Korean Job Discussion Forums

[LURKER]

Hi,

I've been offered a job at a school in Gumi, called "Jane's Foreign Language School."

Having done a Google Search on the hagwon, I find that there are quite a few posts complaining about the school and its owner. Pretty much all the complaints appear to be made at the same time (March-April 2011) and possibly by the same person, though.

http://hagwon.reliableteacher.com/janes-foreign-language-school-chechajin-gumi-si-gyeongsangbuk-do/

MOD EDIT

Now the owner of the hagwon told me that the last employee hired by the school - an Australian - was apparently let go due to gross incompetence recently (drinking a lot and possibly showing up to work drunk, not willing to practice speaking English with the students which is really part of the job, leaving the building every five minutes to smoke etc., etc.) I'm not qualified to judge whether or not these comments are true, but we all know that there are people like that teaching here in South Korea, and I suspect that this disgruntled ex-employee may be the author of the complaints on the internet about the school. If you are the foreign teacher recently let go from the school, I would like to hear your side of the story.

If there is anyone else who has worked at this school here on Dave's, I'd also be interested to know your views and experiences.

I've actually had quite a good first impression of the school and its owner, Jane - so I would be disappointed if I learned that it was not a good place to work.

Knowing that people are more likely to bother leaving comments about a school if they have had a negative experience compared to a positive one, I would particularly appreciate it if anyone who has had a positive experience posted in this thread, as well as those that have had a negative experience, so that I can consider this offer properly.

[Michaela]

I know someone who worked there (and with whom I work) and I don't think the owner of the school is telling you the truth. I would elaborate, but I'd rather do it in a more private way. Sadly, I can't pm here yet. Anyway, I would probably give this one a skip if I were you.

[WadRUG'naDoo]

Beware of schools that speak ill of past employees. Not only is it unprofessional, it's a sign there's something wrong with the school. And it's obvious how they exaggerate.

[oldtrafford]

koreans lie, it's called face saving, it's deeply embedded in the culture!!!

run for the hills!

[Howard Roark]

I worked there at 3 different times for a total of ~3 years. Everything you read on the "reliable teacher" site is true...well, I don't know about the bit about getting naked and going back to her place. Jane is a lunatic, there's no doubt, but she never hit on me!

Why did I stay for 3 years? You may be wondering.

The first 2 times were not so bad. Jane had a contract for LG so I and several other teachers worked there full-time. It was the sweetest job I've ever had. Company bus to and fro, free lunch, easy classes, execs always cancelling, going out for hae-shik, and so on. And if we did teach a few classes at the hagwan it was paid overtime. It was awesome. As long as you did your job and didn't complain and nobody complained about you, you were golden. I hardly saw Jane on a daily basis. I think this is the only way she can work.

The last time I was there (2009) it was a nightmare. No more LG contract. I had to work at the horrible hagwan. I can't even recall half the crazy stuff she did. Korean teachers came and went, she treated them like DIRT. We worked 6 classes in a row with only 20 mins to have dinner. Eventually she got PO'd about something and took away that 20 mins. She didn't like the teachers looking on the internet so she cut off the internet in the teachers room.

But the absolute best...

The door to my laundry room was rotting off its hinges. I told her many times it needed to be fixed. She did nothing. Eventually it broke and fell into the window of the laundry room and it smashed. When I came into work that day and told her the door fell down and broke the window, she said "what door?". I was there for about a month after this happened. The door and the window remained broken the entire time. It rained. There was 2 inches of water on the floor. I had to put down bricks to walk on to get to the washing machine.

That's only one story. I could write a book about this woman and I know many others who could also. Nobody who has ever worked there has anything good to say about Jane or the school.

Aside from her being a crazy witch, the school is a JOKE. There is no curriculum. There is just a Side by Side book which all the classes study from. It's boring. Jane only cares about the appearance of a good school so she can make money. She had all these fancy posters made up when I was there, getting advice from me about what fancy words to use. It was BS. Before classes start she wants all teachers in the lobby "playing" and talking with the kids. It's a show for parents. And this was my favorite, teachers are not allowed to sit down at all while teaching. This means you're standing up for about 6 or 7 hours straight every day. At the same time, she's sitting in her office buying clothes off the internet, looking at car brochures trying to decide if she's going to buy a BMW or a Mercedes, and stuffing her face with dukboki.

She was at her most miserable the last few months I was there. She completely ignored all the teachers. I mean outright ignored, I would show up for work and say "hello" and she ignored me. She was spitting fire. The day I left she didn't say good bye or thanks or anything. After 3 years of service, I got F*** all, only a sour look.

I found the email of the teacher who was supposed to replace me. I wrote to him and warned him, if only to make things inconvenient for Jane. He wrote me an email 10 months later saying he wished he had listened.

So anyone who reads this, LISTEN. Don't ignore the warnings. Don't buy into her friendly act. She's batty and she'll make your life a living nightmare.

[oldtrafford]

fella, instead of trying to convince yourself that your intuition is right, take the advice that has been given and run for the hills. The prior poster to me gave it to you in a nutshell, others have also given you their stories. Work a crappy job back where you're from rather than coming here and working a crappy job. It isn't worth the 'EXPERIENCE'.