Korean Job Discussion Forums

[HunterORL23]

I am going to be teaching with EPIK in February 2010. I would like to ask if anyone has any suggestions on provinces to have as my top 4 that I have a preference for. I would like to choose one with the highest paying salary if possible. I understand this varies, but to all the fellow EPIK teacher out there whom are in their first year with only a BA or BS, what province did you teach in and what was your starting salary?

[storysinger81]

Outside of qualifications, your EPIK salary will vary WIDELY depending on the following factors:

rural: Extra 100,000/month over cities like Daegu and Daejeon; 200,000/month over Busan and Incheon.
transport allowance: Extra 100,000/month for working two schools; 150,000/month for three (this is common in the countryside, rare in cities) (I think this is still accurate, though I can't find it on the website anymore)
overtime: Some schools run afterschool programs that can be a gold mine for teachers. Get your hands into one or two of these, and your salary can easily skyrocket.

I'm Level 1 (Hold an MA in Writing and Certification to teach English, 5 years teaching, 3 of it in the USA) in Daegu, so my base salary is 2.4 (September 09 contracts), but I make an extra 400,000-600,000/month just from after school programs. I could bring in more if I was willing to travel to other schools for their programs.

[eirrehs]

does busan have these after school programs too? if so what's the name of this program? just after school program?

[storysinger81]

I assume some schools in Busan have them. My understanding from EPIK meetings and talking to other teachers is that more elementary schools have them than junior or senior high schools... But I'm at a high school. Officially your contract states these programs are paid at 20,000 or 25,000/teaching hour. However, I'm working a special program, so I'm getting 50,000/hour (but it's a LOT more work than most of these other programs). Other teachers get paid based on enrollment (more students means more money for you). Working at your local Board of Ed also usually pays a little more (in Daegu it's around 30,000/hour).

You won't know if your school has them until you get there. However, you can let your co-teacher know you're interested in starting an after-school program if one doesn't exist at your school--bonus is you'll look like you really care about educating the children. But be careful how you word this or they'll think you're volunteering to do it for free!

[ekul]

After school classes are where it's at. Well private tuition is really where it's at but I prefer to just do my 8 hours a day and call it quits. A teaching hour at my school is 45mins and gets paid at 25k, I do hour classes and earn 33k. It's a nice little bonus 4 times a week for very little work. They're billed as afterschool conversational classes and until they give me a curriculum or a book to work through that's exactly what we'll do. Only problem is that you don't earn any extra money during vacation, if only camps were paid...

[oldtactics]

city in Gangwon-do, BA, first year teaching, 2.1

[thurst]

in chungcheungnam-do the base is 2 mil, but you're almost definitely gonna be teaching at 2 schools and getting a rural bonus, so it'll be 2.25.

i got here in april and i was working an after school program (5p-7p) for 30K/hr 3 days a week (the school wanted me to do it 5)a nd while the extra 700,000KRW/month was nice, being in school from 9-7 coupled with my 45 min commute made the extra money not really worth it to mes o i told them that i was done after the summer break.

if i lived closer to the school and didn't have to wake up at 645 to get here on time i'd have prob stuck with it considering i could be making an extra mil.

[yeremy]

What really matters is not always how much money you make, but how much of it you save and keep in your pocket. That's the real question. I know a guy who saved 7,000,000 KRW as a TALK teacher in a year. He lived by stretching his school lunches as far as possible and whatever freebies he could scrounge.

If you really want to max out your earning potential in Korea, I suggest that you look for a hagwon job where you are paid per student rather than by salary.

Those who do make the most money here by teaching often seem to have ridiculous schedules. They always seem to be either going to teach legally and illegally somewheres or they're coming back from teaching somewhere. It seems to be a hard lifestyle and easy to burn out on.

[storysinger81]

[yeremy]

Mea culpa. My apologies. I assumed too much.

[storysinger81]

Not a problem. It seems to happen to me a lot.

[yeremy]

Storysinger81 is right on the mark. Network marketing can take you a long ways here in Korea. Having good to excellent qualifications is very helpful but networking and becoming better known is very helpful in finding extra work if you want it. You don't want to flatter people but you do want to become known for being a good teacher but the extra jobs will likely come when you might want to relax or take some downtime from teaching. Another way to make money is to enter and do well at the occassional EPIK essay writing contests they had recently.

The Foreign Language High Schools (FLHS) here in Korea have a high profile. There is one in the city I live and work in near Daegu. The two foreign teachers there seem to regulary work more than their contract hours. However, it is harder to get those jobs compared to other EPIK jobs.

Good luck.

[yeremy]

I remembered three other tips after the last post. I apologize for posting too much on this thread. there are other ways to increase your income in Korea without accepting money.

1) Paid Vacation time
Gangwon EPIK (reportedly) has the most paid vacation time (up to 5 weeks) off though Gangwon is perhaps the most rural province along with parts of Gyeongbuk. The benefit here is having a lot more time during the summer and winter breaks without having to warm a desk or teach a camp. The math is: increased non-monetary benefits = increased income.

2) Go on one of those, "I thought it was a free trip exploring Korea courtesy the POE," where once you land, like they did with the Dokdo trip, you find that you (may) have to participate in an English camp plus you have to write that five page essay you agreed to do in order to go.
There is another one of these excursions that the Gyeongbuk EPIKers were asked if they wanted to go coming up soon. It is to Seoul and the DMZ. I used to live in Seoul (4.5 years) and Gyeonggi-do (5 years), so I don't need a tour of Seoul (or Gyonggi-do) very much. I'd like to go to the DMZ but I'll go on my own time and coin.

3) If you want a tip on a public school job that is not in EPIK, where the city runs their own independent GEPIK program, try Gunpo City. Friends of mine in Gunpo City got more vacation time during last summer's break than I get all year in EPIK.

[loyfriend]

As for what schools give the most time off, it would be Uljin county through EPIK.

They get ALL feb off, + 2 weeks in summer. They also get a week off for xmas and New Years. That won't include your two week paid vacation if you resign.