Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Dev]

What's the best teaching job you've ever had in Korea hands down? And why?

Was it corporate, university or other?

As for myself, I worked in public high & middle schools. Work hours, support from my school and accomodation were good, but the salary was a bit on the low side in my first year. Yearly raises fixed that problem.

If people out there want to apply to the public schools, I would recommend them. Many of the ESL schools (Hagwons) are unreliable with paying your salary on-time. Not the case with public schools.

[M-su]

Prepping young ladies who wanted to be flight attendants for their English job interviews. Best gig ever! 4 of my former students are now flying the skies.

I was surrounded by all these young beautiful Korean gals, it was amazing, but really tiring. So, now I just do it part-time.

[M-su]

Prepping young ladies who wanted to be flight attendants for their English job interviews. Best gig ever! 4 of my former students are now flying the skies.

I was surrounded by all these young beautiful Korean gals, it was amazing, but really tiring. So, now I just do it part-time.

[M-su]

Prepping young ladies who wanted to be flight attendants for their English job interviews. Best gig ever! 4 of my former students are now flying the skies.

I was surrounded by all these young beautiful Korean gals, it was amazing, but really tiring. So, now I just do it part-time.

[tfunk]

[polonius]

Seeing as I have only worked in 1 place, I say it is the best place I have worked in Korea.

I have been here over 6 years, was moved into management after my first year, and I am not micromanaged, nor do I micromanage my staff.

Along with myself, there have been 6 others that have been promoted to management. So, the possibility of upward mobility is what I like. There are a lot of things that and like, and very few that I don't about where I work.

Along with that, I get to see growth in my students. I have taught some students throughout my interim, and they have truly impressed me. I met my wife at the same school, she is a Canadian as well, and we gave birth to our son here in Seoul. So, I am very thankful for the opportunities that have been allowed to me.

Not once has payday come late. The odd mistake in pay, either in their favour or mine, but that is human error and can happen anywhere. They were always rectified promptly. So, not all hagwons fall under the bad reputation that is often spouted here.

[Ginormousaurus]

[PRagic]

Polonious keeps touting his hakwon. 6 years there? Now in management? Glad there is at least some upward mobility.

But we have to know...

What are your hours?

What paid vacation do you get?

Do you have to teach AND manage?

What is the monthly pay?

In 6 years, it is possible to tripple one's income. Your value increases, your market knowledge increases, and your number of connections increases. So unless they are paying you at least 5-6 million a month, then they're getting one over on you in my book. Have to be frank. So if you and the better half are pulling in 10 a month from this place, stay and prosper, my friend. If not, start hunting. Problem is, there's not much out there without the visa.

[polonius]

[steroidmaximus]

I run my own business. Somewhat stressful, but I usually love it. I rarely have to go and drum up business, more than I can handle often comes my way; I farm out the rest to other teachers, and take a cut off each hour they work. Since I do different kinds of work (copy editing, immigration consultation, camp director, placement agency, etc), I don't get caught up in too much banality and repetition like having to teach Let's Go 6 for the 332nd time.

When I want time off, I take it, but I do work a lot: I believe in having a strong work ethic. I often work 7 days a week, which can drag at times, so occasionally I'll take a night or a couple of days if I notice quality begins to slip too much. I feel that I'm being acceptably compensated for most of the work I do, but am always thinking of ways to make more and can adapt to a situation quickly if its worth my while. If it isn't, I can easily choose to end that business relationship. This is an awesome aspect of my job, and why I've pretty much decided that I'll never work for a single organization in Korea again. Unless of course it was a supremely awesome offer

[PRagic]

Great response, Polonious, and best of luck to you and yours on the move.

I know you mean well in trying to present a good hakwon case in the face of a shite storm or complaints. However, your basic newbie is going to have an easier go of it finding a public school job. Sure, there may be a couple of decent hakwons out there, but why try to weed through the vast bulk of crappy ones in order to find it, and then STILL take a chance on getting screwed? Once this was the only option, but it sure isn't now, and job seekers should know the real deal.

And for a person looking to have an 'overseas experience', the public school job (or university job for those with higher degrees) provides more peace of mind and, more importantly, more vacation time.

[i4NI]

[Draz]

[M-su]

We are NOT supposed to hit on the "innocent" flight attendants.
We are SUPPOSED to portray ourself in a "tasty" manner, create a good learning environment and behave in accordance with ____(name of school's) philosophy and vision.

Now, that being said, yes of course I and the other guy I assume have been asked out by a handful or in my case, a heap of these young ladies. not bad, not bad at all!!!

I've developed my own stewardess "curriculum" so I run around "doing" privates now. Hated the school I was working for, much better off on my own. I ROCK KICK ASS!

[i4NI]

M Su, from the stories I've read from you, I don't think you're a real person. I think you're someone else's character on here to entertain us. I could be wrong, but it just seems that way.