Korean Job Discussion Forums

4NR · Joined: 07 Feb 2003

I was trying to decide whether to work at YBM ELS, which deals with adult education, or YBM ECC which is for kids, especially within Seoul. Is YBM ECC just like any other hakwon, or do they offer more professional working conditions? That said, is YBM ELS any better than a hakwon in terms of teacher treatment, etc.?? Anyone have any experiences or stories to share about this???

Rand Al Thor · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Location: Locked in an epic struggle

avoid all ybm ecc.

I did it for one year and I can say I was not impressed. You get paid on time but they work you to the bone and act like you are an indentured servant.

carmiiii · Joined: 20 Jan 2003

I can't beleive that all the schools that have postings on Dave's all bad.
The two named above I have applied to and then researched. In my research I find that people say STAY AWAY!!!!! I am very anxious to come to Korea, but can't seem to find a decent place to work. That's according to teacher's with prior working experience. Tell me how do you find a job anywhere??????? Rolling Eyes

carmiiii · Joined: 20 Jan 2003

I also was looking into YBM ECC, not agencies.........Let's chat about it.

lighthouse1971 · Joined: 22 Jan 2003 Location: Seoul

I've worked for ELS for two years now. I've been happy. These days, the best place to work in the ELS "fleet" is ELS Yeoksam I think. All of the ELS schools that I am aware of stay above board with money at all times.

There are always going to be a few problems here and there with contracts in Korea because it's the culture. I find that when people stand their ground, though, ELS respects their contracts. Most of the time, problems are trivial compared to the stories I hear from people working in other places.

ELS Jongno is professional but HUGE and it takes a long time to get off of a split schedule it seems. ELS Kangnam is recovering from a period of problems with the foreign academic director. The rest, I know nothing about.

One big advantage of ELS over ECC is that you get a block schedule after a few months (6:30-2:00 or the like). I've heard that ECC schools are highyl unpredictable because they're under franchise rather than having strong central control. That means there are rogue schools and good ones.

Zyzyfer · Posted: Fri Feb 07, 2003 6:23 pm Post subject:

Yea, it's true that ECC is under franchise. I worked at the Cheonan branch, and almost all of the decisions came from the boss lady. She was evil.

That ECC school wasn't the best, but it was a reliable job overall. I got paid on time, and there were several extra functions that made the job interesting, like hiking trips or trips to Everland or something.

On the flipside, things were great the first few months, but then the Academic Director quit and a Korean teacher was appointed as the new one. This new lady had to learn the ropes, and things were rocky the first few months with her. Then the boss lady started trying to penny-pinch and that's when I got fed up with the place. Even though the job was reliable, I outright declined a resigning contract because I had a feeling the school was on the downswing. And the fact that they totally screwed up handling my VISA extension didn't help, either.

I visited a week ago and, sure enough, the boss lady is still trying to cut costs and corners left and right.

With ECC, it depends a lot on the management.

Dan · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: Sunny Glendale, CA

I was at ECC Daerim when i got fired once they found a white guy to replace me. hurray for racism against your own race.

anyway, seemed like they treated the white teachers very well.

4NR · Joined: 07 Feb 2003

Some ECC schools are not franchised and directly managed by YBM Corporation, like certain branches in Seoul (cf http://www.ybmsisa.com/ecc_edu). How would these ones rate? They appear worthwhile institutes, but I suppose appearances can be deceiving . . .