I would not recommend CIEE

South Korea is great place to live and teach and I would recommend it strongly to anyone looking for a cultural enrichment experience. Regrettably however, I cannot recommend employing the services of CIEE. I am currently in South Korea, in the second half of my contracted year. Once I decided to teach abroad, I enlisted CIEE, an organization that represented that they would streamline your process, guide and support you through negotiating your contract with a school, find housing, etc. Not only did they fall quite short of these marks, they were in turns incompetent, impolite or dismissive about it. Let me tell you my story.
Before leaving the States for Korea, CIEE secured housing and set terms for a 1-year teaching contract. I was told by CIEE that they negotiated a reasonable salary for me, which to my dismay, turned out to be an utter canard. After living here for 7 months, I now know that, with my qualifications, finding a similar position at a substantially higher remuneration is actually quite easy.
The CIEE in-country coordinator, indicated that my Korean apartment would be in a newer building, which turned out to be a woefully inaccurate characterization. The building is dirty and poorly kempt. There was an undisclosed monthly 'officetel' fee in excess of $100 that charges for amenities such as parking, cleaning and security; all services that do not exist. Further, the building is
Commercially-zoned with businesses above and below my apartment. I lived above a restaurant and just below a very loud nightclub that routinely blasted through my walls. The apartment is so marginally insulated that I could feel the wind gusting through my windows, which on cold days have a frozen covering. I don’t mean a little frost but rather, a thick layer of ice. Between the surprise ‘officetel’ charge and the unanticipated and exorbitant heating bills, it was difficult for me to make ends meet. Again, CIEE was unresponsive to my problem.
Upon arrival in South Korea we CIEE recruits attend an orientation where I happily forged several wonderful friendships with other new teachers. We were introduced to our in-country CIEE coordinator who, we were told, was there to assist with various issues that might arise. This coordinator offered a phone plan, leading us to believe it the best option out there. Not long after, we each realized that this plan was of strikingly poor value. I repeatedly asked for the name of the phone company and a detailed invoice, which was never provided. We discovered that he was pocketing $20.00 a month for the 'service' he provided. He continues to take advantage of foreigners in this way, and it is a dubious abuse of trust.
And now, my biggest disappointment with CIEE: A mere two weeks before the end of the school year and three weeks before the beginning of the next one (in Korea, the school year finishes at the end of February and the next year begins the following week in March), we were quite suddenly informed that our school was closing. We were out of jobs and the school had no intention of honoring its contracted obligations to provide a one-month salary in severance and pay our airfare home.
To date, CIEE has been disappointingly unresponsive when petitioned for information or assistance. Stateside CIEE promises to help but their Korean representative does nothing. My coordinator failed to produce any viable new leads or, frankly to show much interest in doing so. Consequently, on my own I have searched for a new job and apartment. With my qualifications, every job I interviewed for, without exception, offered me my sought-after position at a much higher salary than my CIEE-procured school. For this I found my own recruiter at no expense to me (the schools paid his fee). This recruiter went on interviews with me and delineated my needs and wishes at each interview. As my new job was over an hour away, I had to move at my own expense. Not only am I earning more, my new apartment is much nicer and there are no hidden costs.
Since arriving in Korea, I have unsuccessfully appealed to CIEE for help with various adjustment bumps, particularly since I learned I was to shortly be stranded without a position. As I’ve been overwhelmed with finding a new job and apartment on my own, I enlisted the help of my family in the States to try and communicate with CIEE main office on my behalf. My mom called CIEE who denied any and all responsibility for their actions. For example: 1. They didn’t KNOW they had had negotiated a contract with a financially unsound school so it was not their fault. (Huh, you don’t properly vet your schools? And since when is “not knowing” a viable excuse?) 2. It was the school that proposed a below-standard salary, not CIEE. (Aren’t they there to negotiate a good salary for a stateside applicant who paid them in good faith?) 3. It was also not their fault if the school fails to pay severance or airfare. 4. When my mom mentioned that I got a better job and apartment on my own, their response was how could they help when I hadn’t contacted them. Regrettably, that is not the case. 5. As to the local coordinator profiting by procuring for his clients overpriced mobile phone plans…. Well, CIEE was finally stumped on that one.
I am sorry to say that not only have I lost money to this organization, it has cost me in many ways. I’d always thought that non-profit organization meant you were the good guys. I know it’s hard to believe, but you’ll do better on your own.