Korean Job Discussion Forums

ETA · Joined: 15 Jun 2010

What is a ballpark salary range for someone working in a medium to large Korean city with a Masters degree & 3 years of teaching experience and housing already arranged by the school? 2.5 million-2.8 won and up?

Thanks for the figures!

kardisa · Joined: 26 Jun 2009 Location: Masan

What sort of job are you looking at? Public school, kindy, hagwon, University? Also, is that teaching experience in Korea or in your home country? Is your Masters degree English/teaching related?

I've never seen a kindy job pay higher than 2.3 (JUST kindy, no attached hagwon program), regardless of experience/degrees. I have seen hagwons pay those figures, but they're usually in bigger cities (think Seoul/Busan) or are something like Poly, where you will work 10+ hours a day. Those credentials would put you at I believe a Level 1 Salary for a public school, which was 2.3-2.5 mil in 2011. However, it sounds like EPIK is trying to get rid of people who command higher salaries...not hire them. Universities are also an option, but I don't really know anything about that area.

ETA · Joined: 15 Jun 2010

creeper1 · Joined: 30 Jan 2007

For a university, your masters degree will be an asset and you may be able to secure a job. Most unis won't give a job without an interview in person however.

You will get better vacation but 2.5 - 2.8 as a salary? I don't see that too often but you never know. I think you'd be lucky to get 2.3 - 2.4

As for the others, why should any hagwon pay you 2.5 to 2.8 when one foreign face is as good as another? Are you somehow going to bring in tons of business?

Expect offers in the 2.2 ballpark.

ttompatz · Joined: 05 Sep 2005 Location: Kwangju, South Korea

zombiedog · Joined: 03 Oct 2011

I'm on the market right now, too. And unless I'm applying for a job that requires it I've been leaving my MA and my previous Korean teaching experience off my resume. It's sad to say, but hagwons either don't care or seem a little skittish when they find out you spent two more years in a university.

bbunce · Joined: 28 Sep 2011

A Master's won't get you anything extra except at a public school. You are dreaming if you think you will get more than 2.4 plus benefits. However, recruiters will probably put you near the top of the list but only if you have your paperwork ready.

northway · Joined: 05 Jul 2010

CDI might get you more.

ttompatz · Joined: 05 Sep 2005 Location: Kwangju, South Korea

northway · Joined: 05 Jul 2010

ttompatz · Joined: 05 Sep 2005 Location: Kwangju, South Korea

Mr Lee's Monkey · Joined: 24 Oct 2007

northway is one of those posters here (there are a few) who will say the opposite of or take issue with anything Ttompatz says, just for the sake of it..... and whether or not it's factual or relevant. I am wondering if these friends making over 3 mil working 24 hours are on E2 visas, and also wondering about their benefit packages. No vacation.... do they have health care and pension benefits?

northway · Joined: 05 Jul 2010

Mr Lee's Monkey · Joined: 24 Oct 2007

I agree with you, northway, that no one (including Ttompatz) is correct 100% of the time.
The OP mentioned a position with housing arranged. If I understand what you've written correctly, that means CDI would pay 2.6 with housing, pension, health care, air fare, and severance. This is for a position working 4 days/wk and 24hrs/wk? That actually sounds like a good deal if I understand correctly.
I got lost when you mentioned "health insurance aside" . Can you clarify? If one included health insurance with pension and severance, does the hourly vs salary equation shift significantly and become less remarkable? How so. I really am trying to understand.
Sorry if I ruffled your feathers - again, the OP specified with housing arranged. Regardless, I apologize. I was remembering numerous other times when I felt as if you'd followed Ttompatz with a post that seemed more argumentative and less substantive or relevant.
If CDI pays 2.6 for 4 days/wk, 24hrs/wk (or 11 hrs/day), all benefits including housing, health care, pension, and severance - why wouldn't lots of people (including you) want that job? I'd appreciate hearing your insights.

northway · Joined: 05 Jul 2010

I'm not sure if the 2.6 is for the four day (24 hours) or five day (30 hours) branches, as they vary. I assume it's for schools that run all five days, but that's still better salary than you're going to get at any other hagwon (though, again, no vacation, so it balances out to some degree).

The difference is obviously less remarkable when you include pension and health insurance. Having done the math comparing starting at 2.2 to the starting hourly position at CDI where my friend was paying 400,000 a month for his apartment, it ended up being pretty much exactly the same money over the course of the year. This was in a 24 hour position. After his first year, however, he was able to get a raise of about 400,000 per month (trickier calculation, as they raise your per hour rate rather than a salary), whereas a standard hagwon would see you getting a raise of probably 100,000 per month. Suffice it to say, he was working less than your average hagwon worker while making significantly more (though he was uninsured).

When it comes to the housing thing, I think the standard is that they'll either give you 400,000 per month as a housing allowance or they'll provide you housing (which you will have to pay them rent on if you take the hourly option). I actually haven't heard of a situation firsthand where the school didn't provide housing in some way, shape, or form, and that's knowing people from three different CDI branches.

Another friend was hired with a year of experience in Korea from a few years back and two years experience in the Middle East and was able to work that into a position that compares to a standard position paying in the high-2.0s or around 3.0. We've compared overall yearly salaries, and he definitely wins over anyone else I know, save certified teachers.

It's worth noting that both of these guys come from very good schools; one of them is on CDI's list of schools they specifically look for, while another went to one of the top liberal arts colleges in the States. CDI is a company that will pay more for a name degree, unlike most hagwons that don't care whether you went to Harvard or attended University of Phoenix from your parents' basement. This may partially explain why they were able to get the money they were once they had some experience.

Why don't I want to work for CDI? I'm not big on 4-10 shifts. I'm not big on having no vacation (even if I am only working four days a week). I prefer having ownership of my classroom and of my materials, whereas at CDI you're given a pretty rigid curriculum from which to work and most (all?) schools have video and audio in the classroom, which your bosses will check (not just for liability or for parents to watch as in a lot of schools). I also prefer having younger students in an immersion environment to doing afternoon cram. There are a lot of problems with it. That said, it's something I'm considering for my next contract, as I think there's a good chance they'll offer a better pay package than anyone else will.