Korean Job Discussion Forums

[kblstar]

how is everyone? any tips on where to work? last time i was in korea ybm/ecc was ok, but pay wasn't that great, and free housing was a dump. But! the money was always on time!
planning picking up teaching again in feb, so please! anyone! your feed back will be appreciated...

[gi66y]

That question is a wee bit too general to reply to directly....

Check out the jobs online and decide who/where you want to teach...kindy, elementary, middle, high, school, adults? Then talk to teachers at prospective schools before signing a contract. They can answer questions about housing, working conditions, etc..

On a side note: Was there actually a time when YBM/ECC was known as a good place to work?

[Real Reality]

gi66y wrote,
"Then talk to teachers at prospective schools before signing a contract. They can answer questions about housing, working conditions, etc."

You may try this suggestion. If you talk with someone at the prospective school, try to insure that the person has been there for more than two years. If no one has been there more than two years, then you may learn something about the school from this fact. The school probably has retention problems for a reason.

If you can, look around yourself.

Do you want to work in Seoul or Busan? If you work outside of these cities, then you may run into more problems and inconveniences.

Employer Rankings
1. National Universities
2. Private Universities
3. Colleges
4. Private schools - large chain
5. Private schools
http://efl-law.com/danger_ranking.html

You may think a school is great but watch out. Even universities do the following:
a) unfair dismissal
b) failure to pay wages
c) accommodation problems
d) give contracts with penalty clauses that breach the Labor Standards Act
e) offer 10 month contracts designed to avoid the issues of vacation time and severance pay.
f) indicate that future contracts involve substantial pay cuts for some senior teachers and ceilings on terms of employment.
EFL-LAW.com
http://efl-law.com/universities.html

[SuperHero]

[oneiros]

[kelly]

I've been working at the same hagwon for two years, getting out now, but it was ok for a while, getting 2.7 million, can't really complain about that!!

[gi66y]

me too, going on three years at the same hagwon....I'll leave when I find a better deal... I'm still looking

[jajdude]

[justagirl]

A year and 6 months for me at my school. Leaving in November--can't really beat a 4-day work week (Mon-Thurs) and I get to work with some great kids.

I think if the teacher you talk to can't tell you what's bad about the school, then it's a little red flag. There's always something, and if the teacher won't tell you, be careful. That's my "sage" advice.

[kermo]

I don't know where this falls on the ranking, but some of us are having lots of fun teaching English class in Gyeonggi-Do elementary schools through GEPIK. The overall feedback I've heard has been good, and I'm having a lovely time.

I'm not sure if they're still accepting applications, either, but if they need to replace teachers this year, it's worth a shot. They offer as much as 2.3 million a month, +100,000/month for a rural school + a 300,000 settlement allowance, and plenty of cash for furnishing your apartment. Sweet deal!

[teachingld2004]

everyone had differnt reasons for liking where they work. Location for one. Salary for the other. And hours. But one thing I have learned, what is good for one is not good for the other. Some teachers love one school, others hate the same one.
Im on the second year here in my hogwon. Pay is low, but the school is great, pay is always on time, boss is super, apartment is great, and I can walk to two beaches in less then one hour, or cab it for 3,500 won in 10 minutes. I can walk to beautiful places, and the air is clean. But if u like the city and like the night life and the bars, you would not be happy here. And I may stay year number 3. I have peace of mind here. Thinking about leving for more money, but this job suits me, So to each his/her own,

[Kim Jong Jordan]

I just got offered a job at ECC in Seoul. Not too impressed with the contract, like how the director says "only 96 hours not 120!!!!" and then states in the contract that they can ask me to do "non-teaching" related work, on top of the specified administrative duties that I would also have to do. Add to that saturday work and only 1.8 won and I'm not too confident.

[insamsaram]

don't forget international schools. they are great if you can get in on an established one. most pay $30-40,000 for starters depending on qualifications and experience. another plus is that they will really treat you well and have foreign directors and principals. Also, the founder must have a foreign citizenship (our founder is Korean but has US citizenship). so, you won't get jerked around and you can live the high life.

[SuperHero]