Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Us in DC]

I know I have been on here forever talking about various positons and so forth and I appreciate all the feedback people have given me so if you could just bare with me for one more:

I got this offer and I feel like it might be a good one but I have some concerns, cheifly, there are spread hours. We would begin work at 10 and then end work at 8 and have breaks in between. This sounds draining but the director seemed great, relative to others I have spoken with. She spoke English, her and her husband both lived in America for 15 years together and teach classes at the hagwon. So all that sounds great. The contract sucks, but from what I hear contracts are only as good as the director who signs them so...

What would you do? It is the standard 2.0/10 days vacation/2 bedroom apartment (we're a couple)/free weekends etc. Should I take a job with crappy hours and a seemingly cool director or keep looking and potentially end up with a crappy director who screws us on the hours anyway.

BTW - I have heard the theory on looking for work in Korea and not blindly signing a contract from overseas but there is just no way that we can come up with the money for the move, the flight and the living expenses for a month of looking for a job and a month waiting for a paycheck - not gonna happen.

[FUBAR]

Directors always sound cool prior to signing. They are trying to sell something to you, that being their job position. Get the hours spelled out a little more specifically, maybe in 3 hour blocks. Otherwise you and your bf or gf, might be spending a fair amount of time apart.

[Us in DC]

Yeah I know they try to sound cool but she actually teaches at her own school - is that worth anything?

The hours would be 10:30 - 11:00 am (kindergarten - he wants to teach it I am not that thrilled)
2:00 - 6:30 on T & Th
2:00 - 8:30 on M, W, Fri

For 2.0 won

What do you think of that? Is that fair?

[casey's moon]

2 to 8:30 is really long, especially after already working in the morning, and the pay doesn't seem all that great...

[Us in DC]

I guess my other really important questions are

should I expect the hagwon to tell me what my hours are going to be before I sign? because every contract I have seen says the same thing: "insititute will schedule according to needs and parent request..."

should I ever sign a contract where it says I have to repay my airfare or the recruiter's fee if I quit or am fired?

Also, should I harp about contracts in the first place?

[chronicpride]

[captain kirk]

The kindy is a 'freebie' you're throwing in, and it's going to annoy the hell out of you. A six hour block is the usual. The director is all nice, and wanting you to work together with her, blablabla. But it's still work, and kindy is the toughest job of all, IMO. That one hour in the morning will, at least it did me, either set you up for loving everybody or its opposite. Blathering, insensible, wound up chatterboxes first thing in the am; you're wise not to be thrilled.

[manlyboy]

In business (especially the hagwon business), when you get the feeling you're being screwed, you usually are.

[No L]

Is the 2 million/month based on those hours? Or 120 hours/month, 30/week as most contracts are?

If you get over time for those hours above 30 a week, it sounds o.k. Every week has built in overtime. If there isn't 19 000/hour in overtime, ask for another 270 000-300 000 a month because you'd be ripped off. Split shifts can be okay, but extra hours without pay ... no way.

[bosintang]

[PECisDplace2B]

[Gollum]

[Us in DC]

We are not showing up broke. In fact, we will show up with about $2,500. The issue is that if I showed up with that same amount w/o job, we would need $1,600 for air and then only have $900 until our first paychecks which would be what? 4, 6, 8 weeks? I don't know. That's a huge risk.

So is taking a job from a recruiter. But if it sucks at least I am there and if I have to get them to sign over my papers and pay back the ticket I will cross that bridge when I come to it. I realize all of that is easier said than done but so is showing up with that amount of money for two of us and finding job in a country where we know no one and don't speak the language.

[chronicpride]

You do know that most places will give you pay advances, right? You can even get that written into your contract. Plus you will get your airticket reimbursement, after signing.

I would rather deal with the initial uneasiness of coming here without a job, than signing blind overseas into a dump for 12 months.

Why don't you set up appointments with a half dozen recruiters and as many schools as you can find, line them all up in your first week here, and come on over?

Lots of people do the same.

This is the best board for advice on coming in on your own dollar. Ask away.

[Gollum]