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Korean Job Discussion Forums
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Weigookin74
Joined: 26 Oct 2009
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 Posted: Tue Aug 13, 2013 10:31 pm Post subject: |
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| Julius wrote: |
| schwa wrote: |
| goat wrote: |
| World Traveler wrote: |
| That's why we need to start encouraging newbs not to accept 2.1. |
I agree 100%. |
Easily said, but entry level teachers really dont have any negotiating weight to throw around. The market has spoken. The pool of applicants is deep. |
Turn a job down, someone else gets it.
Your protest makes not a jot of difference. The employer will instantly forget you exist and call the next resume on in their pile of 10 billion applicants.
Funny how the guys recommending that some unemployed person must take a moral stand...are quite safely ensconced in their jobs saving away.
The fact is...2.1 is no bad thing.
2.1 is better than china, vietnam, thailand, or any number of other esl destinations.
2.1 is better than what other migrant workers to korea get.
2.1 enables you to save more than many people on even higher salaries back home.
2.1 Enables you to pay off your student debt.
2.1 is more than the average korean salary.
A year of 2.1 enables you to spend a year of loafing in SE Asia.
2.1 is better than living off your savings.
2.1 in a place you enjoy is better than 3.1 in a place you don't.
Base pay has not even twitched in the past decade.
And its not going to until the market dynamic changes. Until that happens, best not be getting delusions of grandeur. |
Really? At how many years? I think you will spend the next 10 to 15 years paying off your student loans at 2.1 million won a month. 2.1 is crap and shouldn't be accepted. Guess there's a lot of stupid people out there. If everyone collectively stopped taking those offers and held out for something better even if they had to wait two or three months, eventually everyone would benefit by higher wages, including themselves.[/quote] |
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schwa
Joined: 18 Jan 2003
Location: Yap
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| Posted: Tue Aug 13, 2013 11:31 pm Post subject: |
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| Weigookin74 wrote: |
| If everyone collectively stopped taking those offers... |
Yep, thats gonna happen. |
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World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
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| Posted: Wed Aug 14, 2013 5:54 am Post subject: |
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| Maybe it could happen. Instead of ridiculing those who are trying to make a difference (no matter how small), why not support them? Instead of assuming there is nothing that could be done, we could brainstorm for ideas. |
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Julius
Joined: 27 Jul 2006
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| Posted: Wed Aug 14, 2013 6:00 am Post subject: |
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| Weigookin74 wrote: |
| 2.1 is crap and shouldn't be accepted. |
The fact is most newbies aren't even worth 2.1. Sorry.
You're telling me some wayward 20 year old frat liability with zero work experience and zero foreign culture experience is worth 2.1 and a free apartment... just to talk their own language and get hammered every weekend?
The tragedy is not that newbies make 2.1. Its that korea does not pay experienced or qualified people any better.
Sure, many korean vets make more, but its only by working more hours or supplementing their base wage with other incomes. Not because korea pays for quality.
| Quote: |
| If everyone collectively stopped taking those offers and held out for something better even if they had to wait two or three months, eventually everyone would benefit by higher wages, including themselves. |
Ok so now lets return to reality.
The only reason thousands of people would simultaneously refuse 2.1 is if they all got higher offers elsewhere.
Look around you. Is China, vietnam, cambodia, spain, france, thailand or poland or anywhere on earth offering clueless hapless greenhorns 2.5M plus their own free apartment? Are they even offering that to people with education degrees? |
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So Sincere
Joined: 04 Apr 2011
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| Posted: Wed Aug 14, 2013 7:22 am Post subject: |
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Just thought I'd chime in because I made 2.1 for my first gig in 2011-12. I lived in Cheonan, which is a little cheaper than Seoul only because there's less stuff to do or blow money on there. (Lots of screen golf on the weekends). On the other hand, I frequently took the KTX to Seoul, and ~28-32K round trip certainly made it feel as if I was on a Seoul type of budget.
Anyway, my saving target was 1M won/month ($850-920), but I wasn't obsessive about it. If I spent a lot one weekend then I'd just lay low for a couple of weeks. After it was all done and my contract was finished (received all appropriate "bonuses"), I left Korea with just under $15K and an interesting experience. |
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Weigookin74
Joined: 26 Oct 2009
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| Posted: Thu Aug 15, 2013 2:33 am Post subject: |
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| Julius wrote: |
| Weigookin74 wrote: |
| 2.1 is crap and shouldn't be accepted. |
The fact is most newbies aren't even worth 2.1. Sorry.
You're telling me some wayward 20 year old frat liability with zero work experience and zero foreign culture experience is worth 2.1 and a free apartment... just to talk their own language and get hammered every weekend?
The tragedy is not that newbies make 2.1. Its that korea does not pay experienced or qualified people any better.
Sure, many korean vets make more, but its only by working more hours or supplementing their base wage with other incomes. Not because korea pays for quality.
| Quote: |
| If everyone collectively stopped taking those offers and held out for something better even if they had to wait two or three months, eventually everyone would benefit by higher wages, including themselves. |
Ok so now lets return to reality.
The only reason thousands of people would simultaneously refuse 2.1 is if they all got higher offers elsewhere.
Look around you. Is China, vietnam, cambodia, spain, france, thailand or poland or anywhere on earth offering clueless hapless greenhorns 2.5M plus their own free apartment? Are they even offering that to people with education degrees? |
No one says Korea has to hire them if they want to complain about them. There are older, more experienced waygooks here too. |
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Weigookin74
Joined: 26 Oct 2009
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| Posted: Thu Aug 15, 2013 2:34 am Post subject: |
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| schwa wrote: |
| Weigookin74 wrote: |
| If everyone collectively stopped taking those offers... |
Yep, thats gonna happen. |
As I said, a lot of stupid people.... |
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byrddogs
Joined: 19 Jun 2009
Location: Shanghai
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| Posted: Thu Aug 15, 2013 3:08 pm Post subject: |
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| Julius wrote: |
The fact is most newbies aren't even worth 2.1. Sorry.
You're telling me some wayward 20 year old frat liability with zero work experience and zero foreign culture experience is worth 2.1 and a free apartment... just to talk their own language and get hammered every weekend?
The tragedy is not that newbies make 2.1. Its that korea does not pay experienced or qualified people any better.
Sure, many korean vets make more, but its only by working more hours or supplementing their base wage with other incomes. Not because korea pays for quality. |
There is a lot of truth in these statements. Most likely a high percentage of newbies have pretty much no qualifications to teach; online TEFL doesn't count. I'd say the wage/package is reasonable and even generous in a lot of cases.
I also agree that qualifications and experience aren't rewarded enough.
I'm doing well working at a Korean school where I am these days outside of Korea without supplementing my income. I could certainly do that if I wanted, as I work the standard 190 day school year with plenty of paid time off. I like my free time more though. |
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Allthechildrenareinsane
Joined: 23 Jun 2011
Location: Lost in a Roman wilderness of pain
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| Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 12:19 am Post subject: Re: Is 2.1 a low starting salary for Seoul? |
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| young_clinton wrote: |
| Allthechildrenareinsane wrote: |
South Africans are exempt from paying into the pension scheme in the first place, so their take home pay is higher. |
The overall pay for South Africans would be less if it's a public school. You pay half, the school pays half and you get the complete refund at the end of your stay in Korea.
As far as the goal of 1200/monthly. That will be easy. Just don't splurge too much.
Also 2.1 is generally the starting salary for an inexperienced teacher. |
I meant that their take home pay per month would be higher, not their end of year salary (which would include the contractually stipulated bonus as well as the pension refund for those eligible for it). |
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OneWayTraffic
Joined: 14 Mar 2005
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| Posted: Mon Aug 19, 2013 3:36 am Post subject: |
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| Weigookin74 wrote: |
| schwa wrote: |
| Weigookin74 wrote: |
| If everyone collectively stopped taking those offers... |
Yep, thats gonna happen. |
As I said, a lot of stupid people.... |
I don't think you understand market forces. There are people out there for whom 2.1 is an opportunity. It's in their interests to take it, because if they don't someone else will.
It's a bit like saying that the housing crash in 2008 was caused by stupid people who were willing to sell for a loss. If no one sold for a loss, then the market wouldn't have dropped right? |
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Weigookin74
Joined: 26 Oct 2009
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| Posted: Tue Aug 20, 2013 10:52 pm Post subject: |
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| OneWayTraffic wrote: |
| Weigookin74 wrote: |
| schwa wrote: |
| Weigookin74 wrote: |
| If everyone collectively stopped taking those offers... |
Yep, thats gonna happen. |
As I said, a lot of stupid people.... |
I don't think you understand market forces. There are people out there for whom 2.1 is an opportunity. It's in their interests to take it, because if they don't someone else will.
It's a bit like saying that the housing crash in 2008 was caused by stupid people who were willing to sell for a loss. If no one sold for a loss, then the market wouldn't have dropped right? |
I understand market forces all too well. A recovery is far from taking hold, but things are not as dire as they were either. If a youngun can spend another couple of months in their parents basement waiting to get a better offer and contract rather than taking the first offer they get, wages offered wouldn't be so piddly. Patience is key here kids!!!... You'll do better for yourselves if you learn this..... |
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Weigookin74
Joined: 26 Oct 2009
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| Posted: Tue Aug 20, 2013 10:59 pm Post subject: |
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| OneWayTraffic wrote: |
| Weigookin74 wrote: |
| schwa wrote: |
| Weigookin74 wrote: |
| If everyone collectively stopped taking those offers... |
Yep, thats gonna happen. |
As I said, a lot of stupid people.... |
I don't think you understand market forces. There are people out there for whom 2.1 is an opportunity. It's in their interests to take it, because if they don't someone else will.
It's a bit like saying that the housing crash in 2008 was caused by stupid people who were willing to sell for a loss. If no one sold for a loss, then the market wouldn't have dropped right? |
How many sold at a loss versus walked away from their homes? If banks had of let people renegotiate their mortgages, they wouldn't be sitting on a lot of properties that they A) can't sell and B) have plummeted in value due to being neglected and no one maintaining them. Oh well, they're stupid too. Guess all those executives with their Harvard and Yale degrees aren't as smart as we all use to think they were.
I believe in free enterprise strongly, but I don't know what that stupidity in business thinking was all about. Between giving loans for half a million dollar homes to folks making 10 bucks an hour to banks issuing "liar" loans where there were no credit checks all in a bid to push up sales. You really would have though the bubble would have crashed sooner or later. Moral of the story, since banks are partially responsible for that mess, they should have owned up and agreed to reduce payments and some of the mortgage value. They didn't and are now sitting on a lot of worthless properties. J@cka$$e$ and stupid people!! |
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