Korean Job Discussion Forums

[some waygug-in]

I think most newbies would be doing themselves a huge favor if they would spend some time reading through the tales of woe on some of the various

blacklist sites around.

Granted, some of these tales of woe may be exaggerated, but 1 thing is sure:

as a newbie in Korea you would probably feel the same way in a similar situation.

Take what you read with a grain of salt, but be aware of what could happen.

Read some horror stories first and then do some inner soul-searching.

See if you really want to get yourself into this mess, or at the very least

prepare yourself for the reality if you do proceed.

http://blacklist.tokyojon.com/

http://hagwonblacklist.tripod.com/public_html/list.html

http://hagwon.reliableteacher.com/knc-hyunjae-language-school-seoul/

http://teflblacklist.blogspot.com/2007/01/tefl-jobs-in-korea-esl-jobs-in-korea.html

http://esllist.com/

http://hagwons.com/find-a-hagwon-reviews.php?Form_ID=180

http://eslwatch.info/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=15&Itemid=8

also good:

http://www.efl-law.com/korea.php

[PatrickGHBusan]

I think reading these things can be a good idea but the grain of salt that was mentionned should be a gigantic dose of caution.

Also, these stories do not represent the reality of teaching and living in Korea. They show ONE side of what COULD happen. Keep in mind the vast majority of people who are happy in Korea will not bother to share their stories. People with a gripe, legitimate or not, tend to be more vocal.

Furthermore, the same thing needs to be said about these sites, each time someone pops up on here and recommends them: the stories on there are unverified testimonies made by one person and often in an emotional state of mind. That means that you can reasonbly expect a lot of exageration and sometimes pure fabrication. I told this story many times but I know a guy who trashed a school on one of these sites a few years ago. His story was false and he invented a lot of crap. Hoiw do I know? I worked at that school and knew people there. They guy was a raging alchoolic who had violent episodes. Still, that rant of his got on one site and the school was trashed online. Thats just one story. Sure some stories are true, some are partially accurate and some are made up by people who could not handle living abroad and are looking for someone to blame.

I agree with the OP however that any prospective teacher should do a bit of soul searching before making the decision to move abroad. Every applicant is responsible for doing their own research, reading up, getting factual information and then being able to make an informed decision.

Korea is not hell, nor is it paradise. Some teachers get a bad deal, many more have a great experience and one thing that cannot be ignored is that mindset and personality are critical elements in how any foreign teacher does in Korea.

So by all means, newbies should do their homework before going to Korea.

[some waygug-in]

I suppose we could argue all day about how much of these stories are true, and to what extent they represent the greater population of FT's in Korea,


Regardless, it does happen to some. Do you want to be part of that some, or do you want to do your homework, find a better school and be part of those that are satisfied?

Especially helpful: the efl-law site, read the deceptive practices link

and learn some things to watch out for.

Good luck.

[PatrickGHBusan]

As I said: do your homework and accept that moving abroad will come with some unexpected challenges and a need to adapt.

If you cannot handle that, best stay home.

[radcon]

[PatrickGHBusan]

[northway]

These are a nice resource, but they do often draw on the worst of the worst to write their reviews. My hagwon is pretty solid across the board, respects labor law and pays on time, supports the foreign teachers in pretty much everything, yet I've found it on a few blacklist sites due to one crazy teacher who lost it when she was fired. The reasons for her firing? Frequent profanity during staff meetings, combined with demanding a week off to go on a mission to India with two weeks notice beforehand. They ultimately gave her the week off rather than risk going a long time without a foreign teacher, but that occurred in her tenth month and she was fired in her eleventh. Yes, it was an eleventh month firing, but not without cause. Even so, if you do research on my hagwon at this point, it's going to look bad, despite the fact that pretty much everyone that has ever worked there has been pretty happy with their experience.

[radcon]

[PatrickGHBusan]

Some get cheated radcon, you will get no argument from me on that!

However, as northway posts illustrates you have to be real careful about "online testimonies" on blacklist sites.

While I have not met every teacher in Korea, I sure met a lot in 11 years! I also noticed something at all my other jobs: most people are ok or happy with their work and thus do not feel the need to say it. The minority who are unhappy as louder and as such get over represented in the minds of many.

[Chimie]

Man, read that first website, and nearly laughed. The things it said about some of the universities in Japan... it was quite humorous. I wouldn't take just about any 'blacklist' serious. Ever. If you want to know about a school it's a lot easier to just talk to some of the current teachers.

From most of the things I've seen here, people tend to exaggerate the negatives and understate the positives. This board seems to be filled with Negative-Nancys who absolutely hate everything about Korea.

Not to say that there aren't negatives here, but this is one of the most pessimistic, negative, and apparently just -angry- expat communities I've ever seen...

[Dwenjoen88]

always watch out for the schools (usually after school programs) that want to hold your bank book. Some schools/recruiters will say you have to give them a bank book (where all the tuition goes) then pay you into a second korean account.
their basically committing tax fraud.