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Milwaukiedave
Joined: 02 Oct 2004
Location: Goseong
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 Posted: Sun Jun 14, 2009 1:12 am Post subject: Seokyeong University Ad |
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Forgive me if this has been discuss recently, the search function is having one of those bad hair days and I tried kicking it, but it didn't really help.
I happened to come across this ad while looking through the Korean Job Board. I'm curious if anyone knows anything about this university?
Emergency Hiring Notice: 7 New Professors to Begin in the Fall in Seoul, Korea
http://www.eslcafe.com/jobs/korea/index.cgi?read=37879
I won't post the whole ad, if you want look for yourself. I'm just curious of anyone knows what's going on there. Feel free to PM me if necessary if you don't want to make it public.
Last edited by Milwaukiedave on Sun Jun 14, 2009 3:47 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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bourquetheman
Joined: 18 Aug 2003
Location: Suwon
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| Posted: Sun Jun 14, 2009 2:05 am Post subject: |
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"In our program, we normally do not hire in the middle of year, but this year we have decided to undertake the long overdue reduction of the number of students in our conversation classes at this time and thus�viola! We need 7 new professors right away!"
This is in the second line of their ad. Of course they could be lying but it's possible they are decreasing the size of the classes thus needing new teachers. I thought about sending a c.v. there too and I might though I have an interview this Saturday with another university so I shall see.
While we're on the subject, what do you think of the University of Seoul posted? |
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Milwaukiedave
Joined: 02 Oct 2004
Location: Goseong
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| Posted: Sun Jun 14, 2009 2:26 am Post subject: |
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BM,
I was wondering about that as well. It seems very odd they would hire so many new teachers so quickly unless well, they had something happen.
Also the ad said that housing allowances are subject to be discontinued (though they are on the low end anyway) once they complete their faculty dorms. The problem being is that I'm married, have my own housing and don't want to live on campus. I guess I'd have to see how long out they are talking about doing that and if they'd be willing to give me a housing allowance for at least the first year.
The other thing that strikes me funny that they are rather frank about this, "We reserve the right to terminate your contract upon showing a proper cause at anytime". This doesn't look very good to potential applicants. Then again, I forget where I am. |
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bourquetheman
Joined: 18 Aug 2003
Location: Suwon
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| Posted: Sun Jun 14, 2009 2:38 am Post subject: |
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| Yeah I'm in the same boat as you as I'm married and even have two kids so a studio or dormitory does me no good either. Reading between the lines this ad does reek of something, though I could be wrong. It would be great to hear some opinions of people who are actually there or worked there. Those lines you mentioned about termination do sound a bit suspicious. Anyway even if I get this other university position my wife and I will have to move. Trying to work out the finances, ideally putting 30 million down and pay 700-800 a month but it's challenging. |
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Hanson
Joined: 20 Oct 2004
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| Posted: Sun Jun 14, 2009 3:17 am Post subject: |
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A buddy of mine works there. It's alright overall, but nothing to write home about. 2 mil a month is low-endish. The workshops and office hours are time-killers. But 10 hours of class a week ain't bad.
If you do interview there, be sure to mention the cruelty of air travel with babies...  |
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Looney
Joined: 23 Dec 2008
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Milwaukiedave
Joined: 02 Oct 2004
Location: Goseong
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| Posted: Sun Jun 14, 2009 3:52 am Post subject: |
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| Hanson wrote: |
A buddy of mine works there. It's alright overall, but nothing to write home about. 2 mil a month is low-endish. The workshops and office hours are time-killers. But 10 hours of class a week ain't bad.
If you do interview there, be sure to mention the cruelty of air travel with babies... |
Thanks for the feedback.
Looney,
Thanks, I had forgot about searching Facebook. I'll try and see if I can contact someone that way.
Last edited by Milwaukiedave on Sun Jun 14, 2009 11:14 am; edited 1 time in total |
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wesharris
Joined: 10 Oct 2008
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| Posted: Sun Jun 14, 2009 5:31 am Post subject: |
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Doesn't sound like a good position to me.
_+_+
Wes |
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Mr. Pink
Joined: 21 Oct 2003
Location: China
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| Posted: Sun Jun 14, 2009 5:52 am Post subject: |
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It could be I have been out of Korea for a couple years and thus have gotten used to Western professionalism, but that ad caught me as very amateurish. It also sent up red flags. At first I thought either they fired most of their staff or the staff quit. If they were indeed going to expand, don't you think a university would plan it more in advance than to have rushed hiring practices?
The money isn't that good. I know some people get off on only working part-time hours and having 4-5 months off a year, but if you want to get ahead in this world, you need more than 2mil a month.
Anyways, good luck to those who are applying. I guess it would be a good gig for an F2 of F5 visa holder as they can do 2-3 jobs a day and work during the 4-5 months off a year.
EDIT: BTW is it normal to give sealed transcripts at an interview? For a job this crappy that one had me thinking amateur too. It costs me $10 for each transcript copy and I went to two universities. Paying that much just to interview for a job = stupid. Jobs asking for that before even offering you a position = stupid. I guess you can see I wouldn't apply to any job that wanted my official transcripts at the interview. |
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biner
Joined: 20 Feb 2007
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| Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2009 4:34 pm Post subject: |
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Hi,
I work at Seokyeong University, and my co-worker alerted me to this ad, so I thought that I should respond. I'll try to answer all of your speculations...and indeed, speculations they are, albeit understandable given the ad and the experiences that most of us have heard of, or even seen firsthand, here.
| Quote: |
| It could be I have been out of Korea for a couple years and thus have gotten used to Western professionalism, but that ad caught me as very amateurish. It also sent up red flags. At first I thought either they fired most of their staff or the staff quit. If they were indeed going to expand, don't you think a university would plan it more in advance than to have rushed hiring practices? |
Yes, you've gotten used to Western professionalism (although I'm sure things like things occasionally occur in the magical land of N'America, as well...). Truthfully, our school may have a tendency to do things on the fly (as do a number of other institutes in Korea, from what I've seen). The school really is decreasing our conversation class sizes and hiring more professors to deal with the implications of that decision. They really did tell the director of our department about it two or three weeks ago. (Yes, even universities don't always seem to plan in advance, or if they did, didn't tell us about it.) However, they really seem to be thinking of the students and teachers in this case, so I feel less inclined to complain about the rushed hiring practices. In any case, I've seen a lot of the applications (as the current Managing Coordinator) and know that we will still get a lot of qualified applicants, no matter how rushed our hiring process may be.
Most of our teachers are quite content with the situation they've made for themselves at Seokyeong. As mentioned in the ad, there are two teachers leaving, as teachers occasionally do (the ones who can bear to be parted from their Korean umbilical cord anyway. That's not a insult - note that I'm still attached myself!^^). Out of a staff of 24 teachers, two seems fairly normal to me. If they are going to fire most of the staff, that's also news to me. If that is the case, I'll be more than happy to post in a month or two, taking back everything I've already said.^^
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| The money isn't that good. I know some people get off on only working part-time hours and having 4-5 months off a year, but if you want to get ahead in this world, you need more than 2mil a month. |
True, the money isn't that good. This tends to be the main complaint of teachers at the school. However, we are all still working there, even though we've had chances to leave.^^ I guess I AM one of those people who like working part-time hours. As for needing more than two million a month to get ahead in this world, that's a conversation for the book review post on 'The High Price of Materialism' by Tim Kasser.
| Quote: |
| Anyways, good luck to those who are applying. I guess it would be a good gig for an F2 of F5 visa holder as they can do 2-3 jobs a day and work during the 4-5 months off a year. |
The school also grants permission to E2-visa holders to work at any camp that they wish to during the vacation period. I will be working at a great camp this summer for one month of my vacation, and that is something I had to kick and scream to get, or just wasn't allowed to do, at my old university.
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| BTW is it normal to give sealed transcripts at an interview? For a job this crappy that one had me thinking amateur too. It costs me $10 for each transcript copy and I went to two universities. Paying that much just to interview for a job = stupid. Jobs asking for that before even offering you a position = stupid. I guess you can see I wouldn't apply to any job that wanted my official transcripts at the interview. |
You can send in a photocopy of your transcripts with your application package. The reason for the sealed transcripts at the interview is that we will be signing contracts and applying for visas very shortly after the interview process and WILL need those documents then. It is too bad that the process is so rushed. (Just a hint to anyone who's been thinking of applying for jobs - I always have a couple of sealed copies of my transcripts lying around, just in case. I figure that when opportunity knocks, you should at least have made an effort to be ready.^^)
Frankly, this just scares me. I'm sorry to those who tried to be'friend' me on facebook, but I don't want to become friends with people that I've never met (call me anti-social, but it's true). Plus, I think it's an invasion of my privacy. There was contact info given in the ad. Plus, we do have a staff of 24 teachers. If you don't know one of us, you know someone who does. Ask around.
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| The workshops and office hours are time-killers. But 10 hours of class a week ain't bad. |
Thank you for feeling our pain, Hanson. But you're right, 10 hours of class a week ain't at all bad.^^
| Quote: |
| Also the ad said that housing allowances are subject to be discontinued (though they are on the low end anyway) once they complete their faculty dorms. The problem being is that I'm married, have my own housing and don't want to live on campus. I guess I'd have to see how long out they are talking about doing that and if they'd be willing to give me a housing allowance for at least the first year. |
The faculty dorms look pretty far from being completed, at least this year, but you never know. As mentioned before, SKU can do things quickly when they've a mind to. I lived in the free dorms before, but in the future will just save up for my own key deposit (a year of saving can get you enough for a decent apt. in Itaewon, anyway) and pay my own rent, if it comes down to that. The dorms were okay, just small for my liking.
| Quote: |
| The other thing that strikes me funny that they are rather frank about this, "We reserve the right to terminate your contract upon showing a proper cause at anytime". This doesn't look very good to potential applicants. Then again, I forget where I am. |
That's just the way our director talks. She went to law school. I think that's a fairly standard contractual clause. But, you are right, it's not exactly a sentence that gives you the warm fuzzies. No one has ever been fired in the two and a half years that I've been here. Occasionally someone is reprimanded (and I don't believe that all ETs are always above reproach, we do occasionally call for some discipline), and there has been a teacher to my knowledge whose contract was not renewed, but that's about it.
It's too late to make a long story short at this point (sorry for the long post, but...you asked.^^). Basically, you can take the ad at face value. Look at what it's offering and decide if that sounds attractive to you. (By the way, the ad didn't mention that all of our teachers are pretty awesome to work with! We are, generally!^^) If the ad seems good to you, apply and we'll look forward to seeing you at the interviews. Good luck!^^ |
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plato's republic
Joined: 07 Dec 2004
Location: Ancient Greece
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| Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2011 7:14 am Post subject: |
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Anyone currently working there?
They're looking to hire around 25 teachers for March. That seems like an awful lot. Furthermore, there's no mention of whether accommodation or a housing stipend is provided. If anyone has any information they'd be happy to share then please do so. Feel free to send me a PM if you'd prefer. |
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sonicmatt
Joined: 04 Oct 2007
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| Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2011 5:25 pm Post subject: |
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| i think i got an email awhile back saying they would provide 250,000 for a housing stipend. |
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plato's republic
Joined: 07 Dec 2004
Location: Ancient Greece
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| Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2011 5:56 am Post subject: |
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| So I take it the faculty dorms are not finished yet or unavailable? |
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Kwangjuchicken
Joined: 01 Sep 2003
Location: I was abducted by aliens on my way to Korea and forced to be an EFL teacher on this crazy planet.
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| Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2011 6:41 pm Post subject: |
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| Mr. Pink wrote: |
It could be I have been out of Korea for a couple years and thus have gotten used to Western professionalism, but that ad caught me as very amateurish. It also sent up red flags. At first I thought either they fired most of their staff or the staff quit. If they were indeed going to expand, don't you think a university would plan it more in advance than to have rushed hiring practices?
The money isn't that good. I know some people get off on only working part-time hours and having 4-5 months off a year, but if you want to get ahead in this world, you need more than 2mil a month.
Anyways, good luck to those who are applying. I guess it would be a good gig for an F2 of F5 visa holder as they can do 2-3 jobs a day and work during the 4-5 months off a year.
EDIT: BTW is it normal to give sealed transcripts at an interview? For a job this crappy that one had me thinking amateur too. It costs me $10 for each transcript copy and I went to two universities. Paying that much just to interview for a job = stupid. Jobs asking for that before even offering you a position = stupid. I guess you can see I wouldn't apply to any job that wanted my official transcripts at the interview. |
You have once again become used to the saying: "Do not put off until tomorrow what you can do today." And you have forgotten the system here: "Do not do in advance what you can put off until the very last second."
And, of course, depending on the situation, you have also forgotten the modified version of the expression; that is oh so often the case here: "Do not do in advance what you can put off until: (a) the last second, (b) way too late, or (c) never at all. |
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Kimchifart
Joined: 15 Sep 2010
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| Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2011 7:38 am Post subject: |
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| Milwaukiedave wrote: |
BM,
I was wondering about that as well. It seems very odd they would hire so many new teachers so quickly unless well, they had something happen.
Also the ad said that housing allowances are subject to be discontinued (though they are on the low end anyway) once they complete their faculty dorms. The problem being is that I'm married, have my own housing and don't want to live on campus. I guess I'd have to see how long out they are talking about doing that and if they'd be willing to give me a housing allowance for at least the first year.
The other thing that strikes me funny that they are rather frank about this, "We reserve the right to terminate your contract upon showing a proper cause at anytime". This doesn't look very good to potential applicants. Then again, I forget where I am. |
Recently the Korean government has been putting more requirements on universities to have more MA than BA holders and also to reduce class sizes. I'm assuming this is part of that. |
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