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Korean Job Discussion Forums
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prosodic
Joined: 21 Jun 2004
Location: ����
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 Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2004 8:52 pm Post subject: |
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YBM's basic contract is available online:
http://www.ybmhr.com/sample/sample.asp
You may want to review it and see if you have any questions you want to ask during the interview.
I wasn't on a contract when I worked for them. I did a short term gig (legally) on an F-class visa. |
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seoulonmind
Joined: 25 May 2004
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| Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2004 8:58 pm Post subject: |
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Yes I have read their website and contract. I just want to make sure I get them to provide the housing. When they provide the housing isn't it supposed to be like 5 minutes from the school you teach out?
Did you ever work more than you were suposed to? And if so did they pay your overtime like they were supposed to? Sorry for all the questions but after reading all the horror stories, I want to get some good sound information. I hope I can go on my own. Is navigating the city and looking for jobs on your own all that hard since signs are in Korean? I heard some are in English....example....subway stops etc |
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prosodic
Joined: 21 Jun 2004
Location: ����
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| Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2004 9:06 pm Post subject: |
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| seoulonmind wrote: |
| prosodic wrote: |
| seoulonmind wrote: |
| I would have to have a round trip plane ticket. I cant fine one for under $1000 |
Where do you live if that's the best you can do? During the off-season, it should possible to get a flight from the U.S. eastern seaboard for under $700. During the peak season for under $900. From the U.S. westcoast, under $600. |
I live Arlington, VA, so I would fly out of Dulles Airport of Baltimore. I looked on expedia, and all those airline ticket websites that are suposed to give good deals. I put in the date for August though. Maybe it will be Different in Jan. |
Call four or five of these travel agents and see if one of them can get you a better price. They're Korean travel agents based in the Chicago area. The majority of their business is U.S. to Korea so they're constantly looking for good deals. They'll answer the phone in Korean. Just start talking and they'll switch to English.
���� ����� 800 233 7603
�ż��� ����� 800 808 8186
���� ����� 800 222 3586
������ 800 526 9910
���� ����� 800 621 5131
���� ����� 800 621 6566
��Ʈ�� ����� 800 621 7021
�Ƹ�ī ����� 800 621 8657
�ݵ� ����� 800 222 5888
�� ����� 800 942 8373
�ѹ� ����� 800 762 1973
���� ����� 800 392 1267
���̽� ����� 800 930 6363
���� ����� 800 721 1723
�Ե� ����� 800 422 4152
abc ����� 800 561 8420
��� ����� 800 451 1440
����� ����� 800 711 3737
�ϳ� ����� 800 962 8044
���뿩��� 800 321 1821 |
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prosodic
Joined: 21 Jun 2004
Location: ����
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| Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2004 9:09 pm Post subject: |
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| seoulonmind wrote: |
Yes I have read their website and contract. I just want to make sure I get them to provide the housing. When they provide the housing isn't it supposed to be like 5 minutes from the school you teach out?
Did you ever work more than you were suposed to? And if so did they pay your overtime like they were supposed to? Sorry for all the questions but after reading all the horror stories, I want to get some good sound information. I hope I can go on my own. Is navigating the city and looking for jobs on your own all that hard since signs are in Korean? I heard some are in English....example....subway stops etc |
Don't sweat the small stuff. Who cares if your apartment is 5 minutes away or 20 minutes? As long as it's not more.
They'll pay overtime as stipulated in the contract. There are things in their sample contract that I don't like, but it's a good, safe environment for a newbie. |
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seoulonmind
Joined: 25 May 2004
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| Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2004 9:14 pm Post subject: |
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thanks prosodic, Ifeel more confident about YBM now. One last question, What were some of the questions they asked you on the phone interview? I would like to be well prepared and not blindsided.
Bri |
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prosodic
Joined: 21 Jun 2004
Location: ����
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| Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2004 9:23 pm Post subject: |
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| seoulonmind wrote: |
thanks prosodic, Ifeel more confident about YBM now. One last question, What were some of the questions they asked you on the phone interview? I would like to be well prepared and not blindsided.
Bri |
This was back in 2001. I was in Seoul doing other things and decided to work for a month. I walked in and showed them my nice, shiny F-class visa. They took a quick look at my MA and asked if I could start a few days later. You might have a different experience. Try reading this:
http://www.eslcafe.com//forums/korea/viewtopic.php?t=8776 |
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mindmetoo
Joined: 02 Feb 2004
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| Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2004 9:40 pm Post subject: |
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| prosodic wrote: |
| Unfortunately, I hadn't learned the value of saying "No." Before I knew it, I was teaching 6 different textbooks 8 or 9 hours a day every month. I made a lot of money with overtime, but I got burnt out. |
Ah yes. You do have to learn how to say no from time to time. I began to notice, working in the software world, that people would claim something was impossible. I would discover, however, it wasn't impossible. Just hard to do. Telling a non-techie manager "that's impossible" shut them up. They could get their mind around "impossible".
I, however, would think "hrm it's very hard to do but I guess I could do it." Then the challenge became finding ways to write scripts that automated the hard to do. That ended up being fun and it confused their PERT charts when I suddenly seemed to be able to do the work of two or three people simultaneously. |
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Grotto
Joined: 21 Mar 2004
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| Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2004 9:47 pm Post subject: tbm |
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ybm is a nice safe starting place.
They supply housing, you can ask for single accomodations...I recommend it. They may try to get you to agree to shared accomodations but it is up to you.
Garaunteed paydays.
When I worked for ECC I got paid overtime for any and all teaching outside of my regular hours. I went with the kindergarten class to Min Sok Chon a couple of times, they paid travel time, time at the folk village and bought lunch. A pretty good deal. |
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chronicpride
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2004 9:48 pm Post subject: |
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| seoulonmind wrote: |
chronicpride:
Are you saying that I have to know how to read and write in English or Korean? I am assuming English. How much do I need to go over myself. I would have to have a round trip plane ticket. I cant fine one for under $1000 and then I hear I need like 1 or 2K to live on. I am not sure I will be able to have all that cash when it comes time for me to go. Also, I am worried about navagating around to the Hagwons since signs are in Korean, are they in English at all, can you get directions from people on the street etc. I see myself getting there and struggling to figure out how to get to the job because I cant read the subway or bustop in Korean. I lived in Spain for almost two years, but I was intermediate Spanish then. Comments?
Thanks
Bri |
You don't need to know any Korean, but learning the Korean alphabet is easy and it would be good practice for you to read up on it before you come over. Many things are in english and korean. Subways. Buses. Check out www.flightcentre.com and try to find a cheap round-trip ticket. After August is when rates go down. If not, buy a one way ticket to Korea and before you leave, contact www.kangsantravel.com and buy a cheap boat ticket to Japan. Have them email you the itinerary and proof of purchase. This will act as proof of onward travel when entering the county on a tourist visa.
Make pre-arrangements thru me or other people on this board, to meet up with you when you get here. Or find where the local hostels are, stay there for a week or so, check out their job bulletin boards, and mix/mingle with other foreigners and swap stories and job search advice.
You can budget 200-300,000 Won/mnth in cheap accommodations. I'm currently staying at a goshiwon (small rooms with bed and desk, originally meant for students cramming for law exams.) in Gangnam and I pay 200,000/mnth. That's all I need, as I'm seldom home and just need a cheap place to crash and shower. Or you can negotiate a hotel room (yeogwon) for 300-400,000/mnth. Maybe less. This will obviously require some in-country help. So I can help you or you can ask around on the board, depending on which area of Seoul or Korea that you are aiming for.
For food/expenses/transportation, factor in a budget of 20,000/day, until you get used to eating Korean and buy a rice cooker. The goshiwon idea is good, as they provide rooms, showers, free rice, laundry facilities, etc...You just show up and unpack.
I'd factor in 800,000-1,000,000 Won (excluding plane/boat tickets) to well cover your needs for a month and have some emergency cash. But you will likely have a job well before the month is up and can get a payroll advance from them, if needed.
One of the first words in Korean that you should learn to read and speak should be 'waygook-eo hagwon' or 'yong-eo hogwan', which mean foreign school and english school, respectively. Or more exactly 'waygook-eo/yong-eo hagwon odee-issayo?', which is asking someone, where is a foreign or english school. After knowing what signs to look for, you will quickly realize that there are tons of schools everywhere. About 10 times more than you would ever find on the net. Especially in high-traffic areas and intersections.
If you make some pre-flight connections with other teachers, maybe a few select recruiters, hit the hostels for resources, and gain familiarity with looking for schools when out walking in the streets, you will have interviews within your first week and you can finalize your options in the week after that. Unless you have a lot of hang-ups and are ridiculously picky, you will be settled within 2-3 weeks.
Last edited by chronicpride on Thu Jul 15, 2004 11:45 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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seoulonmind
Joined: 25 May 2004
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| Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2004 9:56 pm Post subject: |
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chronicpride:
Thanks, that is GOOD advice. I appreciate the offer to meet up with me when I get there for some assistance (I do not know ANYONE in Korea) It seemed to me that thte Korean alphabet was a bit difficult to learn, but I have not looked into it too much yet. I will PM you when I know more about when i am going to make the trip over.
B |
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seoulonmind
Joined: 25 May 2004
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| Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2004 10:11 pm Post subject: |
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I thought that this seems like a good and cheap place to stay if you need one, and nice too
http://www.gomyhome.net/topEN.html
I am not trying to advertise, but I came across this site and was thinking about staying there if I come on my own to Korea.
Bri |
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Zenpickle
Joined: 06 Jan 2004
Location: Anyang -- Bisan
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| Posted: Tue Jul 20, 2004 4:19 am Post subject: Hangul -- Korean Alphabet |
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Before I came here, I took a Saturday morning to see if I could start learning the Korean alphabet.
In two hours, I had it down pat. Of course, after learning it, you have to practice it to make it more natural for you. The first thing I did was go to the Korean McDonald's site and translate the menu.
When I got here, it gave me a much needed edge. I was a better reader than some of my friends who had been here for three years.
Here's the site that taught me hangul in two hours:
http://www.langintro.com/kintro/
These days to practice, I read signs going by while on the subway and try to read the hangul in Korean infomercials. The ultimate test was last night hanging with some female Korean teachers at a noraebang, and one puts in "Chingu-yeo" by Cho P.D. Since I was the only male there, it was expected of me to try to RAP in Korean. Even though far from... well... mediocre, I was impressed by how quickly I could read it off the screen. And I've only been doing this for six months. |
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insamsaram
Joined: 16 Jul 2004
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| Posted: Tue Jul 20, 2004 11:01 am Post subject: |
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hi seoulonmymind,
I'll be headed for Korea for the first time too...maybe in late Sept. Having read many of the threads here over the past week or so, I'm feeling the anxiety too. My situation is slightly different because I've been trying to learn Korean for the past couple of years or so (albeit on my own with no classes). I simply wasn't brave enough to go before.
Also, I will buy my own plane ticket, enroll in intensive language classes at Ewha or Koryo...and look for a job when I get there. I wish you all the best. Personally I'm finding that the information on this site is extremely useful though at times a little unnerving.
I don't know about you, but I'll be leaving a job here that I absolutely love which pays more and has zero stress. I hope Korea works out for us!
Just curious, why are you going to Seoul? I mainly want to learn the language and experience something new. |
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