Finally, a solid offer... But to accept?
On Friday last week I received my first official job offer, for a kinder in Yongin.
The area seems really nice, I have done some major Googling and my recruiter Claudia has sent me plenty of pics and info about the place. The hours are acceptable, and the pay is better than originally offered. So why am I hesitating?
I don't think I should accept the first real offer that I am presented with. Don't you think I should be a bit more choosy? I mean, what if I accept and something better comes along? Or worse, what if I accept and it turns out to be terrible? Or worse again, what if I don't accept and I only get offered shitty positions from here on in?
Argh so many questions! I guess I really just won't have a real clue until I get there. I have been emailing a teacher who used to work for the school, and she has been really positive about it, and gave me both the up sides and the down. The main down was that it seems the accommodation is not awesome. "Not the worst, but not the best" is what she said. She said the building is quite old, compared to some of the other buildings. And, the school is 20 minutes away. They pick all the teachers up in a bus apparently. I would rather be closer to work and walk. But not am I just being really picky?
I have 2 interviews tomorrow, one is with a school, the other is with a recruiter. This recruiter, Korvia Recruiting, is one of the biggest in Korea (or I hear) and it seems I am lucky that they are keen to help me out. They supply teachers for the public system, which is hard to get into. I am still hearing pros and cons to both private and public, but I still think I would prefer public. Mainly for the work hours. Lets be honest, I hate working. But, if you work in the public system you are stuck with co-teachers. And if you don't get along with your co-teacher then they can make working hell on Earth... So in that sense private is better because your classes are your own. Once I have actual experience with either of these thugs I will write a full post about it. For now, its really just me speculating.
I also have an interview on Thursday, which I have since decided that I do not want the job. A different recruiter, Yuan (?) has gotten me an interview with another kinder in Yongin, called Wonderland. Something about the name rang bells in my head, but I agreed to the interview anyway as it seemed like a pretty good contract. I got home later and went Googling and found where I had seen it - on the list of Blacklisted schools in Korea. These Wonderland schools are a chain, and are all owned by the same parent company. It seems that they are really shocking with paying their teachers, and back out of the contracts at something like 10 months meaning that the teachers lose benefits like home flights etc. And they tell teachers that the pension is optional, when in fact it is the LAW in Korea that the teachers are paid a national pension. I read the email again from Yuan and it even said that I have the option to not have the pension paid and it will save me money. What bullshit. So now I don't know if I trust Yuan, or if he is just looking at available jobs. Either way I will still go along eight the interview, as it is good proactive, but I have already decided that I do not want this position. I might even email him tomorrow and cancel the interview. I just really don't feel comfortable with the school.
I believe most things I read on the internet, so if someone has posted something negative then I pay attention. When I have read it multiple times by different people and on different sites, I take it as gospel.
Side note -
There is no real "Blacklist" that I have been able to find, but if you Google search Blacklisted schools in South Korea you can find heaps of threads. So what I have been doing is doing a search of dodgy schools in general then searching the blogs/forums for the particular schools name. And also just going a general search on the school. You can also do a similar search for dodgy recruiters.
Apostille update
Argh, this Apostille rubbish is driving me mental.
I need to get the copy of my degree notarised, which translates to someone official signing it and verifying that its mine and all that. Then it needs to be sent to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for the Apostille. I am going to call them tomorrow and find out exactly what the deal is and how much it will cost.
I plan on getting the degree done now, firstly so it is out of the way, and secondly so that I can get an estimate on how long it takes. As I have to wait like, 20 days or some shit like that for my National Police Check I want to have an idea of the time it takes so I can let the recruiters know. At least I don't think I need the police check notarised, because I can always get another one. But, I think maybe I should make a copy just in case it either gets lost, or in case someone *Korean embassy cough cough* doesn't send it back to me.
NB
I am fuming at the AFP right now. Y U No reply to emails!
Jerks.
So I will call this department tomorrow and try and get some answers. I am sick of trying to figure it out via the internet... Call me old fashioned but sometimes its easier to just ask.
Korea preparation
I started dieting at the beginning of the month because I am concerned I will be too fat for clothes in Korea. I'm mot suggesting I am some poster child for obesity or anything, but the reality is that your average Australian white chick is bigger than our average Korean chick. Bigger hips, bigger tits, the whole thing. So, considering I am on a constant quest for a slim down anyway, I thought I would try and get my weight loss goals going again. And I was going really well! I lost nearly 2 kilos, which I was super happy about. Then I got lazy, and went back to eating copious amounts of bread. I haven't been back on the scales this week but I won't be surprised if I have put the weight back on. I keep thinking, I need to be slimmer for Korea, and then I think, I better eat plenty of this awesome bakery food now because I probe can't get it in Korea... And so it goes back and fourth. But seriously, I will start to knuckle down.
As I have said before, I am a massive fan of Google, most of my information on everything is based on internet facts. Mainly Wikipedia. Never mind I went to uni, most of that is rubbish compared to what is online. So When I et to Korea I will either be unsuprised at everything (as I have already read the truth online) or I will be shocked and appalled that Wikipedia has let me down. I have read all about the type of food they eat, the type of clothes they wear, the type of makeup the girls wear, what hair is cool at the moment, what music they are listening to... The list goes on. I am prepared for the weather, i know that if I can get there sometime in August I will be present for the best time of the year (being their fall - fall not autumn guys, because Korea is Americanised) and will have mainly sunny days. But the mornings and late evenings may be chilly. So I will need to take a light sweater.
Ah geez, listen to me. A sweater???
I need to either get my phone unlocked, or get some cheapy and get credit that can use international roaming. i plan on getting a phone and internet plan sorted pretty much as soon as I arrive, but mum will be freaking out if she can't contact me so some sort of telecommunication device is needed. I also need to think about what to do in regards to banking. I am considering closing down my current accounts and opening one up with some international bank, like HSBC or something. That way all my money can just be in the one place. i can always re-open everything when I get home. It just seems annoying to have so many accounts. that might be another thing I can do tomorrow, call my bank and get some financial advice for moving accounts and money overseas.
I have also come to the decision I do not want to be based in Seoul. I would prefer to be in one of the satellite cities rather than the main city. Everywhere is within an hour or so of Seoul anyway (in the areas I am looking I mean) so I can always get to the city if I want to. I just think it might be a bit hectic.
I think thats about all thats going on today, I had a heap of stuff to say after the last interview but its kinda all gone out of my head. I will try and remember better for tomorrows interviews, and I will post something up.
Wish me luck for tomorrows interviews!
xx
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