A bit disappointed.

[3twentseven]

I finally received a job offer and have a contract sitting in my email. I generally feel good about the job, however I have not yet gotten a response (email) from a teacher that currently works there.

From what I understand it's generally a good idea to take what recruiters say with a grain of salt, regardless of how nice they sound on the phone.
I have not felt anything fishy about this particular job, however I think I would have trouble accepting it without hearing something from another teacher.

I just want a job! I have all of my documents ready and I do not have anything else I'm currently obligated to fulfill where I am at. Although I also do not want to be too hasty and jump on the first opportunity I've been given without weighing things a bit. So as of right now I'm just a bit disappointed. I suppose it's time to start emailing a few more recruiters.

Just venting and not looking for any particular feedback, but...
would you ever take a job teaching English in Korea without prior knowledge from someone that currently or formerly worked there?

[3twentseven]

That's just it. I haven't heard from them yet.

To clarify: it is a hagwon position.

[bobrocket]

You may not hear back, the school may not have a current teacher.

I would be using every recruiter you can find, post your cv on daves and any place that seems to have traffic.
Im sure lots of people take jobs without talking to other teachers but you only really hear about the bad ones.
like Rusty said, you could just chance it for a year.

[onsan123]

yeah, th trick is to have all your documents in hand, and then send out your info to every single person you see advertise on Dave's ESL (the korean job board threas). You'll become a pro with offers in no time.

[Janitor]

Do you have the number for the school? It is better to call them and talk to the director as well. It will be the relationship that you build with the school that will most likely determine your working conditions and give you a better feel for the school.

To be honest, unless you know exactly what to ask, then you won't get much out of the current teacher. I know that when I first started I talked to the current teacher and all I got was "The apartment is nice, the school is good and the kids are good too" I then moved into a shoebox and was last passed off to another hogwan because the school ran out of money...

Later I talked to another teacher and got a better impression of the school but the last teacher was a woman and all the other teachers were women and thus the experience was greatly different. The normally nice director was a "single 40-year-old-virgin"  and thought that I was the typical "White-male-player" I had no problems but it wasn't the school that the teacher described at all.

So what I guess I am saying here is call the school. Talk to the director. If you get a good vibe from them, go for it. If not be ready and find another school.

[taeyang]

Oh, misread you. You will probably be fine. If it's bad you can always just tough it out for a year and move up to a better

Is it a large chain hagwon? Stay away from Wonderland apparently.

stay far, far away from wonderland.

a friend of mine works there and detests it.