Korean Job Discussion Forums

[yuiop]

Watch out if you're applying to Chungnam National in Taejon! New director and new contract are hard to work with! Contract is 1,800,000 a month for 26 hours (with office hours)!!! New director sees HAGWON in future and treats his teachers like it too. They got new kids camp for summer and winter, plus school teachers camp. New contract has only about 10 weeks vacation in it (2-one month, 2-1.5 weeks). Schedule changes are frequent too and teaching is anytime from 7 am to 9 pm.

Not a bad job if your hakwon is crummy (been there, done that), but this is not the university experience you may think you're signing on to.

Anyway, beware - shop around! :(

[weatherman]

I think that university administrators, especially of the language programs realize that utilizing us as pure language instructors teaching a lot of classes is how best to promote English at the university. But I am shocked that they have you teaching 26 hours. 20 hours should be max, for over that, you really stop preparing fully, and begin to wing it more based on your past knowledge of the material. At least I find burn out at over 20 hours of teaching a week.

[jack_daniels]

26 hours!? Wow, sounds bad. I used to work at Chungnam a few years ago. I was paid about the same and only had to teach 12 hours. That's double the work now. Quite a drop in real terms. At the time I was teaching, they were talking about hagwonizing. They later combined the institute teachers and foreign English professors together. It sounded lame and a downgrading of my status, so I bolted. Glad I did. But to be honest, they had a lot of low quality foreigners teaching there. They had trouble attracting and keeping MAs and Phds so I guess they are going forthe lowest common denominator and the cash -- teaching kids, etc. Glad I am leaving Korea soon as this seems to be the trend everywhere. Good if you are unqualified, not good if you are a professional who wants to be treated with respect.