Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Threequalseven]

My girlfriend and I work at a hagwon, and our contract ends on August 27th. We really want to work for public schools next year. However, the start date for all public school jobs is usually on August 16th - eleven days before our contract expires. The way I see it, we have three options:

A.) Talk to our boss to see if we can leave two weeks early and negotiate our severance pay, airfare, letter of release, etc, hoping that he doesn't pull a fast one last minute.

B.) Invest our energy trying to get September and/or October gigs through EPIK, which might be difficult as a couple.

C.) Give up on the idea of getting a public school job altogether, and just hunt for the best job that's available after we finish our contract (which might mean teaching in another country).

Of course, if we cut our contracts early, even more questions come into play:
1st, would our year-minus-two-weeks count as a year of experience, or does one year have to be 365 days for public schools?
2nd, if we got a letter of release, what other documents (if any) would we need to transfer to a public school job?

[isitts]

[ttompatz]

Is it worth losing $6000 between the two of you to gain a PS job?
(2 severance allowances and 2 air tickets)

It would, in my opinion, NOT be worth kissing $6000 away for a job that may disappear in a year or two and has no long term viability.

C, B, and A as a very last minute desperate move.

.

[Threequalseven]

[Who's Your Daddy?]

PS jobs do come up at other times, because some people quit. I knew a guy that quit 6 weeks in, and returned to his hogwon. So, it's not always great, and there are jobs coming up at odd times - but those jobs probably will come up on short notice.

[NYC_Gal 2.0]

Maybe see about signing an extension with a pre-dated LOR to end before the March term starts. Then you could try for unis as well.

[Times30]

If you have connections to people within EPIK you inevitable someone who knows an administrator there who might be able to hook you up for a later position. People drop out or have last minute cancellations. Apply and let them know the situation that you are an ideal candidate for stand by positions.

If you can, absolutely beg your friends if they know some of the admins of EPIK. Usually the admins try to get all chummy with new recruits so you never know. Maybe one of them can call in a favor.

[NYC_Gal 2.0]

If you get a later position at a public school, do realize that you will not get a LOR if you want to transfer to a different school next March, or even a few years later. I have several friends who started slightly later than March 1, and because of this, they were not able to get uni and international-school jobs this year.

[isitts]

Are you guys missing that he's trying to get his girlfriend moved into EPIK as well? Your suggestions that there are sometimes positions that open up after the hiring season might be fine for one position...but two? Near each other? That's part of his concern, too.

As for the lost 6 mil won lost, they wouldn't be flying home, so (well, not sure abot the terms of their particular contract) they wouldn't be getting that money anyway.

So, yeah, lose 4 mil, but if your contract cycle is perpetually out of sync with the contract cycle you want to get into, then may have to bite the bullet.

[littletelly94]

[Weigookin74]

[Weigookin74]

[NYC_Gal 2.0]