Korean Job Discussion Forums

chaz47 · Joined: 11 Sep 2003

I've been doing a bit of thinking about working for CDI next contract. I will definitely opt for the hourly pay package, intuitively I would think this would lead to more pay and better treatment by the management, is this true?

Any horror stories, if so please say which branches.

johnpeterson2008 · Joined: 23 Jul 2007

I witnessed immigration doing a "raid" on illegal teachers. They were very scard. I wonder how many teachers work without an E2 Visas at CDI?

Voyeur · Joined: 19 Jun 2003

CDI is a good deal IF you get say 32,000 an hour or more.

mindmetoo · Joined: 02 Feb 2004

Long hours, inflexible teaching methods but they pay for people willing to work long hours and be inflexible?

That's my impression.

Voyeur · Joined: 19 Jun 2003

People need to remember that it is all relative.

The problem with CDI is that all their training and propoganda establish this expectation that it is professional in a way that say a Fortune 500 company in America is professional (ofc even at that company stupidity will abound - as it does everywhere).

And then CDI disapoints these expectations - esp. now since expansion has diluted so many things and generally lowered quality.

BUT ignoring performace compared to the false expectations CDI itself sets, CDI is still one of the best places to work. Forget about their propaganda and compare it to Hogwons and Public Schools in Korea in general. Sure bad things happen - worse stuff happens elsewehere.

As long as you aren't taking one of the 2.0 to 2.3 million monthly contracts or 25k to 27k hourly packages ofc. CDI sucks at those rates.

And btw hours just are not that long once you know how to prep. quickly - or eventually not prep at all.

Typhoon · Joined: 29 May 2007 Location: Daejeon

I worked a job where I made 3.3 and worked 9am-7pm(similar to CDI). It was not worth it. I quit after six months. I don't get why people would want to do this to themselves if there are other options on the table. Life seriously sucked when I was stuck working those crazy long days.

Voyeur · Joined: 19 Jun 2003

You would never work 9 am to 7 pm at CDI.

You can often set your own hours - between 24 to 30 a week. People used to work 36 hours (by choice to hoarde cash) but this is now discouraged afaik - but still may happen.

You have to be in 30 minutes before class each day to photocopy/log-in/get lunch etc...

There is no other mandated office time other than meetings.

A typical schedule would be Sun/Mon/Tues/Wed/Thur at work from 3:30 pm until 10:00 pm (teaching from 4 to 10). You usually have to work on one weekend day - but not both (and not always).

So that is 32.5 hours a week total work. Add in an average of 1.5 hour of meetings/training a week (but they tend to come in big lumps - not evenly every week) and 1 hour of extra prep/clerical stuff. You have a 35 hour work week and about 132 teaching hours in a month.

On a 30 / hour wage that is about 4 million won. Since you dont get a free apt., severance, or pension that is about the same as 3 million normal salary. All for less than 40 hours a week in the office. That isn't bad. And some get 32 or more an hour.

If you have to prep longer that could skew things. Depends on what kind of person you are. But prep shouldn't really throw these basic figures out of whack.

The basic deal is that at CDi you don't work long hours. But you do work a lot of actual TEACHING hours.

chriswylson · Joined: 20 Feb 2007

35 hours a week total work, not bad?! and that includes 30 teaching hours! No one teaches 30 h / week bach home! At a regular hagwon, it could be OK, but at CDI you are closely monitored, expected to work very hard, and need to prepare quite a bit, so you end up working way more than 40 hours/week!
Most people at CDI have no life, period. Many teachers quit after 2-3 semesters. It's not worth it anymore. You'd be better off at a public school working 22 easy hours + benefits.

Typhoon · Joined: 29 May 2007 Location: Daejeon

30 contact hours a week!!!! That is madness. 6 hours of teaching a day over a 5 day week!!! That is still a heck of a lot. It is better than 9-7, but it is still a lot. Talk about giving a teacher burnout. Plus no real holidays at CDI. It sounds like a perfect recipe for teacher burn out to me. I will NEVER understand people who choose to work crazy hours like this.

Voyeur · Joined: 19 Jun 2003

No life? the hour are late - but not long. There is not that much prep if you are decently smart - and even then, only for the higher level classes. If you are teaching a lot of them then likely you are at 32-33k or more an hour to compensate and can drop to 27 hours a week if you want. Again, your total working time is NOT long.

But it is HARDER than other hogwons or schools - yeah. But you get paid for it. And the 30 contact hours are not as difficult, per hour, as say 30 contact hours in a public school Stateside. There is a structured curriculum with a fair amount of downtime per class. It really is not that hard to groove into.

As hourly, you also have essentially NO vacation at all - NOTHING a year. You get 2 days off (Chusok and Lunar New Year's main days) but ofc they aren't paid for. You lose your hours. You can take a week off per year as well. But that too isn't paid.

But you are making 4 million + a month and spending less than 35 hours a week at the office - total, all in. You don't have to take anything home ever if you don't want and still spend less time at work than school teachers. Plenty of time for a life. And lots of cash to spend on it.

That is the CDI formula and it is a viable alternative IMO. That being said, that is the classic formula. But they have started offering packages that are at much lower salaries than were traditionally offered. THOSE guys get screwed. No question about it. Aside from the people who just got screwed in some horror story at CDI - a random event that happens to people everywhere - the bulk of the CDI haters are IMO from those that took the low pay packages. And yeah, CDI are asses for offering them and a bit deceitful about it IMO. But you can control that. Just say no and go elsewhere if offered below 30k an hour or less than 2.5/2.6 monthly (though unless you are teaching in Daechi and want to live nearby, you should never go monthly - always want hourly).

I have heard very few complaints about the CDI system from the more highly paid teachers here. The system does really work as long as they are showing you the cash money dollars.

BTW a lot of the guys working the crazy long hours are teaching a full load + have managerial responsibilities which at bigger branches can definitely add some hours. But you get paid extra for that. And over the last year or so, that extra pay has started to more accurately reflect the time demands of the job. Or in other cases, where guys are still putting in a lot more hours than the stipend is fair value for, they are longer-termers trying to work there way up the ladder at CDI into fairly sweet jobs that will eventually repay the time investment. And that kind of thing happens at any company where you work harder than your pay really merits in order for future rewards.

CDI has lots of negatives. I'm no apologist. But this board tends to be highly inaccurate when discussing them. Often the stuff people are hating on simply is wrong while they are completely overlooking other downsides that do exist.

desperation · Posted: Sun Oct 07, 2007 6:19 am Post subject: Re: Any CDI horror stories?

Masta_Don · Joined: 17 Aug 2006 Location: Hyehwa-dong, Seoul

If you ever have a problem HR will come in and mediate. They'll make you feel like they're doing something productive, finding an acceptable compromise and then side with the school. That was the final straw (after reneging on vacation deal, turning off lights/A/C during class, being told to do 100 report cards with just a weekend to do them, etc.). I ran and now I make more money and am happier.

desperation · Posted: Sun Oct 07, 2007 6:44 am Post subject:

Typhoon · Joined: 29 May 2007 Location: Daejeon

32 k an hour is not that great. It is good, but not great. You can get more than that if you go and look at different companies/unis. 6 hours a day (30 hours teaching) is a lot. To say it is not that much is crazy. Tell any real teacher in Canada that you have 30 actual teaching hours a week and only 2 weeks vacation (maybe no vacation) and they will tell you that you are crazy and will end up hating teaching or quiting. I have experience in Korea working crazy hours and working a normal schedule; I also am a teacher in Canada. Why anyone in their right mind would choose to work for a school where vacation is a hastle (no payment for vacation/no nat'l holidays) and they work crazy hours is beyond me.

PRagic · Joined: 24 Feb 2006

But the company plugs the degrees of its employees. Elite university grads making 3.0 million a month (taken from a previous poster's estimates as housing etc is not included). Over 30 hour weeks?

Not worth it by any means. Maybe to get one's foot in the door and get the lay of the land, but, then again, do you really see Ivy grads working at an institute long term? Sounds like a fast way to get burned out here.

There are better ways to make money here as a teacher, especially if you have the F2, F4, or F5 visa. If you don't, and you'll be working with an E-2, I'd look for better places of employment.