Korean Job Discussion Forums

[garykasparov]

(5) When does an employee sign a labor contract? Before or after training?

The official contract signing will be done in our headquarters after the completion and passing of the training session.

Working before you've signed your labor contract

[Voyeur]

monthly contracts go higher than 2.5 million - I know that for a fact. Sometimes HR gets it wrong.

[desperation]

[Vissan]

I just finished my year at cdi. Been home a couple of weeks.
I didn't do any privates and drank and partied more than any person rightfully should. Still took home around 26 million won.

The posts on this thread saying cdi isn't worth it make me smile.

[Voyeur]

And that is the side of things it seems that so many don't want to hear.

There is no doubt that CDI is much more of a mixed bag these days and the risks in signing on are greater.

But there really still are a lot of very nice jobs there for those with cash as a priority and willing to be careful, but go after them. Clearly Vissan had one of the nicer, old school contracts. And they still exist.

[desperation]

As a serious adult, one who is aware of my legal rights and the employment norms in both western and asian countries...........one who does not "party more than any person rightfully should", I feel my powers of evaluation and deduction are superior. I feel that things I would find unreasonable are things that would fly right over the head of a college kid bar fly. If you look at those happiest in the worst situations, they are often called "robots, kids, kypos w/out other offers, or idiots". If you are the type to stand up for yourself, and your legal and contractual rights (not the same thing here) you are not the type to "party more than any person rightfully should". Hung over or drooling over the thought of a pitcher of Hite is really going to take the edge off of your professionalism and self defense skills. Those of us that are mature, know this to be true.

[Vissan]

[reaction]

i've heard my share of horror stories, but my experiences have been pretty awesome. my director's been very kind, i get tier 2 pay for teaching tier 1 classes and spend about 27 hours at cdi including time spent copying and prepping. i'm also being paid hourly.

i don't do anything cdi related outside my classroom so my work begins the moment i step into the cdi building and ends when i walk out.

the curriculum is laid out and everything, to me, is cut and dry. if you're a teacher that improvises a lot, then cdi might not be for you. i find it hard to be entertaining when pretty much everything i teach has already been dictated.

i have no real complaints. sure i'd love to NOT work and get paid millions of dollars, but i'm making far more than i did back home for less work. true, there may be better deals out there, but i'm content with my situation and can switch to something better once my contract's up.

as for hours spent out of student contact -- it's easy to keep those to a minimum depending on the franchise, i suppose. i come to work 30 minutes early and in that time-frame i can print everything i need. classes are small enough that i can grade everything before class is over.

[Beezo44]

By now, i know all of the horrorshow stories about CDI and it has made me think twice about accepting an offer and has discouraged me altogether about working in Korea. I was offered the standard monthly salary and don't mind the free prep time but i am not feeling the 6 days a week and no holidays! I want to be able to see and experience Korea as well as travel to China and Japan. I don't mind working because it would be awesome on the resume but at the same time I can't be a slave. I guess my question for all of you out there would be IS THERE ANY SCHOOL COMPARABLE TO CDI IN PAY and also reputable? I was going to work in dongdaemun's campus for CDI! Any of you know about the area of Dongdaemun? (not the campus). Also can you guys confirm dress codes in some of the other schools? I know in CDI they want you to dress up in slacks shirts and ties from what i was told. In new york City, where I'm from that is most certainly not required. Granted it is Korea but i heard that you could wear whatever makes you comfortable in other schools! Thanks people and i hope to catch some of you out there!

[rakuan]

[Masta_Don]

[bobbyhanlon]

cdi is totally ok... i used to work there from 4-10pm every day and got 34000 an hour. it is quite professional and much better than the usual hakwon nonsense. teaching isn't in my long-term plan so i quit, but if i did want to teach english in korea, i'd probably do it there. the only downside is the lack of holidays.

as for burnout, no way! 30 hours a week isn't really going to kill you. in my last few months i did privates at the weekend too and ended up saving a good amount.

the only suggestion i can make is- stick to branches, not franchises. other than that, give cdi a try for one year. you'll save a load of money, and if you don't like it, just don't renew your contract at the end.

[sjk1128]

I used to hang out with a guy who worked at CDI. He drank a lot on weekend nights and was always trashed long before I went home. He had to teach something like 30 hours a week, had to work on Sundays, and had these ridiculously long "camp" hours when public school was on vacation. He also seemed to have piles of paperwork and lived in a typical bachelor apartment of about 10 pyong. He said the money and job security made it worth it, so I said nothing to him after the first time I tried to convince him to change jobs on his next contract.

I work at a public school, teach 24 hours a week (although it averages more like 20 because of weekly cancellations), never work on weekends, and am on vacation when public school is on vacation. I live in a 33 pyong apartment. Plus, I can teach English and not worry about satisfying little Minsoo's mom: There are no paying customers at public school so there's a lot less hassle. Your paycheck will be there unless the Korean government fails - in which case we'll all be leaving. I don't have to do any grading or evaluations unless I choose to, and I only write 6 lesson plans a week.

I'm making over 40 million this year including the camp job I worked during one of our vacations. I just can't imagine enough money being paid by CDI for me to jusitfy living in a rat hole, working long hours and having no real vacation. Even if they pay 34-35k for 30 hours a week, that's still less than 50m for the year. Isn't their vacation unpaid too? If I had to have more money, I could just work another camp during winter vacation. Instead, I think I'll just go hang out in Palau for a month.

I think the secret to making money and living a decent life as an EFL teacher in Korea is finding a job with the least contact hours and the most paid vacation time possible. This is why I'll be finding a good university job as soon as I finish my master's next year. Meanwhile, a good public school job seems like the best compromise, and they're far from all full.

[Beezo44]

anyone know where this is in Seoul and if it is close to life or is this far away from things?

[Beezo44]

anyone know where Daebang-dong, Dongjak-Ku, Seoul City is and if it is close to things or is far off?