Korean Job Discussion Forums

[philipjames]

Does anyone have any information on WILS English school?
Any information at all would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[Lost Seoul]

I'm sure posting these previous posts may start up an age old argument about one certain guy who worked at this hagwon. So I am saying this now. These opinions on WILS are NOT mine they are posts from teachers who have worked at WILS or people who know people who worked at WILS.

In order to try and avoid people flaming this post in the Cohen Glass post I have deleted the part where he gives out the directors phone number. Every other post exists in its original form.

Here are some posts about the WILS hagwons:

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http://groups.msn.com/teachersforum/thegoodschools.msnw?action=get_message&mview=0&ID_Message=27&LastModified=4675400510336106831

From: Samual (Original Message)
Sent: 12/5/2002 11:47 PM
I have a friend who is still working at this hogwan and still insists that if your looking for happiness its a great place to be. With 20+ foreign teachers there is always someone around who shares your interest and will stand up for you. www.wils.co.kr

Any questions and I can't forward her address to you.

Sam
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http://209.204.62.79/korea/index.cgi?read=116526
Do not work at WILS hakewon!!!!
Posted By: veryangry - [email protected]
Date: Thursday, 4 April 2002, at 7:32 a.m.
WILS hakewon in Mok-dong is one of the worst schools to work for in Seoul. They will tell you one thing and do something else. One of the problems I also found there is the lack of communication.
The Korean staff will be nice to you in front of your face and later spread rumors behind your back. This has affected the relationship between the staff and teachers. There is no one there who a foreigner can go to and confide in. You never know who to believe.
You might also have trouble getting your severance. I did and still haven't gotten all that I should of. So to sum things up stay clear of this school.
Wish you all the best with your search.
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http://209.204.62.79/korea/index.cgi?read=116578
Re: Do not work at WILS hakewon!!!!
Posted By: Jeremy - [email protected]
Date: Thursday, 4 April 2002, at 3:56 p.m.
In Response To: Do not work at WILS hakewon!!!! (veryangry)
I worked there and it was not a lot of fun. The teachers would point at me and laugh when I walked by. The owner also went into my apartement when I was out. For example I once caught him wearing one of my t-shirts to garden. When I asked where he got that shirt he started yelling at me to mind my own business. I left that job fast to get a job in Japan.
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http://209.204.62.79/korea/index.cgi?read=122200
Re: Wils Language School
Posted By: not a sucker
Date: Friday, 3 May 2002, at 3:07 p.m.
In Response To: Wils Language School (JayJay)
I responded to one of their posts a few months ago. I was contacted by someone in Canada named Alexander Kadiev who said that he worked for the school and was just home on vacation. He said that since I did not have a teaching certificate from BC in Canada, that I could not teach at Wils. He said that my husband and I could teach at another one of the owner's schools. I asked him the name of the other schools that his director owns, and he said Wonderland in Uijongbu and another Wonderland somewhere else ( I think it was the Wonderland in Sanggye, but I'm not sure).
He said that if we worked at the Wonderland school for a year, we would be able to transfer to the Wils school if we wanted to renew our contract. He said this was due to some agreement that they supposedly have with a university in British Columbia. Anyway, everything he said sounded like a bunch of crap. Needless to say, there was no ******* way that we were going to take a job at Wonderland, especially since I worked at another Wonderhell for a few months and ended up doing the ol' midnight run. I would not even consider this school. The whole deal seems like a sham to me.
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http://209.204.62.79/korea/index.cgi?read=122275
Re: Wils Language School
Posted By: vengence - [email protected]
Date: Friday, 3 May 2002, at 11:27 p.m.
I have so much words I am not able to write about this person they hired as a english teacher and as a program director. please if u have any thoughts of working at this place***** think twice. it would only make u look bad, oh advice to the parent's do not send your little angels to this place of con and place where they won't learn anything please think about my advice before making any decision.
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http://209.204.62.79/korea/index.cgi?read=123859
Re: WILS Language School
Posted By: some guy
Date: Sunday, 12 May 2002, at 5:26 p.m.
In Response To: WILS Language School (Simon1)
There is no vacation. And I saw the contract ...sounds a bit sketchy. Search for old posts. There is some info.
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http://209.204.62.79/korea/index.cgi?read=123902
Re: WILS Language School
Posted By: Ben - [email protected]
Date: Sunday, 12 May 2002, at 11:50 p.m.
In Response To: WILS Language School (Simon1)
You need to be more specific. Like the location! Each is owned seperately. Most WILL screw you over. Mokdong, Seoul is the worst I hear about and read on this forum.
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http://209.204.62.79/korea/index.cgi?read=128295
fired
Posted By: Cohen Glass - [email protected]
Date: Thursday, 6 June 2002, at 5:54 a.m.
I was fired last week for using the "two fingers" sign in class as a joke about traffic signals. there were two 14 year old boys in the class and an American teacher. The American teacher went down after class and told the academic supervisor what I had done. The director phoned me at home a few days later and told me I was fired. I apologized for the mistake and explained that it was just meant as a joke. i also pointed out that my contract allows me a warning for misconduct and a grace period if fired. He told me he was not interested in the contract. I told him he was a worthless piece of no good shite because I had just gotten an E2 visa for his school, so if fired I was screwed. He disconected my phone at my apartment and is ignoring me.
Anyone know the score?
I will go to immigration tomorrow to ask about my rights.
Do I have any?
If he can get away with this I'll be really pissed because these guys think this is the foreign worker slave trade.
If he has screwed up I would like to really put the heat on his school.
Wils Acadamy-MokDong
Mr Shin-Director

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http://209.204.62.79/korea/index.cgi?read=129298
Re: Wils Language School
Posted By: Be there and dont that - [email protected]
Date: Tuesday, 11 June 2002, at 7:00 p.m.
Ok well I worked for them and had a great deal of problems. The owner is Mr. ( do I really need to call him MR?, anyways) Shin Jong in. THe Address is 4th Fl, Dae-bo Bldg, 408-40 Mok 1 dong, Yangcheoun gu, Seoul. The owner's sister is the money lady, all his family is involved. TO be fair, that happens a lot in hogwans in the ROK. But they are really cozy with Immigaration, its only down the street from there. THe Foreign head teacher is an axxhole that befriends you and then stabs you in the back telling everthing to everyone. The Korean American named Sam is a guy that likes to say that he is looking out for the teachers but only wants his own interest covered. He was working along with a few others at the hogwan next door until it shut down a couple of years ago. They like to say that they moved to Wills because it was better but actually their school closed. They also run WILS Testing Center in the next building. SO beware. The recruit specifically Candadians since they are a sort of BLACK LIST at the American Embassy, unofficially of course. SO if you want that kind of SOB in Korea, fine, get a job there. NO GOOD HOUSING, NO PAID AIRFARE, LOTS OF BUTT KISSING, FAMILY STICKING THEMSELVES IN YOUR FACE. By the way, the "administrative staff go on vacation every year someplace around the world, thanks the the hard work of the teachers and the reap of the benefits.
GOOD LUCK TO ALL

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http://www.koreanesl.com/forumdsp.asp?ser=3397
Name
James
E-Mail Address
na
2002/09/28

Title
Screwed in/by Korea.

Part of a letter to my Embassy in Korea :

Hired by Wils Language School Mokdong. One Year contract signed.

Contract states Section 11-Dismissal:"Employer retains the right to dismiss Employee, after warning, for clear and frequent neglect of duties under this Agreement.

Fired without warning two weeks after commencement. Told to leave the apartment forthwith and not come to work the next day.

Applied to the MOL to lodge a claim against the School for breach of contract.

Spoke to the MOL within 25 days of the breach as required by law.

Told by the MOL that they cannot enforce the contract because I have not worked for the school for longer than three months.

Immediately applied to the Immigration Department for help in regard to my situation .

Was told it was a matter for the MOL and that they could not help. Told I would have to pay a fine for overstaying my visa (since cancelled by my boss) of KRNW 300,000.
The Foreign Workers Counseling office at the Immigration Department has a set of rules on their wall in regard to foreign workers Counseling procedures. They state that a worker may be eligible for a smaller fine under certain circumstances, including :" Finacial Loss due to Employers breach of contract". This description fitted my case exactly, but when I asked about this I was told it did not apply.

I explained I had no funds available (having just been fired) to pay the fine and leave the Country. I was told I should look for a new job, file my documents , pay the fine (perhaps with the new Directors help) then leave for a new visa.

I arrived 25 days latter at Immigration with a new Director who had offered me a job. When we went to pay the fine, Immigration gave the new Director the name of the School I had worked for previously. The new Director phoned the school to ask about my release. The old school (Wils) stated that I was a bad teacher and had a bad reputation. The new Director, cancelled my application on the spot and walked out the door.

I applied to immigration again to leave the Country and was informed my fine had risen to 700,000 won and would have to be paid or I faced being detained and deported, thus facing a three year ban on returning.

I managed to organise a flight home and booked it. I went into Immigration and told them I had a flight booked for the next day. They told me to cancel the flight as they could not process the deportation in time due to a holiday period.

I have since discovered that there are no flights available for the remainder of the month on my airline and so I will have to wait until November.

That's over a five month period in total. I have been forced against my will to work illegally in this Country and have not been allowed to leave.

I believe it is nothing less than state sponsored extortion for the Immigration Dept to offer an E2 visa , then
allow this sort of situation to develop and then command a fine to allow the victim to leave the Country.
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