Why Do Foreigners Bail On ESL Contracts?

Korea is haven for English speakers looking to escape the borders of their homelands and try working in a foreign land. Why? For one, it is one of the only countries to pay for instructors’ tickets going in and out. Second, like Taiwan, the salary is absurdly high given the cost of living. Around 2.0-2.2 million Won/month. Someone could live off less than half that if he was frugal enough. It should come as no surprise that many employers hire recruiters to gather foreigners from around the world… some of whom enter the country, and drop completely off the radar.

My current boss, a legitimate businessman and a nice guy, has been cheated a number of times. He’s attributes this to his previous recruiting agency. One time a teacher stayed for three months, then said he couldn’t take it. Another time, and I find this to be the standard, a Canadian was recruited to teach for a year. He arrived in Seoul without incident, caught the bus all the way to the school… then once he was settled in the apartment, left without a word. The police were able to catch him on a bus back to Seoul, but plenty of times, the teachers just vanish. Immigration doesn’t always know to look for them on the way out, or they just stay here for a while.

Why are so many waygooks (foreigners in Korean) tempted to do this? Take advantage of a system which needs them to educate young people? It’s not limited to Korea: Japan, China, Thailand, probably South America and Africa too, but I can’t speak for those continents.

“Dax and Kieran Teaching English”, sixintheworld

1. A contract is a contract is sometimes a contract is sometimes not a contract

This is a business and you need to understand that you teach when we have students. That’s all. The contract was a mistake. Capish?

Then what is the value of the contract?

It is to get you your visa.
- Paul R. Friesen, An ESL Teacher’s Handbook For South Korea

So many innocent college graduates come over to Asia, thinking high pay and little responsibility. Some of them find a good school, a good manager by chance. Others discover they are “required” to work more hours than agreed upon in the contract, cannot take days off, and have strange expenses deducted from their salary. Why do they allow this to happen?

- They’re in a foreign place now, and too excited to argue with anything that happens. They don’t like what’s going on, but find that the benefits of being abroad outweigh little problems; it becomes black and white to them
- They don’t speak the language, and have little knowledge of the local laws; they don’t know if they even have legal precedent to challenge a contract dispute, and even if they did, it would require language skills far beyond those of even native speakers
- Teachers adapt to the “Asian mentality” of the culture, and decide to roll with the punches, just accept things as they are, don’t challenge the system. Most likely they’ve complained to other foreigners about their contracts, only to hear “that’s just the way it is”

I’m not saying employers are right to get all the work out of you that they can. However, there are better solutions than throwing a fit, creating so uncomfortable an work environment one feels he has to leave the country early. Ask teachers who have been successful in voicing them opinions on this matter. Research legal precedent, and see if you can use it as leverage. Depending on your manager, try to speak to them outside of the office over drinks; in many cultures, anything said while drinking is excusable, which is why many foreigners and locals alike in Asia choose to get hammered after work.

2. High gain, low risk

Simple math, in any kind of financial situation. If you’re dealing with a company willing to fly you over, sponsor your visa, and set you up in temporary housing, why stick around if you find working conditions less than ideal? I’m certainly not advocating it, just going over the logic others surely use to justify their actions. You’re in a foreign country on another’s dime, and it seems unlikely they’ll catch you if you flee. I’ve certainly never heard of someone being stopped at immigration or being extradited for bailing on an English-teaching contract.

3. Fear

Immaturity is more like it. Teaching English to little kids sounds so easy, so simple from far away in time and space, but any teacher will tell you: it’s the younger kids who are the most difficult, who need the most structure. In any culture. If you’re not terrified the first time you see those little eyes staring at you, expecting you to take point, there’s something wrong with your teaching style. You will screw up. You will get frustrated. Some just can’t handle it, so they bail.

Even if the job is going relatively well, there’s still the issue of being a stranger in a strange land. You’re living over here, not just visiting, and after a few months, it stops feeling like a vacation and turns into your life. Maybe it’s not what you want it to be.

4. Money

In general, teachers get about 2000USD a month in Japan, Korea, Thailand, and Taiwan. About half of that in China and Thailand. Plenty to live on comfortably in your country of choice, but what if something goes wrong?

Again, it comes back to the contract. Teachers being “asked” to work overtime, and not being paid for it. Late paychecks. Deductions for bad behavior (at the discretion of the employer). If your boss says “sorry, we can’t pay you this month”, what are you supposed to do? Who do you tell? The police? File a lawsuit? The company knows its power, and knows your dependence on them. They know you’ll have little choice but to cave to their demands. Some just take themselves out of the equation.

5. It’s the individual

I read a work of fiction called Experience Preferred, But Not Required on teaching English in Thailand. In it, the author suggests there are a few specific types of individuals who choose to teach English abroad:

The malcontent
He’s gotten frustrated about being locked into a contract in a foreign country early on, and everything just fuels his anger, which he doesn’t hesitate to show to locals, foreigners, and little kids.

The career-minded
Teaching is the first step. Now that he’s in Asia, he’ll be learning the language and applying to different companies.

The adventurer
Teaching is a means to an end. Spends his weekends climbing mountains and bedding the natives. Always looking to get out of the apartment.

The teacher
Yep, there’s just one type. Someone who wants to teach just for the sake of teaching. He or she makes lesson plans. Cares about students’ progress. Puts his or her own money into supplies and props. Has no problem coming in early, working late, or being called on days off. This is the one employers should be able to find, but I doubt they do for more than 1 in 10 applicants.

The list goes on, but the point is, everyone has their own reasons for wanting to live and work abroad. With as many people that do apply, you would think recruiters could actually do some screening. I’m the adventurer. I teach as a means to an end (namely, to get into the country), and my boss really doesn’t have a problem with that, as long as I do an adequate job. I’m hardly extending myself.

For someone career-minded, I could completely understand them bailing as soon as they found something better. The malcontent should never have made it past the first interview… but they do, somehow.

6. No security

The sword cuts both ways. Employers know they have a long list of teachers waiting to come in, not including English speakers in-country who would be willing to substitute while a new instructor is found. They can fire you with a day or a week’s notice (check your contract!), and bring in the second string. By the same token, you can quit and just vanish. Both parties know this, and when tension or fear arises, both consider just how much they’re willing to put up with.

Craigslist: Abdicating Responsibility

I’m back. I’m back to writing down to random thoughts and opinions via my blog. And I realize what was holding me back so much: not being in the States for seven months’ with little-to-no interaction with foreign cultures, but rather Twitter. That devil of an invention, the latest attempt to reduce the English language to 1984’s Newspeak. Whenever some news item came up that I felt was worthy of mention, I tweeted about it, and that is all. No commentary. No thoughts. Just tweets. No more.

Let me bring you up to speed with the timeline, shall I?

Dec 2009: Leave New Zealand for holiday cheer in the US
Jan to Apr 2010: Employed to promote conventions across the country. My supervisor was a bitter, evil shell of an old lady.
May to Jun 2010: Bounce around Philly, DC, NYC in the hopes of securing a job for the summer. Had one, it got cancelled at the last minute. Met a girl, caught up with friends. Good times.
Jun to Jul 2010: Waylaying in Dallas. Not much going on…

Which brings me to the issue for all of you considering freelance work: Craigslist gigs.

Photo by the author

Everyone is struggling for work right now. You know it. I know it. Even my travel friends, who are accustomed to long periods without steady pay, are feeling down, useless. I’m right along there with them. With an unemployment at – what, 12%? – it’s no wonder gigs are being scooped up by people willing to work for next to nothing.

Which brings me to Craigslist. For those of you who have followed me since the beginning, you are aware I survived on nothing but Craigslist Gigs from 2005 to 2006, my first year out of college. Moving, modeling, promoting, tutoring, selling, etc. It was an adventure, and I made a decent living. The site was still in it infancy then, and although you had to be on the ball to grab gigs when they were posted, it wasn’t impossible to get work. In most cases, individuals posted looking for other individuals.

Not so anymore, with spam ads for gigs, even steady jobs cropping up on Craigslist sites around the world. Even for those ads that are legitimate, the posters are… well… ignorant is a kind way to put it. Let me give you a few examples:

This is not a paying gig, but should be lots of fun for anyone thats shows up!!!

I am looking for help moving some items onsite. I also have some material that needs to go to the dump, so if you have a truck, that’s even better. I can promise a minimum of 2 hours of work at $15 per hour. I will pay an extra amount for gas if the truck is used.

The last ad may sound the most reasonable to you, but it’s these in particular that I have a problem with. “Employers” listing jobs in remote areas (25+ miles from the CL city), offering 1-2 hours of work. Those photographers, event coordinators, calling for men and women to work “for the experience”. People just randomly posting in the gigs sections, stating how qualified they are to do absolutely anything… why do I suspect that many of them are women desperate enough to sell themselves for rent?

There’s just no respect for the people answering these ads; a few years ago, it used to be that if you posted something on Craigslist extremely last minute, you were grateful for the workers who paid attention to the site and responded in an intelligent email (i.e. correct grammar, listing your qualifications, contact info). Now, with Craigslist completely mainstream, employers expect to get someone, and they expect to get that someone as cheaply as possible.

You have to drive 30+ miles to get to me? Who cares? I’ll just respond to the next guy; he’ll drive!

I know I promised you 10 hours of work, but we finished in 6; here’s your $40. Now beat it.

How many people do you think respond to someone who needs nothing more than an extra set of hands? 50 in five minutes? 200 inside of an hour? And that’s probably a conservative estimate. With so many scrambling for any jobs that come their way, CL listers must feel like gods, able to decide who to take on nothing more than a whim: I’ve had some telling me they thought my name was sketchy, others who didn’t want to call my Austin-area code cell phone… wow.

I don’t know how to turn back the clock and get these employers to understand they should treat workers who reply on CL the same as those they hire with an I9 and W2. If labor was cheap before, it’s almost free now. In fact, that’s probably the next step in the evolution of Craigslist Gigs: “Work today for free and we’ll see what you got; if it works out, we’ll take you on full time.” But if it doesn’t work out??? Hey, they’ve got 300 guys’ emails… might as well just hire free labor for the rest of the year. I’ve actually seen this done with a Photoshop gig: “I’ve got 50 pictures that need to be digitally altered. Show me you can do it with 2 and I’ll assess your ability.” 25 replies, that’s all he needs. Sick.

I’ll try to blog more regularly from now on, but with my deadly sin barometer creeping from gluttony to sloth, I can’t promise anything. One thing is certain: South Korea, August 7th.

Travel Jobs: Promoting Conventions

This weekend in Reno I did the following:

- Talked to two models, who happened to enjoy late night blackjack almost as much as me (one of whom posed for Playboy).
- Had a meaningful discussion with Chuck Yeager, the man to first break the sound barrier
- Watched Tom Selleck buy an Alaskan hunting knife, while his bodyguards warded off potential photographers
- Woke up to snowy morning runs
- Worked 12-hour shifts for five days with no breaks for lunch… or anything else
- Got paid a considerable amount, with lodging, meals, and travel included in expense

“Sands Convention Center @ CES 2008″, TigerDirect.com

How exactly did this happen? Well, as many of you know, I am now back stateside after my travels in New Zealand looking for work. I was staying with the family for a few days after the holidays ended, doing my typical web searches in favor of writing travel articles for Vagabondish, Matador, and Iloho (yeah, I really should play catchup; I have about ten unfinished files just sitting on my desktop): Craigslist gigs in Dallas, Craigslist jobs in Austin, and Gaijinpot jobs in Japan. The usual gigs popped up: tutoring opportunities, moving jobs, and one ad written in all caps, requesting labor to help set up a booth at the Dallas Safari Club convention. Surprisingly, there was no email address, just a contact number. Half expecting it to be a scam, I called the number on Skype, left a message, and didn’t hear from them for a week.

Long story short, I was called the day before to pick someone up at the airport, set up a jewelry booth at the Dallas Convention Center, worked sales at the event for three days, broke down the booth, and was called to fly into LA, drive their supplies to Reno, and stay in a casino hotel for a week for one of the biggest conventions in the country, the Safari Club International.

Jobs like these, that allow one to travel from show to show, are not exactly rare, but usually restricted to certain kinds of people: women who are attractive enough to work as tradeshow models, the businesses themselves, and local talent (which usually means no traveling). The fact that I’ve been lucky enough to land a position and see the western US on someone else’s dime is pretty sweet, but I have to admit, I’m feeling that I’m working harder, not smarter…

The pay is decent ($1200 last show, about $15/hr with meals, lodging and gas included), but I was working incredibly hard and not moving around as much as I’d have liked. As strange as it sounds, I’d rather have a little less money for a lot more activity, so I don’t feel so full of pent up energy at the end of a workday. Running before and afterwards helps, but it’s just not enough. I bet I’m still gaining weight (enough to keep me out of the league of those Playboy models ), and to top it off, my boss is walking a fine line between obsessive and pure evil.

Still, these shows are an interesting choice for the traveler looking to rake in a little dough. As I’ve discovered, you can pocket a bit more if the company advances you for lodging and you choose to stay with Couchsurfers.

Off to Tucson for a big gem show, then back to Texas for a bit. Peace.

Travel Jobs: World Ventures

Sorry for my lack of posts as of late; I am back in the states after my working holiday in New Zealand, and will be looking for jobs in Japan, Taiwan, and Peru starting sometime in the next several months. Whenever I’m home, I always tend to fly into Dallas, then migrate south to Austin, home of great Mexican food, good people, and Town Lake running trail, the best place to train for a marathon.

As always, my job search in the US begins (and usually ends) with Craigslist. This one ad caught me completely off guard, a seemingly perfect match:

Swim with the dolphins. Cliff dive in Costa Rica. See the Great Wall of China. Zipline through the Amazon. Taste kiwi in New Zealand. See the Glaciers of Alaska. You no longer have to sit in a cubicle at work and stare at a computer screen to see pictures of exotic places. Come play with us and make a living, well… living.

A FEW REQUIREMENTS:
If $750,000 in annual income after two years sounds “unrealistic”, this is not the company for you. If you do not like hard work and lack a desire to help people or sense of humor, our company is not for you. If you know you can sell like nobody’s business, are well-liked by others, want to retire earlier and travel to earn a living, we want to hear from you.

Sounds great, right? A chance to work in a moderately stable position, earn money, and stay in the travel industry.

Maybe it was my ignorance in sales. Maybe I’ve just been out of the working world for too long. Either way, I was not prepared for when I arrived at the designated interview time and place, sports coat snug on my shoulders, hiking boots on my feet instead of loafers, and arrived to a single man using the stereotypical 80’s sales voice and spouting rehearsed line after rehearsed line extolling the virtues of World Ventures.

At first glance, it all sounded pretty good: put in the hours, develop your sales’ skills, receive benefits including free travel. The only problem? World Ventures is nothing more than a glorified pyramid scheme. Ok, maybe not in the strictest sense: the income isn’t solely based on me getting friends and family to sign up for the same system and pay a fee, but also on selling travel packages. Still, the rep in Austin couldn’t have been a better salesman for such a lousy product, the whole time expressing the urgency of me signing up to sell for them ($100 one time fee plus $10/month… for ME to work). Even told me if I waited a few hours, it would be money lost. What a crock.

Here’s how this would have worked. Sign up. Pay money. Become an official representative of World Ventures. Now spend the rest of your days convincing others to sign up to be a part of the program. Let me be clear: not selling vacation deals. Getting others to sign up for the program.

Strike one for applying to travel jobs. I’ll be reporting on some conventions I’m working around the midwest soon. Stay tuned.