and you sort of ease into the position a little more smoothly than just getting thrown in with the sharks.

I would say it's a very safe, and smart way of doing it.  Make sure whoever you go with provides some sort of cultural sensitivity and teacher training in the country.  After  your first year, if you decide to move on from the agency, you'll have learned a fair bit about how things work there, what to expect, and how to conduct yourself in different situations.

Hope that helps.  Anyone else have any thoughts on this?

[Brian]

One thing I'll say about CConnections that I didn't mention in the email was that it was nice to deal with an English-speaking recruiter.  When I was looking for public school jobs in 2006, I was dealing with three different recruiters in three different provinces.  The one for Jeollanam-do was CC and they answered all of my questions, even the ones that seemed kind of paranoid and weird.  (Well, moving to a new city and a new job always brings out those kinds of emotions, for me at least).

The one for Gyeongsangnam-do was a Korean recruiter and they couldn't give me a straight answer about anything.  I wanted to take the job they were offering, but they kept switching positions, pay, contracts.  My favorite line I got from them was about working on weekends, which was in one of the contracts.  I'll paraphrase: "No, you don't have to work weekends.  But if you do, it will only be sometimes."  That kind of run-around is really frustrating when you're trying to make plans for your life in a foreign country, so I did get some piece of mind dealing with CC.

Also remember that one of the most important functions a recruiter will do is put you in touch with people already at your school and in your town.  It helps if you can get in touch with the person your replacing, and with other people in your neighborhood. 

Anyway, I'm rambling. 

[wattawoman]

I also used CC and the thing I appreciated was the week long orientation, for a number of reasons.  Probably the biggest was getting to know other people who are also teaching here.  WorknPlay has no such orientation and it can be very confusing and disheartening to be in a new culture without any other waygooks to talk to.  Having that support system is really important.  The orientation also teaches cultural things such as the writing, a few words of Korean, taking you to a temple and there were a couple of lessons on teaching.

[Gokseongwaygook]

I'm a CC alumni as well. Big cudos to that crew. I was hired and interviewed by them initially. When I took a break, then needed to come back to Korea, i just called asked them to find me a place, and bam, back in korea.
For a first time in Korea as all have stated a recruiter is sound. And having them speak english is golden!
After a year or two you don't need a recruiter if you branch out.