Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Troglodyte]

It is indeed possible that the foreign teacher was lying to you. It happens all the time, for all the reasons listed above. Another reason not already mentioned directly is that the teacher might have been threatened with something like with holding part of his last salary/severance/flight ticket/other if they don't fine a replacement by the time he leaves.

I would never put too much credit in what a current teacher says. I'm sure that most will give you an honest opinion if you contact them by email after the interview, but personally I like to talk to not only a current teacher, but also a former teacher who has been gone for a couple months already. They have far fewer reasons to lie in favor of the school.

Current teachers are good for finding out things like how economically stable the school seems to be. Plus, if a current teacher gives the school a bad review, then you don't even have to ask the former teachers. Current teachers can often put you in touch with a former teacher, or verify that the former teacher mentioned by the owner really was a teacher there.

I think that the majority of foreign teachers will tell you the truth about the school. The problem is that you just have no way of knowing if the teacher you're talking to is one of the few who would lie.

[cragesmure]

[jlee83]

Unless the school screwed the teacher, the outgoing teacher is not going to go out of his/her way to sabotage the school in their search for a new teacher. Lose your "us (foreigners) versus them (Koreans)" mentality.

Some people seem to think teaching ESL is all peaches and roses when in fact, it's no different than any other menial 9-5 jobs back home. There will be things you will not like about your job, but it'd be the same back home (wherever that is).

If you're looking for the perfect job, you're not going to find it here. However, if you're looking for a good, fun, and not so stressful job, Korea is the perfect place for you!

[fezmond]

sounds like the position i was in this week - i had to interview a girl for (my old job) and though she got the job, the school want to see her do another demo class. she'd already done one and been offered the job but the retarded boss of mine has screwed things around so it looks suspicious.

[bobbybigfoot]

[thekingofcheap]

[cyui]

Yeah, it's common..espcially if you are hetrosexual and the person has
well..ummm, you know..preferances the long way out..

I am..serious..many people are WAY threatned by those they cannot "take"...and most the time,it is lesbo woman trying to dominate other streight and good-looking woman.

[methdxman]

Oh, brother... another "I got screwed by another person" thread is starting to develop here.

[northway]

[ThingsComeAround]

Yes.

In fact, in my hagwon days, we worked for a brown-nosing, lying idiot of a head teacher. When he wasn't off searching for tail in itaewon (the kind you pay for) he was trying to bag every K-teacher in the school. Due to his presence & influence, 5 Korean teachers left

[nathanrutledge]

[marsavalanche]

I asked for the e-mail of the person that interviewed me and will just ask some questions similar to the ones I asked during the interview. If he gives different answers I'll know the boss was probably lingering or something.

[earthquakez]

Disclaimer - This post is not to help marsavalanche as they jumped in to attack me on a thread re university teaching AFTER I'd contributed to a thread on contracts and tried to give them decent advice. If the other foreigner is lying to them, hard cheese little one.

To the other posters on this thread - I've found dealing with Koreans is the best way to get a feel for the hagwon jobs. I wouldn't want to be interviewed by another foreigner. If you've been in Korea for a while, you can pick up a lot that is unsaid when you speak to Koreans. English-speaking Koreans are no different.

For my current job I was interviewed directly by the boss in a mixture of Korean and English. I knew something was positive when he did me the courtesy of telling me somebody at my old EPIK school slagged me off (not his words of course!).

He gave me the chance to defend myself and point out what a load of cobblers some of the student evaluations were. He laughed and agreed. I got the job and it's fine. My boss is hands-on when he needs to be and hands-off when he needs to be. He told me that a cv like mine doesn't come from being a bad teacher and that's why he employed me.

There are some very good Korean hagwon bosses around.

[Troglodyte]

[PatrickGHBusan]

Some will lie and the reasons for this are numerous.

Others will tell it how they see it but you may react differently then they do and then consider what they said a lie.

What the heck do I mean? Here it is:

You talk to a Foreign Teacher on staff and ask him how are things at the schools.

He says things are fine, good work environment, paid on time and so on.

It ends up he is the type of Teacher that does not go ballistic at last minute schedule changes, that does not mind doing a bit of extra work here and there even if it means going over his contract hours on occasion. His employer takes the staff out to dinner on occasion and this is seen as a you give I give type of deals. This guy does not mind this because he likes his Korean co-workers and his job.

You show up in the job and for you schedule changes are a "contract breach", everything asked should be paid for as OT if it goes over your contract hours...

So you would consider this teacher a liar...

I am sure a million other examples could be provided here!

Still, there are scumbags out there who will lie to you for whatever reason.

Rule of thumb: do your research, talk to other foreign teachers at the school and then accept that you are going to have to deal with unexpected things and that you will never get ironclad promises that everything will go exactly one way during your time as a teacher.

Good luck.