Korean Job Discussion Forums

[cornholio1]

For all of the newbies here in Korea, stop taking cheap jobs. The going rate for teachers was 2 mill until two years ago. the new going rate for beginners even is 2.2-2.4 depending on the hours. If your working from 9-9, 12 hrs and only making 2.2 million you are wrong. Please realize that the hagwon owner is possibly exploiting you and tell him or her. Well, you don't have to say anything if you don't want to but in the future don't accept those kinds of jobs. remember the average for first timers is now about 2.2-2.4, more likely the former, and thats usually for an afternoon only job. Remember you are a product to be bought and sold(not literally just your services) the boss will surely making more than four times your paycheck from your services, probably more.
Also, your boss will probably talk about the price of renting your apartment and the airfare of bringing you over here. The airfare is a given unless you are already here. The rent is a whold different animal. If there are dishes, slightly used from the previous teacher and other foreign products, the apartment has probably been leased with 전새(jun sae) which is when the boss puts about 50 million won down and keeps the apartment for as long as there are no problems with it. At the end of his contract with the apartment owner he gets all his money back less the cost of renovation(wall paper steam cleaning) don't let them fool you.
You are doing a valuable job whether you think so or not and should be paid accordingly. the average student pays from 150,000 to 250,000 won a month to study, multiply that by the number of students in your class alone and that's how much your making for the boss. Just think before you take a job. And make it easier for everyone else. You may think this article is rude or opinionated but I would just like to see everyone making more money this year especially with the economy doing so poorly this year.


Sorry for ranting.........It happens to the best of us sometimes.

[ChopChaeJoe]

The rant I don't mind; the avatar has me wanting to turn off my computer.

[PRagic]

LOL Had to make sure the date was recent! I've been saying the same thing since the early 90s!

[CheeseSandwich]

i work 4 hours a day for 2.2

I think that sounds solid for me but thanks for judging

[fortysixyou]

[princess]

Well, don't take a hagwon job then. Most of them are cheap. They really are stuck on 2.2 2.2 is the magic number. Mine even pays existing teachers the same as newbies...another reason I am done soon with these kinds of places. You just aren't valued and respected in most hagwons, and the ones that start out being decent end up going downhill when you re-sign for another year.

[yingwenlaoshi]

It's not as simple as that. A lot of hagwon jobs start at 2.3, but they don't go up much higher than that if you have experience. If they're a small outfit, they don't want to pay more and if they're bigger, they seem to not want to budge much.

I was offered 2.5 for an eight-hour straight schedule of six classes where they were counting a teaching hour as 60 minutes. The apartment was something like 20 pyong and apparently really nice. I countered with 2.6 (which I believed to be too low) at the interview and they didn't even have the decency to call me back. I made a lot more in the country, but boss's there are between a rock and a hard place when replacing teachers. I find that Seoul tends to offer less than in the country. And a lot of places are stubborn when negociating. If they have someone that will take 2.2 and you're asking for 2.4, guess what they'll do? Doesn't matter who's the better teacher. A lot of times though, you can tell when their backs are against the wall.

The OP has a case, though. 2.4 is warranted for newbies in certain cases, but the tuition X number of students is not usually all the money you bring in. Other teachers most likely teach these students and you have to factor that in. In such cases, if it's a small school, I'd say your salary should be on the high end if you've got a good number of students in your class. With big companies, however, it's a whole different ball of wax.

If you're a newbie with a 2 to 8 or 2 to 9 schedule, I think 2.3 is the max. Depends how much you're worth. In some hagwons your classes aren't valued as much. Like in ipshiwons (math/English hagwons). A lot of those classes will only see you once or twice a week and they may have 3 other teachers. Class sizes may be big, but...

Employers here can be quirky. If they're not offering pension or something and they feign ingnorance, they might not necessarily be a bad company to work for. That's money you can always get back later. Don't be too demanding, because if you have a good relationship it can go a long way.

For a newbie with no experience and no other credentials to be demanding 2.5 fresh off the boat? Meh. I don't see it. Happens, but are they good to work for? Is it a split shift with kindy?

[yingwenlaoshi]

[Ukon]

You can get 2.3 or higher if you skip the recruiter and play hard ball with the person hiring...

I'm happy with my 2.7 ps job.

[cornholio1]

I think there was a lot of misunderstanding. First of all sorry for the avatar. Second the point of writing this is because if people keep taking these cheap jobs there will only be cheap jobs. I suggest that if you can hold out for better, do it. Even if it means not going to the local watering hole for a couple of weeks just remember your taking one for the team. If everyone does that they will be forced to pay the majority of us more unless you of course have some problem, ie: too old, bad references.

[coffeeandmilk]

Where are you seeing 2.2-2.4 to start? I work in Jeollanamdo, for public schools. I am topped out at 2.4 million! The starting pay for public school teachers is 1.9 for level 1, 2.2 for level 2 and 2.4 for level 3. This is government approved scale across the board at all Jeollanamdo schools. I work from 9-5-ish, but only teach about 4 hours a day.

[Straphanger]

[coffeeandmilk]

[Cohiba]

[Straphanger]