Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Cerebroden]

Can you guys give me a difinitive pros vs. cons of both? I'm wondering what the differences are, if any.

[rvintage]

Every week it seems there is this same exact question posted!!

FIND THE SEARCH TOOL ON THIS WEBSITE AND PUT IT TO GOOD USE!

[Cerebroden]

umm...have you used the search function on this site? What am I supposed to type in? Hagwons? or maybe just school.
So I pose the question again.
Any help would be appreciated.

[Voyeur]

Public School is safer.

Hogwon is like more risk, more reward.

A really good Hogwan can be better in every way - esp. cash.

A really bad one can just be horrific though.

You feel lucky?

[Qinella]

[Fresh Prince]

If you don't have teaching experience then you are more likely then not to get a hogwan job. Some people like hogwans and some people dislike them. The hours are shorter (usually), the classes are less formal and they don't expect much from their foriegn teachers. If this is your first job then hogwans are a good opportunity to learn. I personally like working at a hogwan because of the ability to negotiate and the ability to learn.

If you have teaching experience then I suggest first look at public schools. The reward might not be as great but the risk will be less. There is a considerable amount of risk when you accept a job without seeing the school or the apartment.

There are good and bad experiences at both hogwans and public schools. There are a lot of hogwan jobs out there and they aren't all bad. There are a lot of people that complain here at Dave's but that's just because people don't normally post about the good things that they experience.

You can always quit your job after you have built up a little money. If you do your research and ask a lot of questions then you should be fine.

[Cerebroden]

Thanx for the feedback,
It looks as if I'll be looking in to public school. I've heard too many nightmares from hagwons.

[Bibbitybop]

The stickies and FAQs give a decent rundown of the pros and cons, too.

[Yu_Bum_suk]

I could contribute many paragraphs to this topic but I already have, so figure out how to use the search engine.

[trinity24651]

I used the "search" with the exact wording and the following is what I found:

http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/korea/search.php?mode=results

Would you suggest that OP read them all in hopes of finding the right answer?

[Cerebroden]

THANK YOU TRINITY!

self righteous people and their search function. ::slap::

[crazylemongirl]

see my rant here

[Qinella]

[VanIslander]

Type into the search: "hagwon" "public school" "compare" and remember to click the "search ALL terms" category. And you'll find several previous threads making the comparisons.

The search command may not be the most straightforward but it's very useful.

[VanIslander]

if you are someone who does his homework and researches the hell out out of it before making a decision then...

it's much easier to ensure you get a good hagwon than a good public school

at least you can meet who would be your coworkers and visit what would be your apartment at a hagwon; at public schools you often can't, have no idea if you'll get the one psycho korean co-teacher who breathes down your neck and judges you at every instant, and forget trying to see what accommodations you'd be getting.

since I'm in Korea and I investigate my options thoroughly, I have found public school positions risky simply because a lot of info is not available (often decisions not yet made as to school location and accommodation). Introduce me to the co-teacher and show me the apartment then I would consider public positions. Until then, I'll take hagwons.