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jstubley80
Joined: 11 Oct 2008
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 Posted: Mon Dec 15, 2008 12:20 pm Post subject: Woosong Language Institute Experiences? Interview Advice? |
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So yeah, I've used the search function but the information on there is mostly four years old.
I've got an impending telephone interview with said educational establishment, and I was wondering if anyone could give me the heads-up on what to expect.
Also, should anyone have RECENT experience of working there, I'd be very interested indeed in hearing what you think of the gig.
Cheers! |
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Poemer
Joined: 20 Sep 2005
Location: Mullae
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| Posted: Mon Dec 15, 2008 4:03 pm Post subject: |
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Check the faq's for information to ask for when choosing a job. Make sure you have a list of questions handy so you don't forget anything. Above all, ask whether or not you can have contact information for former and current employees!
Job interviews for ESL jobs in Korea are usually a formality and often begin and end with one question: When can you start? Don't just take the first job that is offered, most people can afford to be choosy. |
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jstubley80
Joined: 11 Oct 2008
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| Posted: Mon Dec 15, 2008 11:20 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks for the advice, mate.
I'll check out the FAQ and keep my fingers crossed!
Cheers! |
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branchsnapper
Joined: 21 Feb 2008
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| Posted: Mon Dec 15, 2008 11:27 pm Post subject: |
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| I don't know, that uni job doesn't seem too bad from the ad. I expect they will get a fair few applicants so I wouldn't sound too suspicious if I were you. |
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ManintheMiddle
Joined: 20 Oct 2008
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| Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2008 2:37 am Post subject: |
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The OP inquired:
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I've got an impending telephone interview with said educational establishment, and I was wondering if anyone could give me the heads-up on what to expect.
Also, should anyone have RECENT experience of working there, I'd be very interested indeed in hearing what you think of the gig. |
A very close friend and former colleague of mine just left there after two years. I wish I could say it's a great gig but it all depends on what your expectations are, monetarily and otherwise.
Is the job with the ELC teaching undergraduate English majors or with the Woosong Institute, teaching a range of primary and secondary level students, or with the technical college?
I need to know this first to give you a better informed response.
I will tell you from the get-go that the turnover rate is one of the highest in Korea, averaging 40% to 60% of staff annually, some leaving in mid-contract. Housing is a major headache and unless you're married to a Korean or have kids, you're likely to get stuck with the worst of it for at least a year. Daejeon is a sleepy city with pretensions of being international. In fact, it is about two generations removed from the countryside but does boast two downtowns, a Costco wholesale store, and much of the national government. It co-hosted the 2002 World Cup, which doesn't mean squat now. If you don't speak Korean or make Korean friends there, good luck trying to communicate with most of the locals. One of the best Korean universities is located there: KAIST which, by some indicators, surpasses SKY.
Woosong hires about 20 to 30 new teachers every term. The attrition rate has increased in part because of poor administration. The college is a glorified vocational school which is pouring nearly all of its resources into SolBridge, an overblown international school with grossly overpaid faculty and admins. Woosong is tucked in a valley on the wrong side of the river (not railroad tracks) in what is really the city ghetto, but it's not too bad. A major HomePlus store is nearby, as is an infamous bar street near the inter-city bus terminal. Love motels abound, but are kept at bay. Hospital care is substandard with only one decent facility at Chungbuk. Bus and taxi drivers are in the main incredibly rude and/or indifferent, driving like banshees on the main drags, where motorcyclists also race by. Lots of mom-pop pseudo pizza joints, greasy noodle restaurants, overpriced chicken and kalbi shacks, and gawdawful street food stalls. Not much of a night life but if you like quiet and cleaner air with far less traffic, it beats out Seoul and its environs by a long shot. It's also a transport hub with the KTR passing through on the way to Seoul and Busan. |
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branchsnapper
Joined: 21 Feb 2008
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| Posted: Wed Dec 17, 2008 3:49 pm Post subject: |
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I don't know that much about the place but I've taken a lot of taxis there. Of course the drivers are fine, or at least no worse than elsewhere.
Except the ones that turn into banshees like in a scene from "Dusk 'til Dawn" of course. |
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Young FRANKenstein
Joined: 02 Oct 2006
Location: Castle Frankenstein (that's FRONKensteen)
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| Posted: Wed Dec 17, 2008 8:13 pm Post subject: |
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| ManintheMiddle wrote: |
| I will tell you from the get-go that the turnover rate is one of the highest in Korea, averaging 40% to 60% of staff annually |
False. Of 55-60 instructors, less than 30% don't renew annually, max.
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| Housing is a major headache and unless you're married to a Korean or have kids, you're likely to get stuck with the worst of it for at least a year. |
Depends where they stick you. Dorms and two of the apartment buildings are small. The other three apartment buildings plus a few off-campus sites are quite nice.
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| Woosong hires about 20 to 30 new teachers every term. |
False. At most, 10 per term. If that. If anything, Woosong is OVERstaffed. Instructors are working low hours across the board.
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| The attrition rate has increased in part because of poor administration. |
Which adminstration? There are several layers of them... The institute? The university? The colleges? The various faculties? The English Learning Center? Solbridge? All are independently run from several offices around campus/Daejeon, depending where you are placed. Even the various office staff work independently from one another.
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| Hospital care is substandard with only one decent facility at Chungbuk. |
Eul-ji University Hospital has great facilities and excellent English-speaking staff.
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| Bus and taxi drivers are in the main incredibly rude and/or indifferent |
You're talking about Seoul. In Daejeon, my experience has been the complete opposite.
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| driving like banshees on the main drags, where motorcyclists also race by. Lots of mom-pop pseudo pizza joints, greasy noodle restaurants, overpriced chicken and kalbi shacks, and gawdawful street food stalls. |
Congratulations on describing every city in Korea. |
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maingman
Joined: 26 Jan 2008
Location: left Korea
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| Posted: Wed Dec 17, 2008 8:20 pm Post subject: ,, |
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branchsnapper wrote :
I don't know that much about the place but I've taken a lot of taxis there. Of course the drivers are fine, or at least no worse than elsewhere.
Except the ones that turn into banshees like in a scene from "Dusk 'til Dawn" of course.
idiotic comment mate |
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branchsnapper
Joined: 21 Feb 2008
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| Posted: Wed Dec 17, 2008 9:27 pm Post subject: |
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Explain why. My point is that the taxi drivers are fine, and somebody who hasn't sense enough to know that perhaps isn't going to be giving great advice.
Young Frankenstein seems to agree, and he talks more sense than most around here.
Koreans may not bother to actually know about anything but their own little patch of earth when they "compare" that to elsewhere, but can't we do a bit better than that? |
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saw6436
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Daejeon, ROK
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| Posted: Wed Dec 17, 2008 9:59 pm Post subject: |
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I don't work at Woo Song but ALL of my foreign friends do. Most of the foreign managerial staff are friends of mine. I am also mates with quite a few of the teachers.
From listening to conversation from both sides it seems Woo Song is pretty solid. Its not perfect by any means but I know of several treachers that have been there for 5+ years. Some of the housing is pretty spotty but other housing is quite nice. I cerainly wouldn't write off Woo Song based on some negative posts on Dave's.
As to Daejeon. It is not a cosmopolitan city by any means. It is fairly clean and open compared to Seoul or Busan. transportation is relatively easy. There is enough ex-pat life to make it enjoyable but not over the top. You may not find a party everynight but there is enough to do. Medical facilities are good. Just down the road from Woo Song is Daejeon Hangook Hospital. I would recommend it to anyone.
Are there better Unis in Korea? Absolutely. Is Woo Song a bad gig? Probably not. I'd work there but wouldn't like the pay cut. |
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maingman
Joined: 26 Jan 2008
Location: left Korea
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| Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2008 12:52 am Post subject: ,, |
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branchsnapper wrote :
Explain why. My point is that the taxi
dont like korean taxi drivers mate |
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Trevor
Joined: 16 Nov 2005
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| Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2008 3:40 am Post subject: |
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Woosong is ever-so-slightly better than average. They wrote the book on could-be-better-could-be-worse.
If you think you are a little bit special, keep looking. But you will be okay there. Frankly, they hire too many instructors to be truly bad. If they started really screwing people it would be on Dave's within minutes and they would have a much harder time hiring.
Strength in numbers. |
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jstubley80
Joined: 11 Oct 2008
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| Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2008 9:15 am Post subject: |
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Awesome feedback ladies and gents, I really appreciate it.
Woosong gets an almost unanimous "meh", then? The guy who interviewed me seemed like a decent sort of chap, and the job does sound quite appealing.
Way I see it at the moment is that Woosong looks like a good way to get my foot through the university door with no experience in the teaching game. Decent hours, lots of support, housing, the whole shebang. Still waiting on a couple of other schools offering a similar kind of deal, but I have to say that I'm leaning toward accepting this gig.
Looks like I'll be on my way to Korea in February! |
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Trevor
Joined: 16 Nov 2005
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| Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2008 12:13 pm Post subject: |
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Don't be afraid to ask for contacts of people that are currently there. That's more than fair.
If you are coming from abroad, also consider the city you are living in. Daejeon is not known for nighlife (to say the least) though some like it. If a vibrant social life and lots of activities are important to you, you may want to look elsewhere.
Also, don't overlook the public schools. A good public school job trumps a mediocre uni.
| jstubley80 wrote: |
Awesome feedback ladies and gents, I really appreciate it.
Woosong gets an almost unanimous "meh", then? The guy who interviewed me seemed like a decent sort of chap, and the job does sound quite appealing.
Way I see it at the moment is that Woosong looks like a good way to get my foot through the university door with no experience in the teaching game. Decent hours, lots of support, housing, the whole shebang. Still waiting on a couple of other schools offering a similar kind of deal, but I have to say that I'm leaning toward accepting this gig.
Looks like I'll be on my way to Korea in February! |
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ManintheMiddle
Joined: 20 Oct 2008
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| Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2008 4:46 am Post subject: |
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As a curt response to Young Frankenstein and other apologists for Woosong, let me just say this:
It is well known among the old hands that used to work there (5 years or more) that WLI admin has people who regularly defend its programs online on these boards as part of overall damage control.
The fact remains that there is a high turnover rate which varies from semester to semester. Four of the finest staff left two years ago simply because they could no longer stomach the indifference and arrogance of the admins there. I knew them and know what they were about.
Moreover, as is admitted here there are layers of bureaucracy at Woosong which means that it is only that much more difficult to keep open channels of communication when there's a problem. The office that deals with foreign teachers usually does next to nothing to help them; it always looks out for its own interests foremost, which has caused them to lose good staff. The housing situation is a mess and very discriminatory; those who curry favor or are married to Koreans always win out regardless of their experience or time in town.
Even the technical college cooking school has between 50% and 75% staff turnover in mid-contract.
And locals will tell you only one hospital is worth going to, and it's far from campus. The nearby clinics are crap. |
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