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duke of new york
Joined: 23 Jan 2011
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 Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 3:14 am Post subject: SAT and AP prep jobs |
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Who has experience teaching the test prep type classes? I have heard a lot about these jobs since I came to Korea (I am teaching elementary at a hagwon). I have heard they start these classes as early as middle school and that they can pay upwards of 70k an hour.
My job is not that bad and not that great--eight hours a day, five days a week, 12-15 classes a week, standard but meager 2.1mil a month--but I feel like the place is gradually trying to take advantage of me. Every week they add tutoring session or two to my schedule, and they have been slowly piling on more and more little tasks (making syllabi and class materials, making audio recordings etc.) without giving me time to finish any of it. At this rate, the workload will be impossible to handle in 40 hours a week, and I am not going to let them make me come in extra time. 40 hours is enough, and it's what I signed up for. In short, I am considering looking for something better if they do not listen to my pleas and stop this behavior.
I'd like to know more about these test prep jobs, specifically:
What are the qualifications? I have a BA in Anthropology, and my teaching experience consists of the last month I have been in Korea. Do they want more, and will I be able to teach AP prep like Biology and History? (My AP scores from high school: Bio-3, Language and Comp-5, Literature-5, US Hist-4, World Hist-5)
What about SAT scores? I can't remember exactly, but mine was something around 730 Verbal/670 Math. Is that good enough to do SAT prep?
Are Koreans preferred over E2s, or vice versa?
Does already being in Korea help?
Do they provide housing? (not absolutely necessary)
Are they usually hourly positions, can you get good hours, are the hours guaranteed?
Health insurance? Pension?
Is this a possibility for me at all?
Thanks for your help, guys. Hope to hear something soon. |
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ttompatz
Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea
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| Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 3:59 am Post subject: |
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Unless you have an F2/4/5 visa it isn't going to happen.
Triply so for a fresh-off-the-boat newbie in Korea.
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northway
Joined: 05 Jul 2010
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| Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 4:04 am Post subject: |
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| Aside from what ttompatz said, I went to high school with a guy who owns an SAT prep hagwon. What he told me is essentially that he was looking for scores in the 800s and folks who went to top universities, either ivies or something in the top 20 world rankings. |
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robot
Joined: 07 Mar 2006
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| Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 4:52 am Post subject: |
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| You could give the larger places a shot. I know for a fact that a bunch of places hire E2-visa holders. They don't tend to pay as well, though. |
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dramasing
Joined: 16 Aug 2011
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| Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 6:14 am Post subject: Re: SAT and AP prep jobs |
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What about SAT scores? I can't remember exactly, but mine was something around 730 Verbal/670 Math. Is that good enough to do SAT prep?
Are Koreans preferred over E2s, or vice versa?
Does already being in Korea help?
Do they provide housing? (not absolutely necessary)
Are they usually hourly positions, can you get good hours, are the hours guaranteed?
Health insurance? Pension?
Is this a possibility for me at all?
Thanks for your help, guys. Hope to hear something soon. |
I'll just tell you what I know from knowing someone who worked teaching English and test prep in Korea. Much like what northway said, he came from a top Ivy (think H/Y), with perfect SAT scores (or at least really really close). He was E2, not in Korea, got housing, don't know about health insurance/pension, I think it was hourly but he definitely said he made tons of money. I checked out the company he worked for and basically they only want people from an Ivy or similarly prestigious private school, with a minimum GPA (and probably minimum SAT score also). |
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fustiancorduroy
Joined: 12 Jan 2007
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| Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 6:21 am Post subject: |
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Last edited by fustiancorduroy on Sat Feb 21, 2015 7:05 am; edited 1 time in total |
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northway
Joined: 05 Jul 2010
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| Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 6:35 am Post subject: |
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| fustiancorduroy wrote: |
| northway wrote: |
| Aside from what ttompatz said, I went to high school with a guy who owns an SAT prep hagwon. What he told me is essentially that he was looking for scores in the 800s and folks who went to top universities, either ivies or something in the top 20 world rankings. |
The highest score you can get on any section of the SAT is 800, so you can't be in the 800s, just at 800. An overall score of 1400 would suffice, albeit barely. 1500 and above is usually preferred. Everything else you wrote is true, though. |
My bad, that was a typo. I meant 800s, as the guy I talked to seemed rather enthused about perfect scores on whatever you were teaching, even if the composite wasn't fantastic. |
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leftx47
Joined: 12 Aug 2011
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| Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 12:47 pm Post subject: |
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I'm not looking for a test prep position, but I was curious about the emphasis on SAT scores. If someone is in their 30's, for example, is it really relevant what they made on a test they took 15 years ago? Wouldn't teaching ability be more important for student success? Can you even go back to the College Board and get proof of scores from 20 years ago?
On the other hand, I can see the Ivy League preference being relevant from the standpoint of possibly having connections at the schools and therefore maybe being able to give the students an advantage when applying, even if the person was a horrible teacher. |
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fustiancorduroy
Joined: 12 Jan 2007
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| Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 5:52 pm Post subject: |
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Last edited by fustiancorduroy on Sat Feb 21, 2015 7:05 am; edited 1 time in total |
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edwardcatflap
Joined: 22 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 6:33 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| I'm not looking for a test prep position, but I was curious about the emphasis on SAT scores. If someone is in their 30's, for example, is it really relevant what they made on a test they took 15 years ago? Wouldn't teaching ability be more important for student success? |
You would think so wouldn't you. Afterall I assume there's a teacher's book with the answers in it for these courses. People are often blinded by success in the field however. Look at the top football players who walked into top management jobs and failed.
Roy Keane
Graeme Souness
John Barnes
Rhuud Hullit
Bryan Robson
Paul Gasgoine etc....
Koreans seem to have some strange ideas about magical-like figures who can transform students' lives with their aura. Hence the way they pay huge sums to be taught by celebrity teachers in classes of a hundred students. Common sense should dictate that no teacher can ever be that effective in a class that size and ultimately it's the student who has to do most of the work themselves. |
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FMPJ
Joined: 03 Jun 2008
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| Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 11:14 pm Post subject: |
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| edwardcatflap wrote: |
| Common sense should dictate that no teacher can ever be that effective in a class that size and ultimately it's the student who has to do most of the work themselves. |
I've been in this part of the industry for nine years here, and though this sounds reasonable, it is untrue, especially with the SAT. Great test prep produces hundreds of points of improvement on the SAT, and can give even a dumb, lazy student a respectable final score. |
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madoka
Joined: 27 Mar 2008
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| Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2011 12:14 am Post subject: |
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| edwardcatflap wrote: |
You would think so wouldn't you. Afterall I assume there's a teacher's book with the answers in it for these courses. People are often blinded by success in the field however. Look at the top football players who walked into top management jobs and failed. |
Wow. Amazingly ignorant statement, even for you. Playing soccer and management skills are two completely unrelated skill sets. However, doing well on a test and teaching it are at least somewhat related. No one in their right mind would want to pay good money to get taught by someone who hasn't proven they could score well on a test themselves. Look through any of the ads in the industry and you'll see frequent references to their scores and schools. Near every student I have will ask me what school I went to and my test scores in our first meeting. They want the reassurance that their money is being well spent. Hell, I've had some students do EXTENSIVE background research on me before signing up.
| edwardcatflap wrote: |
Koreans seem to have some strange ideas about magical-like figures who can transform students' lives with their aura. Hence the way they pay huge sums to be taught by celebrity teachers in classes of a hundred students. Common sense should dictate that no teacher can ever be that effective in a class that size and ultimately it's the student who has to do most of the work themselves. |
A good teacher can be worth their weight in gold in the standardized test industry. 50% of my students score in the top 1 percentile. That objectively shows how much of a difference a good teacher can make. |
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Chokse
Joined: 22 May 2009
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| Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2011 1:33 am Post subject: |
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Quote by Madoka: "A good teacher can be worth their weight in gold in the standardized test industry. 50% of my students score in the top 1 percentile. That objectively shows how much of a difference a good teacher can make."
"A good teacher" is singular. "Their" is plural. For someone claiming to help students reach the top 1% on the SAT, that's a pretty simple grammar mistake you made. Also, when beginning a sentence with a number, the number should be written as a word: "Fifty percent..."
So, what exactly is your weight in gold if you don't follow some of these basic grammar rules in your own writing? Singular versus plural is a pretty basic part of the SAT writing exam. |
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edwardcatflap
Joined: 22 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2011 2:54 am Post subject: |
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| Wow. Amazingly ignorant statement, even for you |
True I am ignorant about SAT tests, I'd be the first to agree. Don't even know what they are to be honest. I teach a bit of IELTS test prep but there's certainly no magic bullet or short cuts for that test, despite what a lot of people may claim. Any native speaker can do well on an EFL test but might be an awful teacher so in my field they are certainly not related.
Having said that, this comment
| Quote: |
| Playing soccer and management skills are two completely unrelated skill sets |
shows your ignorance about football, especially in the UK, where football management is very closely related to skills. I assume you got the wrong end of the stick about the meaning of a football manager, which in the US you would call a coach. They usually have to have played at a very high level to have the right knowledge of top class football and the ability to show a lot of the tactics they are trying to get across
@ Chokse, 'their' is in common usage to denote a person of indeterminate sex so Madoka's grammar is ok as it happens. |
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Chokse
Joined: 22 May 2009
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| Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2011 4:47 am Post subject: |
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Edwardcatflap:
Not on the SAT.
As you mentioned, you don't know what the SAT exam is, so I understand how you might have misunderstood the jab I was making at Madoka's expense.
On the SAT, using "their" in the colloquial way Madoka did (and the way you pointed out as common) is unacceptable. On the SAT, singular is always singular and plural is always plural. On the SAT, it would have been written as "his", "her", or "that teacher's."
I know it's anal, but that's just how the SAT is. |
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