Korean Job Discussion Forums

[fxman]

Hi guys,
I may be getting an offer to teach at GEO BCM in Bundang. I thought it would be a good idea to get the scoop from someone there already.

I have another dilemma. The recruiter , the infamous Julice, says that they need someone to start August 1. This would necessitate my being there earlier than that. A very rushed move. She is saying that there would be no time to process an E2 visa. The idea is that they would get me there on a tourist visa and then (at school expense) send me to Japan to get the E2. What do you think of this? After reading many posts about getting boned I am very nervous about anything beyond the norm.
Thank you in advance

By the way, so far Julice has been the only recruiter contacted who is the least bit attentive. In fact she has been very good about contact. Yet I read bad things about her. ?????

[GirlFromMars]

I don't know anything about the school, but the visa run thing is quite standard, i wouldn't worry too much about that part.

GFM

[JackSarang]

I've been offered a position at this same school by a different recruiter. So it looks like they're casting a big-net to try and get new teachers.

Bundang is a great place to work but not at this school. Anyone who willingly takes that kind of ridiculous split-shift is either an idiot or a sucker for punishment.

[rick]

I'm also a former teacher from that school, and I strongly agree with Walter Mitty. I don't think anything else needs to be said about the school.
On Julice, I found her to be a good recruiter. She's a very nice person, and is generally helpful if you have problems. She'll talk to the school if you have problems.
If you want to teach adults, you should look at ELS. They have more teachers, so you don't have to do the split shift so much if at all. They have a pretty professional reputation and you'll have a foreigner as a supervisor which is probably a plus in most cases. Direct English is also supposed to be decent, including the one in Bundang.

[fxman]

Thanks guys! especially thanks to W. Mitty and Rick. I've turned the job down. I was especially swayed by Walter's story of how they play the pay-by-the-minute scheme. Just when you think you've heard them all...
Jacksarang, I was thinking that a split shift might be OK in that I can do stuff in the middle of the day. Granted it's unusual but isn't there some good part to it? I've never worked a split so I might be completely off my rocker on that one. It might make for a good topic query.

Later

[rick]

Well, the split shift isn't always horrendous. It's the worst when you finish at 9:30 and then have to come back the next day at 6:30 in the morning. If you finish earlier or start later, then it doesn't have to be so bad. It does give you a break in the middle of the day, which I used for exercise. Teaching is also very intense work, so it can give you a nice break instead of teaching for six hours straight. I would say the worst thing about the split shift though is that it hurts your social life a lot. You can't stay out late because you have to wake up early, and you can't go out in the evenings because you're teaching. If you develop a girlfriend over there. this could really suck and make it harder to build up dating relationships in general.
All things considered, I think you're better off with a straight shift, which is why I recommended ELS. Some of them such as the one in Gangnam don't have any split shifts for teachers.

[peppermint]

*beep*! I teach at Gangnam, I worked till 9:30 last night ,and yes, I was back in there at 6:30 this morning. It's a little rough, especially with a half hour subway ride there and back, but it's not every day, and it's usually not quite that big a split.

The split shift is unfortunately one of the downsides to teaching adults. It's pretty difficult to find an adult hagwon without one. There are upsides, though. The split is big enough to actually do stuff during the day, excercise, exploring your city, whatever. The bigest plus is the students, though. You may have to motivate adults, but I've never had discipline problems. They're generally quite willing to help out someone new to the country or the area. If you have a question like " Where's the best place to. . .?" just ask them after class. They'll give you a straight answer( most of the time) and often offer to show you.

[rick]

Sorry, I thought that I had heard that there were no splits at Gagnam. Maybe it was Yeoksam ELS. Anyways, I think that my point about splits generally being better if they exist at all at bigger schools still holds.