Korean Job Discussion Forums

[keiran]

Hey there,
I'm looking for the scoop on SLP Daejon,
a recruiter has offered me this position and the school liked me, but the recruiter said asking to talk to a foreign teacher would turn the teacher off.. and their rushing me to make this decision.
Anyone work there or have worked there?

[morrisonhotel]

[TheUrbanMyth]

[keiran]

yeah I know, I researched it, I'm definitely not choosing a school unless im confident in it. The recruiter did give me two email contacts
I'm more interested in talking to someone who actually worked there then going on rumors.

[Kaypea]

There is NO reason why they shouldn't let you talk to someone. All hogwans know it's standard practice, and if they say no, it means that they don't even have a pet teacher who will talk to you (some schools kind of treat one teacher extra special and have them talk to people who have questions... which isn't to say they're bad schools, but they do make sure you talk to the happiest teacher).

Heck, it means they don't even know a Korean American who's willing to vouch for them.

[ttompatz]

[whiteshoes]

I worked at an SLP in Ilsan, and it was great.

However, nearly everyone I've talked to who's worked at a different SLP didn't have a great time.

[BaldTeacher]

I worked at Daejeon SLP my first year (October 2008-2009) and basically, it was good. Sure, there were days that I complained, but all in all in was a pretty good first year- they paid me everything, gave me my severance and airfare and didn't try to screw me. I know several people who have re-signed for second contracts.

Some advantages are that you will have a lot of foreign and Korean co-teachers. Some of the ones I know have moved on, but some of the ones I know are still there and are cool. When I was there, they'd frequently buy pizzas for us, take us for dinners, give us birthday parties, etc. The neighborhood they put you in is awesome too- It's conveniently located and there is a large foreign community there.

Some disadvantages are- relatively long days (although you get a lot of spare time for marking, or relaxing). Also, classes are too long in my opinion- afternoon classes were 90 minutes when I was there. Also, it goes through periods where everything is great and periods of crap. All in all though, I can't say anything disparaging about the place. I kind of miss it and it was far better than my second hagwon- I pulled a runner from that bytch!

Daejeon SLP- there are better hagwons out there, but there are also far, far worse.l

[somethingawful]

I worked with Bald-Teacher at SLP at the same general time (he arrived a little while after I did).

At the start it was pretty good, and I had very few complaints (mostly about the parents and how involved they were) but nothing too serious. After X-mas they changed a few things (for the worse mostly) but it was still a decent place to work. Around the end of Jan or Fed (forget exactly) things started to get really crappy. This one new foreign teacher showed up, didn't want to take the drug test, and generally acted like a crazy retard. I'm not sure if it was him or just a coincidence, but they really started trying to clamp down on our free time after he pulled a runner.

Prep periods were cut from 2 a week to one, and afternoon classes were lengthened to 90 minutes. Teachers were asked to arrive at school earlier and there was more pressure to stay late or work on the weekend (I never did). They paid almost no pension money throughout the year, but they caught up at the end and I got the lump sum a month or two after getting back home.

Like BaldTeacher said, the foreign crew for the most part was pretty cool (except for Rainman) and the co-teachers and helper teachers are great! The area they have you live is awesome, lots of corner stores and places to eat, and not too far from eMart and other place and the school.

The bad! Expect to spend ~45 hours a week IN CLASS! Expect to spend ~50 hours a week at the school! That's a lot of time, now look at your monthly pay and divide it by the time. Still interested? There are 90 minute classes! Still interested?

SLP sounds generous pay wise (compared to some), but they expect you to spend more time there. Just read the fine print before you sign.

[wesharris]

Slave labor program.
Extended hours for slightly above average pay.
I work 25 hours a week, at 2.35

[BaldTeacher]

AHahah yeah the Rastafarian dude from Toronto came and shat all over everything. And then The 'Dozer came and ruined lunch!

That 2 or 3 month period in March was hell, but apparently it got really good a couple months after I left. What it's like right now I couldn't say.

PS: Somethingawful, message me your e-mail. I put my pink cell-phone with your e-mail in it in the wash like the same day that you left.

PPS, another thing about SLP is that there are cameras in every room and there are 3 or 4 loser mothers who spend every day watching your class like it's one of those Korean dramas. It makes them feel important to be able to bytch at the Korean teachers and change the curriculum to their liking.

[Catfisher]