Korean Job Discussion Forums

[KSH]

Hello everyone! This is my first post here, but I have been lurking as I explore working in Korea.

I have read MANY posts on here that make it sound like working in Korea is dicey at best. I mean on paper it looks great, but then the reality is that contracts are not upheld, housing is horrible, and you work more hours than the contract states.

From what I have gathered, hagwon's should NOT be trusted and I should not consider working for one of these.

I have read some things on EPIK and GEPIK, but haven't really gotten a clear picture of how reputable these agencies are to work for.

If you have worked for or are working for EPIK/GEPIK... please share the good, the bad and the ugly.

Thanks so much!

[ED209]

Good: Less trouble over pay, not profit motivated,
Bad: Seat warming in an empty office during school vacation, no one to 'really' talk too, tons of kids in one class-room,
Ugly: Your co-teacher, watching kids being beaten with sticks

[KSH]

Hey! Thanks for the response!

All of that sounds OK. Seat warming would suck though, I would hopefully get to read a book on those days.

Kids getting hit? Well, I'm not going to judge that one. If that's how their culture does it... then so be it. As long as the kid isn't seriously harmed, a little stick slap isn't the end of the world. I remember when kids use to get spanked in public schools with a wooden paddle. Oddly they were better behaved back then. Hhhuuummm.

So, here is the run down of the pay and benefits they listed. I wonder how accurate it is?

Here is the lowdown on what is on offer for the next school year's contract:


ADD ON PAY & PERKS
- 1,300,000KRW Signing Up Bonus (Entry Allowance)
- 1,300,000KRW Contract Completion Bonus (Exit Allowance)
- 300,000KRW Settlement Allowance
- 2,000,000KRW Re-signing Bonus (Pursuant to Contractual Agreement)
- 1.9 M � 2.6M Severance Pay (Contingent to EPIK GET Level)
- 100,000KRW Mo. Provincial Allowance
- 100,000KRW Mo. County Allowance
- 100,000 -150,000KRW Mo. Multiple School Allowance
- 20,000KRW Overtime Pay
- Ample Lucrative Overtime Opportunities (Varies from school to school)
- Comprehensive Health Insurance
- Korean National Pension Plan (Lump-sum refund of the accumulated pension contributions contingent to home country�s pension rules)


FREEBIES:
- Free Teacher's books, manuals, and classroom resources
- Subsidized Lunch at School (from Full to Partial Subsidy varies from one district to another)
- All Expense Cultural Program & Tour Organized by the Ministry and the school district
- All Expense Paid Teaching Training
- All Expense Paid Dinner Engagement (seasonal) with teachers and staff
- All Expense Paid 8 Day Orientation Period (Includes Tours of Seoul�s Hottest Tourist Spots & Teachers� Training Sessions)
- Pamphlet and Brochure on Korea
- Internet DSL Access
- Visa Acquisition Sponsorship
- Support with contract negotiation, translation, etc
- Free Airport meet-up and Pick-up from the airport all the way to the orientation venue

[cruisemonkey]

I'd sign the contract just for the phamplet and brochure on Korea!

P.S. My co-teacher isn't ugly; and watching kids getting hit with sticks is entertaining (especially when they deserve it).

[ChinaBoy]

[chris_J2]

I've worked for both Epik / Gepik, & overall, both were good.

I'd strongly advise you to ask to speak to the former native speaker, if at all possible. Just like Hagwons (private schools or academies), there are both good & bad public schools (& universities too, for that matter.) If your independent research finds nothing wrong with the school, then sign the contract.

[OculisOrbis]

the 1.3 million entry and exit allowances are the replacement to airfare, which is no longer provided. so if you arrive here to start a contract you get 1.3 and 300 000 settlement, if you complete the contract and go home - another 1.3. If you re-sign for a second term, when you return, you get 2.0 mil, but you do not receive the exit allowance of 1.3 mil, in addition to the 2.0

the provincial and county allowances are contingent on where you are placed,,,no guarantees you'll receive them

ample lucrative opportunities?? good luck...a few OT classes and they might kick in some extra for you to do one to three week camp during school vacation,,, but they dont have to give any extra for camps as long as theyre within your working hours.

seat warming is at the discretion of your principal, i don't have to do it, but i know others that do. close your eyes and hope you get lucky on that one.

your list of freebies is not as good as it sounds,

- Free Teacher's books, manuals, and classroom resources
***** HAHAHAHAHAHA, good luck with that, if youre lucky you get a computer and projector/tv in your classrooms

- Subsidized Lunch at School (from Full to Partial Subsidy varies from one district to another)
***** may or may not have to pay for it.....around 3000 per lunch, give or take

- All Expense Cultural Program & Tour Organized by the Ministry and the school district
- All Expense Paid Teaching Training
- All Expense Paid Dinner Engagement (seasonal) with teachers and staff
- All Expense Paid 8 Day Orientation Period (Includes Tours of Seoul�s Hottest Tourist Spots & Teachers� Training Sessions)

****** i would prefer to PAY THEM to get out of most of those things

- Pamphlet and Brochure on Korea
****** pretty sure you could get that at any train, bus station, or information booth

- Internet DSL Access
*******sure, free at school, but you'll likely be paying for it at the apartment/shoebox

- Visa Acquisition Sponsorship
********means they sponser you in the supervisory sense, but you make the payments in the monetary fees sense

- Support with contract negotiation, translation, etc
*******standard contracts, little to no negotiation, english and korean provided on the paper

- Free Airport meet-up and Pick-up from the airport all the way to the orientation venue

***prob true, but i was already here when i switched from hagwon to EPIK


Overall, I would give my opinion that anything public is better than almost any hagwon. Others will spout how good they have it at their hagwon, but those stories are in the definite minority of most people's actual experiences...

[Chet Wautlands]

It sounds standard and fine. You'll have a great time! Good luck!

[sojourner1]

I'm EPIK and can say I did 20X better in finding a job than my typical 1st year hagwon job. It's a good job, but I can't say Korea is my 1st preference in spending significant amounts of my limited lifetime. Of course, we rationalize that by acknowledging that if we were in a place we really like and enjoy, we probably wouldn't have any money to enjoy it as those places don't usually offer good jobs. The places I love and want to go don't offer a real J-O-B.

Yes, the entry and exit allowance of 1.3m at the front and back end of a contract as well as 2m for resigning are a change in response to many teachers, including myself, requesting the POE pay cash instead of purchasing exit or resigning airfares as I want do a RTW trip instead of going straight home. This allows the teacher to be more independent and responsible for their getting to and from Korea and for their vacations between contracts. Of course it would suck if airfares to and from Korea exceed the entry/exit allowances, but it's better to get money rather than an air ticket straight home you don't want since you want to either go hang out in Thailand for 3 months or do a RTW trip or simply go to another country to teach.

[oldfatfarang]

My experience: Hagwon (terrible - over worked, ripped off and exploited); SMOE (culturally insensitive/exploitative employer, school with narrow interpretation of contract, vacation desk warming- treated like an assistant, and only being used for Korean teachers' promotion prospects). And witnessing and hearing child-abuse and beating on a daily basis.

Now with EPIK (private school - lovely/happy kids, great Principal/VP/co-workers/co-teachers, lenient on contract conditions - minimal hitting, and loving every moment of it - finally).

Guess I had to get lucky sometime (it took nearly 4 years). I hope you get lucky first time around.

[KSH]

Thanks for all of the responses!

So, EPIK is in the public or private school sector? Or both?

[poet13]

It's in both public and private. I worked for two years in a private public school. Yeah, go figure. That's a school that's privately owned, and legally labelled a hakwon, but it's a public schol in every other sense of the words.

It's NOT a hakwon in the sense that it's an after school limited subject cram school that the students pay extra for every month.

[sweetiesmith]

anyone working with either epik or gepik, was it hard being the only foreigner with an all Korean staff? were they welcoming and will to help you when you needed?

[dmbfan]

O.P.

It all depends on why you want to teach in Korea......

1. If want a TRUE cultural experience..........
2. If you don't have a back bone and are willing to sell out any foreign teahers working with you to make yourself look better......for nothing......
3. If you want to save money (but withe exchange rate it is not as easy as it wasy a year ago)......
4. If you want o hear all of your coworkers talk about Korea "this and that" but not really here any questions about your home town or your culture......
5. If you want to deal with a useless, outdated, IGNORANT confucsion culture......
6. If you are a EXTREMELY FLEXIBLE in dealing with other cultures (well.......meaning.........prepared to deal with Koreans)......
7. If you care willing to have your school attempt to take advantage of you time and time again.......
8. If you are willing to find that one seat out of 7 that will not perish in the crash................







.............then head out to Korea.


dmbfan



P.S. That is the ultimate negative aspect of Korea. The postive aspect depends on whether or not you end up at a good school

[agentX]

EPIK does have meetups and little pow-wow (orientations) from time to time as well. You can meet some people there and trade notes. I heard someone actually proposed there at the Daejeon pow-wow (she said yes).