It's definitely your fault for hiring them. Just like teachers who flood boards with complaints about their school and their recruiters should just face up to the fact that they have allowed themselves to be done over I think at the end of the day the schools can only blame themselves if they hire drunks and party animals because they have a nice photo.

If you hire for a university I imagine you have many people interested in your positions. Take the opportunity to hire from teachers in Korea, why don't you do face to face interviews and ask for checkable references, preferably from the applicants current or previous employer.

Many universities nowdays give degrees to just about anybody who pays the fees, in Mexico I worked with people who had a Masters in TESOL and yet barely had the common sense to do up their shoelaces.

What you need to do is hire based on the PERSON instead of their CV or as seems to be the case their PHOTO.

> Many dont know how to teach English and are very defensive when
> students correct them. Don't get me wrong, I am a simple open minded
> Korean. Perhaps it's actually our fault for hiring them. No offence:
> Back home, how these teachers obtain a 4 year education degree from a
> well known university and a tesol certificated?

> Welcome any feedback, thank you!

> Sejun
> Recruiting manager for a Korean university.

> How's about the setting up of a professional register of
> agencies/recruiters, with a code of conduct? Any one straying fromthe
> path can be struck-off. I would be delighted to join.

============================================

Dear Robert,

Thanks for what I call a GREAT response! The setting up of any register must not stop in Korea, but continue over into China where, as you may know, the problem has become serious. The average applicant cannot be
held responsible for checking into the validity of each agency or school, especially when it might be his/her very first foreign adventure. The western world offers reliable protective measures to safeguard the interests of its foreign (guest) experts; so, why not a country as enormous as the PRC, where ESL schools are popping up like ears of corn at mid-harvest?

As for the actual setup of such a controlling force, as I am currently here in the States, it would be somewhat difficult to coordinate the components necessary to accomplish such a worthwhile objective. So, under the circumstances, let me ask if there are any of you out there who may have some brilliant ideas on how to get started. My background is writing, so I'm certain I can be of use, irrespective of my locale. YEAH ... a professional register! Right on!

Peace.

> Just because someone is a "native English speaker" doesn't
> mean they have perfect English.

> As a recruiter in Thailand, may I suggest that if you want native
> English speaking teachers you test their English prior to giving them
> a job offer.

=========================================

CONGRATULATIONS, dear sir!

You, like 'l'il ol' MOI,' back an essential necessity -- the testing of an ESL recruit PRIOR to an actual offer of employment -- which has actually been placed on the proverbial back burner! The truth is, without this vital procedure, all the fakers and "joy boys" from every English-speaking country in the world can sneak in under the carpet and cause ESL programs much grief. Of course, we can attribute this problem to those agencies who will blindly offer jobs to PRACTICALLY ANYONE without at least checking a recruit's background! Sounds like 'business as usual': The quest for the "Holy Buck" ... Yen ... Rupee ... Euro-Dollar ... or WHATEVER! But, in the final analysis, the truly sad part of this nasty business is that the upright, qualified, and highly dedicated instructor must usually spend months proving himself before being deemed as 'qualified' in the eyes of the employer and subsequently treated like the professional he truly is. But WHAT can be done about this injustice ... particularly since it has been known to cause the premature termination of some highly qualified teachers' careers in Asia? A unified movement? Unionization? Revolt? I
doubt it. But it wouldn't hurt to start with the agencies, whose recruitment activities could be more strictly monitored by their respective governments. In this manner, there will surely be a much-needed 'separation of the men from the boys' when it comes to the vital question of academic qualifications. Have you noticed how the warnings (against both agencies and schools) have been increasing of late? Moreover, some legitimate instructors have even been victimized to the tune of hundreds of dollars -- myself having being one such dupe in 2000. Granted, there ARE many whiners, albeit none of us is really qualified to prejudge each and every case without an investigation of the grievances asserted. In my humble estimation, SOMETHING must surely be done before this situation reaches an irreversible proportion. In the final analysis, we are all dedicated to the same goal -- that of facilitating the international growth of the English language as a means of expressing both
thoughts and emotions.

Peace.

Many dont know how to teach English and are very defensive when students correct them. Don't get me wrong, I am a simple open minded Korean. Perhaps it's actually our fault for hiring them. No offence: Back home, how these teachers obtain a 4 year education degree from a well known university and a tesol certificated?

Welcome any feedback, thank you!

Sejun
Recruiting manager for a Korean university.