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crlb2006
Joined: 03 Mar 2008
Location: Seongbuk-gu, Seoul
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 Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 8:49 pm Post subject: SMOE interview last week- still no word |
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Did anyone else have to wait awhile to hear yes or no from SMOE? My interview didn't go as well as I'd hoped, and I was told my TESOL cert. would be useless for their purposes because it wasn't a 100 hour course.
I may be out of luck with SMOE, but if they offer me their paltry, lowest-level salary I might not take the job because I already have a year of experience teaching in Seoul and a TESOL cert. that passes muster with other employers (is teaching SMOE such a great experience that I should take 400,000-600,000 won less per month to work there or would that be ridiculous? any opinions on this are most welcome)
Plan B for me is show up mid-August with documents in hand, look in person, and swing over to Japan once I get a job to get my 2nd e-2 visa. I'm starting to feel like this would be the power move (i'd love to hear thoughts on this one too)
thanks for the words guys, can't wait to get back to Seoul |
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timeo
Joined: 19 Dec 2007
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| Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 9:02 pm Post subject: |
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How many hours is your course? You can take other courses off the net so that it adds up to 100 hours in total. Since it's late July already, I'm guessing you won't have time to finish that other course before you get to Korea, so just hand it in whenever you finish and you'll get paid the next bracket the month after you submit it.
Teaching at SMOE is seriously not THAT good that you should forego half a million per month. But 3 weeks vacation and knowing that you'll always get paid on time is nice. Plus the added satisfaction of seeing people adjust their attitude when they find out that you're not a hagwon teacher but a public school teacher. |
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crlb2006
Joined: 03 Mar 2008
Location: Seongbuk-gu, Seoul
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| Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 9:29 pm Post subject: |
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thanks for the good advice. the vacation time would be great but i'd like to save up a bunch of money through the year to go travel with etc.
did anyone else have to wait several days before hearing yes or no from SMOE after interviewing? i wonder how long i should expect to wait for a verdict. |
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Morning_Star
Joined: 21 Jan 2009
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| Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2009 12:29 pm Post subject: ... |
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| It's 48 hours after the interview, no later than 3 days. Hope that helps. |
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winterfall
Joined: 21 May 2009
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| Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2009 1:06 pm Post subject: |
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| I found out within a couple of hrs. |
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nyla54
Joined: 17 Jun 2009
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| Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2009 2:50 pm Post subject: |
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| crlb2006 wrote: |
thanks for the good advice. the vacation time would be great but i'd like to save up a bunch of money through the year to go travel with etc.
did anyone else have to wait several days before hearing yes or no from SMOE after interviewing? i wonder how long i should expect to wait for a verdict. |
I was told by my interviewer that they'd let my recruiter know the decision up to ten days later.
I found out from my recruiter in less than 24 hours.
From what I hear though, anything really more than 3-5 days is a rarity. Someone I know heard in less than 24 hours as well.
My hypothesis is that they possibly may be holding off until they hear back from their other applicants. I know that earlier this week was the deadline for admitted teachers to submit their final documents. The public school programs tend to overextend acceptances as there are always a couple that fall out of the final documents process. The reason can vary, but I would imagine it's anywhere from not able/wanting to pay the costs (notarizing, apostilling, etc) to receiving another higher-paid offer. In any event, they MAY be waiting to see their final count before extending any more acceptances. Again, this is just an hypothesis though.
In any event, if you are more keen on saving and receiving higher pay then I would suggest going the private route; I can totally understand your desire to travel. I personally chose the public route as I was very intent on teaching in the public school system so saving was not as high as a priority. However, I had a friend who really didn't care for teaching public, but preferred the safety/security that it provided. The majority of the horror stories that she came across were those in the private sector, such as not being paid on time or not allowed to use vacation days. She wanted to travel, and preferred to take the pay cut and have a decreased likelihood of having a terrible employer. The only issue with that is that you never know what you're going to get. I'm sure there are definitely horrible experiences that some teachers had in the public school system--just search the forum and you'll find plenty. |
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crlb2006
Joined: 03 Mar 2008
Location: Seongbuk-gu, Seoul
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| Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2009 10:00 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks a lot for the info guys. I interviewed last Thursday and haven't heard a thing yet, oddly. I'm sure they are waiting out other offers before they decide on me, as you suggested.
Either way I've bought my flight for 2 weeks from now... |
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laoshihao
Joined: 05 Feb 2007
Location: I'll take the ROK, Alex, because that's where my stuff is.
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| Posted: Wed Jul 29, 2009 8:22 am Post subject: SMOE is not all that |
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| I would be looking to see if there are better offers out there. SMOE is not all that. If you can get a better offer from a reputable hagwon, I would take it. I've taught abroad for six years and my best friend has three years experience. This teaching experience with SMOE was the worst we ever had. And we worked for a wickedly corrupt headmaster in China. What does that say about the schools we were placed in here that we preferred working in that kind of situation? I mean we barely had supplies, never had textbooks, and we were on our own in class. Yet, it was way better than working in the schools SMOE placed us in. Think of it this way...If they don't call, you're probably better off. |
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crlb2006
Joined: 03 Mar 2008
Location: Seongbuk-gu, Seoul
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| Posted: Wed Jul 29, 2009 3:18 pm Post subject: |
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just got word this morning that I've been accepted and signed a contract at the 2.0 million salary level. I'm thinking it'll be a nice quality of life relative to working more hours for the same pay and no vacation time at last year's hagwon.
thanks for the helpful words guys |
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