Korean Job Discussion Forums

[yoyoyo]

Hiya,

I've never taught in a classroom before. I've had job offers from YBM ECC Songpa and Dream Kids English School Songpa. YBM is company owned, big chain. Dream Kids is a year old. Similar pay, same location, not much difference in the offers.

Also one of the accommodation is shared, which I like the sound of, becuase you get to meet people straight away. I'm worried about getting lonely in a studio apartment.

What's best for a newbie please?

Thanks!

[rhinocharge64]

Trust me mate don't go for the shared option. There are some right loony tunes here, you will meet people easily enough unless your out in the sticks. What ever gig you decide to choose be sure to speak to those teachers who are staying and not leaving. These individuals will help give you a truer perspective of how things lay at the school. For me Hogwon land is a lottery and for that risk alone i would personally avoid it. Public schools are recruiting now for March, see the jobs board and there are a stack out there. I 'm not saying they are perfect but you will be paid on time and you will not have to worry about the possibilty of Kim Jung il waiting for you in the darkness. Just giving you my advice and indeed my experience. I did Hogwon land for 4 months until i was fired because i didn't speak with a North American accent. I now work for the gov. and my entire perspective changed of Korea.

[Ya-ta Boy]

Howdy, potential new neighbor. I'll be moving to Songpa in about 2 weeks.

I want to endorse Mr. rhino's warning about sharing an apartment. "Loony tunes" is a very polite and diplomatic way of putting it. Reference: Freakiest Waygook thread on this board. Another point: Do you really want to work in the same company with someone and then go home and spend your evenings with him/her? What if you don't hit it off? What if he squeezes the toothpaste tube at the 'wrong' end?

Doesn't YBM teach mainly adults? It is a big chain, and there will probably be quite a few other foreign teachers working there. Dream Kids is probably quite small. Few other foreigners.

Songpa is only 5 subway stops from Jamshil. That is one of the livelier areas of Seoul. Plenty of foreigners around.

[wisernow]

You should evaluate the good points of each offer and make the decision based on what is the most important thing to you. I have had shared housing my first year in Korea and I liked it because my roommate helped me adjust to my surroundings very quickly but of course I have heard that some people do not get along with their roommates. I know of some female teachers who wanted a roommate as they were not comfortable living alone and I know some teachers who had a roommate but wanted to live alone as they ended dating a Korean and wanted some privacy.

Public school jobs may have many good points but they also have many bad points such as less curriculum support and higher teacher to student ratio. Some public school jobs have more vacation days than private ESL schools but it really depends on that school and they will always pay on time but so do many larger ESL chain schools like YBM as I had also, worked for YBM my first two years and I know that YBM will also always pay on time and having worked at YBM helped me learned how to become a better ESL teacher

Also, beware that many public school positions are not in Seoul while those two private ESL schools are both in Seoul in Songpa a great area in my opinion.

[yoyoyo]

Nice one, thanks.

I'm female and living alone doesn't bother me, it's the settling in process and feelings of lonliness that worry me. I'm no shrinking violet though, and can make friends vey easily. It has suddenly become very daunting though!

I have spoken to the girl I would be sharing with and she seems very nice, a brit like me with similiar interests. I don't think she's a loon! She nothing but nice things to say about YBM, just the accommodation looked like it needed a hell of a good scrub ie grotty!

A guy from the smaller school said there had been problems with housing and vacations, but he felt these were caused by inexperience by the management and he felt it wouldn't be an issue with me. His housing was lovely btw.

They both teach lots of kindy, unfortunately, but i'll just have to get stuck in.

Thanks for all your advice peeps!

[wisernow]

Always keep in mind that smaller schools are not as secure as larger chains. One of the biggest issues with any teaching jobs in Korea is that many have experience not being paid on time or not getting their completion bonus after finishing the contract. Anyway, wish you luck if you make over here.

[wylies99]

Avoid big chains with bad reputations, (like Wonderland or Kids Herald), and NO! NO! NO! to shared housing. You'll probably get a psycho, a thief, or a pervert- maybe all three wrapped into one?

If you're LUCKY, you'll just get someone who: eats your food, leaves messes everywhere, and "shares" his F'd up music all of the time when headphones are cheap and plentiful.
Maybe he'll need to borrow money, too.

Oh, and the only thing worse to hear than "Can I borrow money?" is "I know I owed you money, and I got paid yesterday, but I wanted to see how much it would cost to buy a round for the house at a bar and now all of my money is gone." A bunch of us got to hear that one from a fellow soldier (US Army days for me) who LOVED to borrow money and HATED to repay it.

[heydelores]

I would not accept shared housing either. I did that during my first contract. It was a big apartment, and we had our own bedrooms, but when you work with someone everyday AND live with them, it can drive you right up the wall.

For my second contract, I chose a very small, new hagwon and love it. No pay problems, vacation problems, or anything else. Great people to work with, but I can also see how a poorly managed small, new hagwon could be a disaster.

[melvaughn]

Having a roommate in Korea is VERY different from having a roommate back home. In Korea, you are more limited in the people you will be surrounded with. Usually you will see/hang-out/work with the same people 24/7. There are only 10 foreigners in my entire city and we see each other all the time, at work and on the weekends. It would be claustraphobic to have to live with them as well. Teaching can be stressful and you will want your own space at the end of the day.

[DCJames]

Big chain school.

Not even close!

[SirFink]

[wylies99]

OP- sharing a place is a good way to LOSE a friend.

[poof]

When you're surrounded by lots of people all day at work with the aim that you need to talk your socks off, it's really nice to go back to an empty, quiet apartment and RELAX and not have a duty to speak to anyone. I really value any private space that I can call my own. I once had to share an apartment with another female who I already saw all day at work. She asked all sorts of personal questions, which I wasn't used to, and got all funny when I couldn't keep her company. Let me say that I began to REALLY LOATHE her, even though she was really a decent person. She just wasn't my personality type AT ALL. I was SO HAPPY when I got my own apartment, and didn't feel like I was under the watchful eye of the Stasi anymore!

Weigh up the better package overall and choose that one. I would agree that a big chain can offer more structure and reliability to a new teacher, since the curriculums and schedules should be more fixed and predictable than with a small school.

If you're worried about being lonely, just don't opt for some small town, or even any town outside of Seoul or Busan. If you're in the heart of Seoul, for example, you shouldn't worry about a lack of a social scene.

[arisketch]

I agree about the other's view about the shared option ... personally, I would prefer (and recommend) having an apartment by yourself

I had a similar option, teach at a more established school or a newer school, and since I'm quite new to the teaching field, I opted for the more established school for several reasons:
- established school will have a set curriculum ready, which I need since I dont have any teaching experience; I've been teaching for a month now and it (teaching curriculum/material) helps!
- established school is just that; established. no worries about paycheck problem, etc -

if this is your first time teaching here, my suggestion is to go with an established school as a start
but that's only a suggestion - and you do have to take into account about the school itself (and the staff).

best of luck in your choice/experience

[Ramones]

I had a roommate while I worked at a mill in china. Not good. he had parties all the time and i would come home and find cigarette butts and beer bottles all over the place. There was only 1 tv and he sat in front of it all the time when he was home and he had some eurotrash nazi girlfriend that would come over even when he was not there.

plus, he ate my food and never replaced what he ate.

Then after he moved out he said he gave me all the keys. one day i was in the bedroom with my girlfriend and heard the door open - he kept a set of keys and i caught him coming in - for reasons unknown and then fled. i changed the locks that day.