Korean Job Discussion Forums

[A46220]

My girlfriend and I are looking at getting public school jobs in Seoul next March, but I've read that couple housing will only be guaranteed if you are married. Does anyone know what the chances recieving couple housing would be? If it won't happen, would we be placed us close enough together to find our own housing?

Lastly, do applicants find out their location before they sign a contract of after?

Thanks for any help or suggestions.

[Xuanzang]

I know some sisters who were placed in the same officetel, doors down from each other. Make you emphasize that when you talk to your recruiter or whoever.

[Bibbitybop]

OP, you are correct. SMOE won't place to together unless you are married. They also won't guarantee district placement. I heard about SMOE promising a new teacher to be in the same district as his friend who was an existing SMOE teacher. The new teacher was placed on the opposite end of the city, an hour away by subway.

SMOE head office is understaffed and many people working there are incompetent. They don't have the time or respect for foreign teachers to help you out. They'd rather assign you a school and be done with you.



The only alternative would be to refuse housing because once housing is established by the school, you can't change it during that contract. You would each get 500,000 a month for rent which could net you a very nice apartment, but you have to deal with finding a place, dealing with budongsans (real estate brokers), key money (10,000,000 KRW is common, but many get it down to 2,000,000 or less with an increase in monthly rent) and still have the real possibility one or both of you may be commuting and and hour away to work each day.

If you go this route, you best bet may be to find a place in Haebongchon or Itaewon, where key money and rent is cheap. You could do this easily after you get here and could live in a motel or hotel for a week or so until you nail a place.

[prideofidaho]

Is it their policy not to place un-married couples together? I know of at least one un-married couple that were placed in a flat together. Seems like the two schools they worked at had a previous arrangement with a married couple, and didn't seem to mind that the new couple weren't married.

Couldn't you say you were married. It's not like they're going to demand proof.

[thatwhitegirl]

Before we were married, we worked in China, and told our employers we were married.
They gave us a better apartment because of it.
They seemed to value the 'marriage' thing.

Anyway, when we moved to Korea we were taking over at a public school for another (unmarried) couple. They had a very small apartment.
When the school learned we were newlyweds (had gotten married a month before we came), they gave us the previous principal's apartment. They really treated us differently.

SO......I'd just tell them you were married. Then they wouldn't even think of NOT putting you together.

[Seoul'n'Corea]

[jellobean]

[Bibbitybop]

[A46220]

We haven't gone too much farther than contacting recruiters. I think that we'd prefer not to lie about being married as well.

I think that's we'd be ok finding a place on our own and putting down key money and such, but we'd both like to be pretty close to our schools. Does anyone know if you find the location before you sign the contract, or after?

If it is before, than I suppose that we could just wait and see where they want to place it and accept or turn it down depending on school placement. If it is after, however, I'm not sure that we'd want to continue if there is a decent chance that our schools aren't close.

[prideofidaho]

It's after. You'll find out during the orientation, after arriving in Korea. Some people may have found out earlier due to special circumstances, but most find out upon arrival (or a few days later).

[HappyPineapple]

Hello,

Just to paint a slightly more hopeful picture- I applied to SMOE with my boyfriend and made sure to mention him and our "joint" application throughout my communications with anyone from SMOE. We weren't guarenteed anything, but upon arrival we found that they had worked pretty hard to set us up working for schools in the same neighborhood (in our case, the same building... We certainly didn't ask for that...). We never said we were married, but SMOE had told the school we were for obvious reasons. We were honest with them, too, but they continue to call him either my husband or my "friend".

Anyways. At our orientation for SMOE there were about 400 teachers and probably 9 couples? Something like that? I only heard of one couple who didn't get housing together. And since then they have worked out an arrangement with their schools, which were close by.

My advice is to be clear about the importance of living together and they won't screw around with you. They spend a lot of money setting all this up and they don't want you to have a reason right off the bat for turning around and quitting.

[A46220]

HappyPineapple -- That certainly is encouraging news for us. Was there a specific recruiter that you went through?

Also, does anyone have any experience changing their housing situation after you've begun working for a school? Can they be very accomidating with these type of changes/requests?

Thanks again for everyones messages.

[prideofidaho]

I think the mantra for SMOE is "It depends on your school."

I switched housing within a month and it wasn't a big deal. I just told them I was moving in a few weeks and sorted it myself. People seem to run into problems when they need their school to facilitate a move (broker an apartment, pay the down payment, etc). for the most part, your school will have secured housing for you...some sign multi-year leases, so moving could be pretty complicated. I say 'could be' because everyone I know who moved during the contract were able to eventually move...nobody was denied, but some did have to pay a fee to get out of their school's old lease. That's luck though...I'm sure there are people who were denied new housing and told to wait until the end of the contract.

The first contract I signed is different than the contract they now offer, and I read it as not allowing a move mid-contract...but others might say differently. Think long and hard about what your contract states, and be mindful that it is very vague, before signing anything.

[Bibbitybop]

As of August 2008, the SMOE contracts do NOT allow teachers to change housing once housing is decided by the employer. The Co-op Residence at Dongdaemun Stadium might be an exception to the rule, but if you follow the contract, you are stuck. Housing is decided before you ever find out what school you are working at.