Korean Job Discussion Forums

[2CuteNCanadian]

Hi! Just wondering if ANYONE can give me some decent advice on good schools in metro Seoul. My friend and I are trying to find els positions. However, there are so many horror stories about schools such as Wonderland, SLP, LCI Kids Club, Kids College Kids Herald, Ewha. As it would turn out, its only those schools with which recruiters seem to offer us contratcs. Of course they tell us to consider the branch individually...but we'd rather go with a reputable. Can anyone please tell us some good names of schools and their individual branches.....
Thanks

[Derrek]

Unless you come here and see for yourself, any information you receive is suspect. Every job I've accepted here was after seeing the school. I even paid my own dime to come here and look on my first contract, then returned a few months later to start the job (on their dime).

I'm extremely picky, and even then, I got lied to/screwed at two different school in a one-month period this summer. The first one hired me, trained me, and went out of business before I even started. The second one told me to start working without my visa, or get out of their apartment. I figured working one week until I got my visa didn't matter. My second day, I got busted by an immigration raid. It's one of those things that just doesn't happen, but it did.

The second school lied to me about MANY things. From how long they had been in business, to how the school was doing (they were on the edge of going out of business anyway). I was able to choose my own apartment, and they agreed to furnish it, but after I moved in, the furnishings they had had been sitting out in the rain on the roof of their building for 6 months.

This is the wonderful hagwon I had chosen after interviewing with a total of maybe 11. The majority of the others flat-out lied to me -- what they had in the ad was different than what the contract stated. Or the "Wonderful apartment" they advertised was really a roach-infested craphole.

Bottom line, unless you enjoy Russian Roulette with a gun that has maybe 4 of the 6 chambers loaded, you'd better come here and see the schools for yourself.

You're not going to get any believable recommendations either, because teachers here find something good, and they don't leave -- or they recommend it to a friend in-country.

That's my advice.

[kylehawkins2000]

Coming here and seeing the schools is a great idea if you know enough about Korea and the culture and language, and have enough money to pay for a flight, housing, food, etc. while you try to find a job.

For those of us living in the real world though it's probably not the best option. I don't reccommend schools because it's almost impossible to do so. There are thousands of English schools in Seoul and I've only worked at one of them. I have some second hand knowledge of schools that friends work at but really I doubt anyone has a magic list of "Good Schools".

I'd suggest looking at individual schools just as the recruiter reccommended. Talk to people that work there and trust your instincts. Remember that a happy work environment is priceless.....it's about more than just money.

[Derrek]

I disagree.

If you live in "the real world", don't you think it would be wise to come here and take a look before you invest a year of your life here? Why not stay homestay with an english-speaking family? I did, and it was great. Cost me $30 a day -- meals included.

I've always been of the opinion that if you can't afford to come here, then don't. The US Embassy website says it all.....

"Unfortunately some American citizens come to Korea under contract, with promises of generous salaries, bonuses and other amenities, only to find themselves in tenuous situations, often lacking funds to return to the U.S."

Do what you want, but I ALWAYS recommend coming here to snoop around first. And if you can't afford to come here, and you accept a contract over E-mail and telephone alone, then you deserve just about whatever you get.

Don't use being poor as an excuse for doing something stupid. Korea isn't like back home.

[crazylemongirl]

Korea's like a box of chocolates - you never know what your going to get.

Just to add further even if you check things out, with ecnomic things changing good schools are going bad, bad schools are getting worse or out of business.

In short there is nothing you can do to protect yourself fully, but checking stuff out (but always take everything with a pinch of salt) will help.

CLG

[kylehawkins2000]

I'm sorry but I just never have an extra 2 grand laying around that I want to invest in a job search.

Did you do this on your very first time in Korea? I could anticipate some real difficulties in doing so. If so, what kind of experience did you have? How did you find hogwans? It was a couple of months before I could even recognize hogwans personally.

[Lost Seoul]

As a starting point you could do some researching in my online archives.

http://www.hagwonreport.com/

[Derrek]