Korean Job Discussion Forums

[bji]

So I got two offers on the table.

Job 1
Topia in Jung gae yok(?). It's in the northeast part of seoul.
Salary: 2.2m
Hours: m-f 2-10pm
Housing: Fully furnished apartment with seperated bedroom
The usual severance package and overtime pay.
They told me theyre going to take 500,000 from my first two paychecks then give it back to me when my contract is completed. theyve also offered to buy my ticket back home since ive already flown out.

Job 2
Chungdahm in dongdaegun(?).
Salary: 2.5m/hour guaranteed 120 hours a month. so it comes out to 3.0m but they take out 600,000 for a studio apartment so it comes out to 2.4.
Hours: 3-10pm m-f come in one saturday a month

Im leaning towards taking the job in dongdaemun because the pay is more and less teaching hours but i went in today and there is a supervisor there that seems pretty strict. what do you guys think?

[cheolsu]

You're Kyopo, right? They should pay you for the ticket you flew in on. Round trip airfare is standard. Anything less than that is basically theft.

I think it's worth considering the teaching environment and grades. I would take a pay cut to teach in a stronger, more organized environment.

[tired of LA]

Topia in Jung-gye dong, Nowon-gu is a huge branch. It's actually multiple buildings spread across a main intersection. Like another poster said, they should pay for your return flight even if you are already in Korea, so it shouldn't be seen as a bonus. However, I disagree about the notion that if they don't pay for your flight here, since you're already here, that it's like theft. Many of the better jobs, require you to be in Korea and they won't pay for the airfare, like university jobs. From what I've heard, they work their Korean staff like slaves, but the foreign teachers got it a bit easier. The deposit that they want to take out is also a bit excessive. However, an apartment with a separate bedroom would be nice.

I'm assuming you meant 25K an hour and not 2.5M. As far as I know, CDI only guarantees 96 hours a month, but you can get up to 120 hours a month. Also, with the hourly, you don't get pension or insurance or paid vacation. I worked for CDI and I wouldn't work for them again unless they offered me at least 32K an hour and even then I would have to think about it. I think 25 an hour is the lowest they offer.

Personally if I had to choose between the two, I would go for Topia but would get them to reduce the deposit that they would take out.

[cheolsu]

[bji]

After thinking about it more and a few quick calculations. Topia seems like the better choice if i do decide to stay the full one year length. After I receive the bonus at the end along with my plane ticket, I would be be making .3m more at the end. Although CDI has supposed less working hours, I feel like it isn't that much different since she said that most teachers come in like 45 minutes earlier to prep which is time that's not paid and I'd have to work "some" weekends and judging by other posters some usually means most.

I've also received some advice from my friends and they broke it to my like. Without generalizing too much, there's two basic routes. Find a job that pays okay but provides more free time and vacation. You won't save anything from this job but will be able live comfortably and experience Korea. The other path to find a job that will work you, six days a week, but you'll be able to save. One got a job in the states then came out and one came out first then got a job. Both gyopos.

Judging from what they've told me, by options here seem to take on the bad characteristics from both paths. Work a lot, 5-7 days of vacation, and make so so money. They're both advising to hold out for a job that pays more.

I have two friends that work at CDI, one in Hongdae and the other by the Topia I listed. They both started off at a minimum of 31,000/hour. They both had no prior teaching experience, the most recent once came out in September. Another friend is getting paid 4m salary and works 6hours/6days. After hearing their stories it's hard for me to take either of the jobs because they both feel like bullshit.

Am I being to optimistic about my potential job opportunities? Should I play it safe and take the position now?

PS. I'm on time constraint since both schools need an answer asap and want to know by the end of today. This I'm even dubious about. I think they're trying to bluff me into making a commitment.

[djz]

My friends with absurdly easy jobs for GEPIK all save around 1k USD a month. If you're not saving around that much there's something wrong. The lowest amount I've heard of any foreign teacher getting paid is 2mill a month (and this is in the middle of nowhere), so you'd only be making like 90 dollars a month more.

Also if you take the CDI job you will have to come in and train for a week (TOPIA too I believe) so I don't know why you need to sign anything today.

Both are huge hagwon chains and I would discourage you from signing with either one though.