Korean Job Discussion Forums

[megraham]

Hey, I have been offered a position by both Direct English(which I believe is with Pagoda) and English Channel to teach adults and university students English conversation, they both seem to offer similar pay, benefits, classroom situation and I dont know if they are basically the same or ones better than the other...So does anyone have good/bad things to say about either one?
Thanks!
meredith

[gmat]

They are the same. The EC founder copied the DE system after working at Pagoda (the owner of DE).

They both suck.

[megraham]

could you go into more detail of their sucking?
i know there are downsides like split shifts and pay depending upon hours worked, but I would really appreciate more detail, so i can decide if either of them are worth my time.
Thanks

[gmat]

I will save you time. They are not worth it. Details are available in the scores of threads on this site. There is a lot of info, especially on EC. Use the search function.

[Matt_22]

I almost took a position with English Channel. I'm SO glad I didn't, especially due to the fact that I found an awesome position immediately thereafter. But here is what I found out after interviewing and emailing current teachers at English Channel.

EC Negatives:

Long hours. No prep time is needed, so that's a big plus, but not if you still have to work lots of hours overall. Lots of teachers admitted to teaching 7-8 hours per day of constant 25-minute 1-on-1 lessons. That's an insane workload - especially compared to the job I found a week later that involves an average of half that and pays more.

Low pay. They only pay a measly 2.0 million won per month, which is a crime when they're working you 7-8 hours per day. Their overtime rates suck as well. Furthermore, you're only reimbursed for the return trip of your flight. Obviously its not a good deal.

Housing typically sucks. Perhaps there are some that get lucky, but every teacher I corresponded with told me they were provided with cramped housing that was basically unfurnished. Most teachers are also on their own in finding furnishings upon arrival.

You have to wear a "lab coat" when you teach. That's about the lamest thing I've ever heard of. If you're going to be over-worked and under-paid, why should you have to dress like a moron as well?

EC Positives:

The management is supposedly alright. You never have to worry about being paid on time or getting what's due. That right there probably makes EC a better place to work than most of the hagwons out there. At least most of the teachers working there seem to think so.

The 1-to-1 work seems pretty cool, and you get to work closely with a variety of different people. This can be beneficial for setting up private lessons outside of work - if you're not dead-tired from your normal schedule already.

[wisernow]

If you don't mind lots of one on one teaching (Just you and your student constantly talking) then you may like these jobs as you will be working with adults and not kids.

If you don't mind teaching kids you may want to consider finding a good position at a kids school as they offer better hours and less stress (If you like kids-More STRESS if you don't like kids) Teaching adults will involve possibly the wide split schedule. Some of your students will study as early as 6:30 am to 7:00 am and you can also expect lots of evening classes from 6:30 PM to 10:30 pm.

Also, working at Direct English or English Channel will involve each one of your students evaluating you, which can be stressful as you must devote all of your attention fully to every one on one session. At the end of the month if your performance is below average you can expect a nice little chat with your superviser that will go like this.

" Hey John Doe, I hate to say this but your performance this past month was not so good as 20 of the 30 students you taught decided not to re-register and many cited less than a satisfactory experience from your lessons" If your performance does not pick up this month we may have to evaluate your schedule here"

[Col.Brandon]

Just say 'no' to Direct English. It's nasty, nasty, nasty. The search function is your friend.

[regicide]

[Bramble]

Bump. Any more info about English Channel would be much appreciated.

The idea of teaching one-to-one sounds very appealing, maybe even worth the lab coat, but I wouldn't care to be at the mercy of student evaluations. What do people have to do to get good reviews?

[birdflower]

English Channel's Samsung Clinic is HELL!! Do not work there!! The staff are miserable and unhappy. So many employees have resigned and left in pursuit of happiness. They do not honor the rules and regulations in the company handbook which, by the way, is on the internet, and, most importantly, which they have encrypted, so that it is impossible to print or "cut and paste," and they can change that online employee handbook at anytime. Sneaky tactic indeed! Further, you will be kept on the split shift LONGER than the 6 months or 3 months that they say you will be kept on. You will be kept on the split shift for LONGER than 6 months. Guaranteed! Also, the owner/manager is a witch. She is evil! She will fire you on the spot, for any dumb unfair reason, and that will be your last day. No notice. None what-so-ever. Even though the contract says you must be given 45 days notice. Further, there is at least one case where an employee was cheated out of money by Samsung Clinic. An employee had finished his/her contract, then went back to his/her home country, and then Samsung Clinic did not pay her all the money that they owner her. At that point she was thousands of miles away. They had agreed to pay that employee his/her last paycheck at a time when he/she would be long gone and back in his/her home country. And when he/she got paid, he/she was missing a few hundred dollars! He/she e-mailed them but they did not reply. They stole money from him/her! I used to work there. It was hell! Given the info that I have just provided, under no circumstances, regardless of how hard Robert Webster or anyone at the corporate office may try to persuade you, should you ever accept a position at Samsung Clinic. This is good advice from a person who used to work there. There are also other posts criticizing Samsung Clinic on Dave's ESL Cafe. DO NOT WORK AT ENGLISH CHANNEL'S SAMSUNG CLINIC. IT IS HELL!! Avoid English Clinic's Samsung location like the PLAGUE!!!

English Channel's Samsung Clinic is HELL!! Do not work there!! The staff are miserable and unhappy. So many employees have resigned and left in pursuit of happiness. They do not honor the rules and regulations in the company handbook which, by the way, is on the internet, and, most importantly, which they have encrypted, so that it is impossible to print or "cut and paste," and they can change that online employee handbook at anytime. Sneaky tactic indeed! Further, you will be kept on the split shift LONGER than the 6 months or 3 months that they say you will be kept on. You will be kept on the split shift for LONGER than 6 months. Guaranteed! Also, the owner/manager is a witch. She is evil! She will fire you on the spot, for any dumb unfair reason, and that will be your last day. No notice. None what-so-ever. Even though the contract says you must be given 45 days notice. Further, there is at least one case where an employee was cheated out of money by Samsung Clinic. An employee had finished his/her contract, then went back to his/her home country, and then Samsung Clinic did not pay her all the money that they owner her. At that point she was thousands of miles away. They had agreed to pay that employee his/her last paycheck at a time when he/she would be long gone and back in his/her home country. And when he/she got paid, he/she was missing a few hundred dollars! He/she e-mailed them but they did not reply. They stole money from him/her! I used to work there. It was hell! Given the info that I have just provided, under no circumstances, regardless of how hard Robert Webster or anyone at the corporate office may try to persuade you, should you ever accept a position at Samsung Clinic. This is good advice from a person who used to work there. There are also other posts criticizing Samsung Clinic on Dave's ESL Cafe. DO NOT WORK AT ENGLISH CHANNEL'S SAMSUNG CLINIC. IT IS HELL!!Avoid English Clinic's Samsung location like the PLAGUE!!!

English Channel's Samsung Clinic is HELL!! Do not work there!! The staff are miserable and unhappy. So many employees have resigned and left in pursuit of happiness. They do not honor the rules and regulations in the company handbook which, by the way, is on the internet, and, most importantly, which they have encrypted, so that it is impossible to print or "cut and paste," and they can change that online employee handbook at anytime. Sneaky tactic indeed! Further, you will be kept on the split shift LONGER than the 6 months or 3 months that they say you will be kept on. You will be kept on the split shift for LONGER than 6 months. Guaranteed! Also, the owner/manager is a witch. She is evil! She will fire you on the spot, for any dumb unfair reason, and that will be your last day. No notice. None what-so-ever. Even though the contract says you must be given 45 days notice. Further, there is at least one case where an employee was cheated out of money by Samsung Clinic. An employee had finished his/her contract, then went back to his/her home country, and then Samsung Clinic did not pay her all the money that they owner her. At that point she was thousands of miles away. They had agreed to pay that employee his/her last paycheck at a time when he/she would be long gone and back in his/her home country. And when he/she got paid, he/she was missing a few hundred dollars! He/she e-mailed them but they did not reply. They stole money from him/her! I used to work there. It was hell! Given the info that I have just provided, under no circumstances, regardless of how hard Robert Webster or anyone at the corporate office may try to persuade you, should you ever accept a position at Samsung Clinic. This is good advice from a person who used to work there. There are also other posts criticizing Samsung Clinic on Dave's ESL Cafe. DO NOT WORK AT ENGLISH CHANNEL'S SAMSUNG CLINIC. IT IS HELL!! Avoid English Clinic's Samsung location like the PLAGUE!!!

[gmat]

Birdflower: what do you think of EC's Samsung clinic?

[birdflower]

Gmat: I just wrote what I thought. It is above your post. It is late here in Australia. Time to sleep.

[Bramble]

Thanks for the warning. I definitely don't want anything to do with a company that cheats employees out of their money. So is Samsung Clinic a franchise, or are all EC schools owned by the parent company?

[birdflower]

To learn more about the evils of English Channel's Samsung Clinic go to:
http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/korea/viewtopic.php?t=57787&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=english+channel+learn&start=15 and then scroll down and look at the post by "lilla_fjaril."

Lilla_fjaril tells how: (1) they stole money from him/her after he/she had returned back to his/her home country by not paying him/her all that they owned him/her; (2) they often shortened him/her on pay checks; (3) some teachers were NEVER paid for training or given raises when it was owned to them; and other evils of Samsung Clinic.

Lilla_fjaril provides much feedback about his/her experience at Samsung Clinic.

[gangnamguy]

I happen to know of "Birdflower" and has a good sense of humor and he was a delight to have at the Samsung Branch. However, I need to respond to the exaggerated and very slanderous statements that he has made:

1) The staff is not miserable and unhappy. I have been at Samsung for over a year. I am very appreciative of the job that I have. I used to work with children and this is by far the easiest job I have had in Korea. Other coworkers seem to have a positive attitude and we hang out with each other once a week. The job can tiring if you are on the split shift but that is to be expected. There is practically no preparation and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to do the job or to follow the procedures of the Samsung Clinic.

2) There have been incidents where a person has worked longer than six months on the split shift. But if the teacher had serious problems with it, he/she could have easily contacted Bob Webster and the problem would have been solved.

3) Calling our manager a witch is just tactless and not professional. She lets go of people if there are grounds to do so. From the very beginning, it is WELL aware from the very first day of training that they HATE it when you are late. If there was anything you needed to know, that was the main thing to remember. DON'T BE LATE. So when a teacher that starts at 9am is late four times in the course of two months while other teachers who start at 7am and are on time, that is definitely pushing the envelope in my opinion. Here is another thing to keep in mind to stay on the manager's good side. If are if you ARE late, apologize. Don't try to act like a premadonna and feel that they need you. They don't. They can find many foreigners that want to teach in a very stress-free environment not teaching kids with little preparation. Also, when a manager asks you to do something such as organize your desk, the ideal thing would be to listen to that order.

4) With regards to responding to "Lilla", the biggest problem she had was that she was told by the manager that she didn't have to pay for her cell phone and that everything was taken care of. Then she was told to pay for it when she got back to the U.S. So she was asked pay W50,000 when she got home. Because of apparent miscommunication, she was upset and blew everything out of proportion. "Birdflower" uses that as hearsay because he did not know her personally.

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Overall, no job is perfect but this job is far from being a job from hell. If you do your best to have a good relationship with the staff, come to work on time, keep yourself groomed and follow the easy routine procedures, you should have no problem working at Samsung. But if don't do these simple tasks, you can also dig your own grave and should not be surprised if you are released from the job.