Korean Job Discussion Forums

[beege]

This area and the school is the armpit of Korea. You want to avoid this place like the plague.
If you want to work for an institute with low teaching hours, this might be the place for you.
However, if you are a true educator who enjoys teaching, this is not the place. There's no course curriculum nor any standards. Many classes don't even have books. You'll be responsbile for coming up with something on your own. They have classes called "Coffee Talk" and "Wine Tasting". It's basically a joke. Don't get me started on the administration.

[Waygeek]

[sirius black]

With uni jobs getting harder to get, it may be an option. No matter how 'bad' it is, if you're a dedicated teacher trying to do a good job you can/should use that as an opportunity.
So, while it may not be Seoul Univ., it is a uni job and it sounds like you can make the class your own.

[le-paul]

i discussed this place with one of the 'professors' who worked there last year. From what i gleaned from my conversation with him, most of the 6 year old kids i teach can speak english better than his students.
They also seem to be a bunch of stuck up, wan inkers most of the folk who work there.
just my two pennies worth.

mind, i wouldnt say gyeongju was the pits. Its quite pretty in places if you get away from the touristy areas. ive done a lot of cycling round there and its really nice. I think that was a wee bit harsh...

[beege]

I was trying to warn future applicants about the biggest %^& hole in Korea. Teachers didn't get paid. Others were forced to "donate" their salary to some fund. No one knows where this money goes. I never saw a paystub. Other teachers got fired for being involved in a relationship despite maintaining their professionalism at work. We're not talking about some of the rotten apples. These teachers ranked among the top 5% in student evaluations. There's a large Filipino faculty who were told they would teach in their Ph.D field. They're teaching basic English to students who don't know their a,b,c's. Literally!! And they're grouped with other students who have some ability. It is one of the lowest ranking uni's in Korea on the verge of going bankrupt. Adminstrators are shoving one year contracts to teachers written all in Korean and telling them they want to amend the term to 6 months. Should I continue? This is only a fraction of the issue. Really!! I thought I was doing a service.

[beege]

And by the way, yes it is called the "Museum without Walls". If you go there for a few days, you might think the area is beautiful. Once you see the real town, there's nothing there. You can only go visit the royal tombs so many times.

[Waygeek]

[beege]

You really are a geek.

[le-paul]

[edwardcatflap]

[Malislamusrex]

2 weeks before the start of this semester I was told by my department head. "The head of Business Administration has called in a favor, you are teaching economics in English next semester."

You might think all universities in Korea are organized and have students that can speak English... but they don't.

[sublunari]

I've heard only horrible things about the university, but Gyeongju itself is (in my opinion) one of the nicer cities in the country. The touristy areas are pretty nice, actually, but if you want to get away from the crowds and still experience some of the history I wrote a guide awhile back that you can check out if you like.

[big_fella1]

Gyeongju is a nice small town. It had a reasonable sized expat scene, although to be honest a lot of the scene was working at Gyeongju University. Busan is an hour away in the car, or 20 minutes by KTX.

If I had the choice of a good hagwon or Gyeongju University the hagwon would win every time.

It sounds like they're having some serious problems if the first poster is correct. They did always pay me on time in 2011, and my tax refund this year but they did mess around with the contracts too.

Guys if you meet their requirements you can get any other university job in Korea, although I feel for the Filipino PhDs.

[Rigpa]

I worked as a professor for GU from 2012 to 2013, and was not paid my final salary. Do not trust this place.

[PRagic]

Wow, were you tenure or non-tenure track? Visiting status? If you have your Ph.D. and were indeed a bonafide 'professor', then you should have immediately taken the issue up the chain of command, all the way to the president of the university.

If you were a visiting instructor with a BA and MA, then you could have taken the issue up the chain of command, but the best recourse would have been the labour board.