Korean Job Discussion Forums

MrsAdams · Joined: 11 Feb 2007 Location: in hiding

I am truly amazed at how much has not changed since I left the RoK seven years ago. I was working for a hagwon in G(k)umi city (not far from Daegu) and was making 2M won then. That figure seems to be on the high side, still.

Anyway...to the topic at hand.

When last in RoK I was doing gigs at LG and Samsung headquarters through the hagwon. The VP I met with a couple times a week indicated that teaching on contract with corporations might be more lucrative--as well as setting your own schedule.

Does anyone have any current or past experience in this atmosphere of adult education? Is there any demand for it? Were/are your experiences positive? If not, why not?

Thanks.

wylies99 · Joined: 13 May 2006 Location: I'm one cool cat!

Many will remain silent because they don't want to share their easy money.

jmbran11 · Joined: 19 Jan 2006 Location: U.S.

I teach for one of those aforementioned corporations, though I am full-time on contract (not paid hourly). Overall, it's a great gig in terms of students, status, and getting treated professionally. It's more money and vacation than hogwans, but more hours as well. I also suspect it's more work, because high-level adults know quickly if you are not competent, but I never have to "discipline" my students or control them. And, I'm always paid in full, on time, with no funny deductions, etc.

We do hire "outsources" that are paid hourly. They are hired through a recruiting firm, never directly (to my knowledge). I believe they require slightly less in terms of credentials than the people who are imported, because you can fire them more easily if things don't work out. You can do that kind of position if you are living independently in Korea (e.g. you have a visa and your own apartment). It pays fairly well, with no benefits, and no real security from program to program. I think it could be great market to get into, and you can make some decent money, but you really need some connections, like a good recruiting agency or someone who can spread some word of mouth about you. I think it would be very hard to do fresh off the boat, unless you were well-funded for the first 3-4 months.

robot · Joined: 07 Mar 2006

i'd also recommend international companies with offices here in korea.

more than just teaching gigs are available -- also editor and marketing positions.

wages seem to be around 3-3.5/month, which is ok compared to many teaching gigs.

it's true about the extra hours, though -- when calculated, i realized the hourly wage turned out to be around 27,000/hr at a couple places i looked into a while back.

not the most lucrative jobs, but still, they seemed like great places to work and a solid addition to a resume.

ROBT.

jinju · Joined: 22 Jan 2006

Most of that sort of work is done as part time, on an hourly basis. There are companies that hire full time, but thats not an easy gig to find. The market though is there, its a lucrative one too.

pkang0202 · Joined: 09 Mar 2007

I hear the pay is really good. However, the number of hours you work will go up accordingly.

From what I've read and been told, if you want to have time to travel and have fun then go public school teaching or hagwon. If you just want to make money then work at a company.

Working at a company for adult education is one of those networking jobs. You find out about those jobs mostly through word of mouth.

Pak Yu Man · Joined: 02 Jun 2005 Location: The Ida galaxy

lol I've worked in gumi and I've does the corporation thing.

It's pretty hard for a E vias to find these kind of jobs. If you are an F holder on the other hand......

Give me a PM if you want.

jmbran11 · Joined: 19 Jan 2006 Location: U.S.

I just wanted to say that I found my job here on Dave's while I was in the U.S., no connections needed. Although, the recruiting process was more difficult than public schools/hogwans. I work full-time contract, not hourly pay, but it is possible for qualified "newbies" to land decent jobs.

If you are in Korea and have a flexible schedule, there are several part-time gig listed on www.worknplay.co.kr, many of which are for companies or business English. The catch is that you need to already have a visa or be able to find recruiters/companies that will hire you knowing you don't have a visa (i.e. they won't sponsor you for an E-2).

You could always take an evening hogwan job, which gets you the visa, and then pick up some extra daytime hours teaching at companies.