Korean Job Discussion Forums

ghohn · Joined: 08 Jan 2008

Hey there,
Long time reader and recent first time poster here. Anyways, I have been offered a job at BCM (4th floor, Taimoon building, 174-2, Seockchon-dong, Songpa-gu Seoul, Korea) teaching adults. As reiterated several times on here, there seems to be a small reduction in pay as opposed to teaching children.

I'm 27, from US, not-overweight, have a Bachelor's in Ed and worked one year in Hawaii as a teacher teaching devil spawn. Looking for a change of pace. I am aware of the split shift hours.

The stats;
120hrs
17,500 won / OT
Paid housing/plane ticket/50% health, matched pension
2.1 won/month
Job starts April 1st (is this an omen?)

I spoke to a current teacher who had been apparently been there six years. He had glowing reviews. I spoke to him for 30 minutes and asked all the questions listed previous on the forums (paid on time, how is housing, forced OT etc, other teachers that have been there for 2 years). Anyways, he seemed pretty straight on the phone, but then again, isn't this the way that hagwon nightmares begin?

Is this a normal part of your guys' working condition?
"50,000 won will be deducted from the �Employee�s� salary each month for ten months beginning the second month
of the contract (2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 10th and 11th). This total of 500,000 won will be used to pay any unpaid
utility bills that the �Employee� might have at the time of his/her departure from BCM Language Centers. Any
money left over from this deposit after all bills have been paid will be remitted to the �Employee� within six weeks
of the end of his/her contract."

Given all this do you think I could get 2.3? Being only 2+ weeks away, are they in a hiring pinch?

Saxiif · Joined: 15 May 2003 Location: Seongnam

There's no way in hell you should take that job if you have a BEd and teaching experience as a teacher in the states. Shoot for an international school (see: www.iss.edu)

kprrok · Joined: 06 Apr 2004 Location: KC

Also, never agree to money being withheld to pay bills. The school can call the companies (gas, phone, internet, electricity, apt, etc.) and get the exact amount owed on the day you leave and you can leave that much.

I can't think of any reason you'd have bills anywhere close to 500,000 unless you're living in a mansion or run the heat/AC at full 24/7.

KPRROK

Cerriowen · Joined: 03 Jun 2006 Location: Pocheon

With a bachelors of Edu and teaching experience even a PUBLIC school would offer you 2.3 to 2.5 or something.

Also beware getting information from someone who has been there 6 years. Ask to talk to someone who has been there ONE year and is leaving. Every school has it's problems. See if this school's problems are something you can live with, or not. At least you won't be walking in blindly.

And dude... any moron with negotiation skills could get 2.2 to 2.3 easily... with the BA Edu, you should be asking for 2.4 - 2.5

And as far as withholding money for utilities... even on my worst month all of my utilities combined are about 100,000 for the kind of apt they'll put you in.

PRagic · Joined: 24 Feb 2006

Koreans find it highly personally insulting and a loss of face if they perceive that you don't trust them. Tell them that the same goes for you.

Yu_Bum_suk · Joined: 25 Dec 2004

If you really want to teach adults the most important matter should be whether or not you have to work split shifts. If the above job came with single-block jobs, I'd say it's good as far as first-time adult teaching jobs go. If that salary and those clauses are in exchange for getting up at 5AM, working 6-9AM, having eight hours to kill, and then having to work 5.30 to 9.30PM, I'd say keep looking.

Fresh Prince · Joined: 05 Dec 2006 Location: The glorious nation of Korea

Be careful, some foreign teachers are doubling as paid recruiters for their school, and some are recruiting as part of their contract.

Requiring a 500,000 deposit is simply ridiculous. At the last place I worked, the director called the utility companies, the phone provider, and the building manager to find out exactly how much I owed, on the last day of work. I had to pay the director then and there.

Easter Clark · Joined: 18 Nov 2007 Location: Hiding from Yie Eun-woong

Keep looking--withe your quals, you'll find something much better!

lastat06513 · Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2008 9:23 pm Post subject:

If you hold out longer and put your resume on a few more sites, you are bound to find a better position.
With your quals, you can get a job in the Public school system, a private school (non-hogwon type), even at a university language institute and international school.

Here are several websites you can use for your jobsearch:

www.eslteachersboard.com
www.englishspectrum.com
www.myenglishjob.com
http://freelangs.co.kr/content.html
http://www.englishjob.net/
http://www.eslcareer.com/
http://www.eslpro.com
http://www.neo-english.com/english/index.html
http://www.teachenglish.co.kr

You don't need to and shouldn't have to sell yourself short by settling for a hakwon job.....

Good luck and happy jobhunting!!!

ghohn · Joined: 08 Jan 2008

Thanks folks, I do appreciate your input. Is posting your resume on this website a bad idea? The job ads on here are pretty much the same ones all the time. I've got a friend in SK right now. Thinking I might try to crash with her, and hoof it on foot.

ttompatz · Joined: 05 Sep 2005 Location: Kwangju, South Korea

Yu_Bum_suk · Joined: 25 Dec 2004

CentralCali · Joined: 17 May 2007

Ut videam · Joined: 07 Dec 2007 Location: Pocheon-si, Gyeonggi-do

mr. positive · Joined: 02 Jan 2008 Location: a happy place

I second a previous post... you can do MUCH better with your qualifications. I worked for BCM, and the split shift almost killed me after a few months; thankfully my director was cool and let me quit.

teaching kids = better hours
teaching adults = not having to teach kids, but split shift + less money

It's a tough call if you're not a huge fan of kids, but my quality of life went up 1,000,000% once I stopped doing the split shift.

And BCM is awful on teachers, they just run them into the ground. "No good deed goes unpunished" pretty much sums up the work environment there.

I agree about the dude who's been there six years. Some poor souls think their life is better because they committed to a company, but it almost always just means they settled for way, way less than they were capable of getting.

All schools are desperate for teachers. You should not accept anything under 2.4, even if they offer less. Just counter-offer, and if they aren't up for, cool. Just move on; someone will give you that (I'm pretty sure).