Korean Job Discussion Forums

[canukteacher]

Of course, the choice is yours but I think you should stick it out. If you can't, then give the proper notice.

I'm in the GEPIK programme and absolutely hated my first six months. I was ready to quit every day. This second term has been better, and while many of the GEPIK conditions are still not to my liking I signed a contract, and I will honour it.

The fact that you taught large groups of young learners for a year doesn't look good on your resume??................Come on. Many employers will look at that and see a flexible, motivated, professional teacher.

Jack, I'm not sure about these sinister plans. The thing is, anyone who resigns will be leaving for vacation and home leave very early in August. That doesn't leave much time for them to be sinister. Now, for those who don't re-sign it could be a different story. Those who decide to leave will be here until August 22nd. Anything could be planned.


CT

[turtlepi1]

[quote="Plume D'ella Plumeria"]About GEPIK...while it is true that there are some pretty unhappy campers out there, it is equally as true that there are also some pretty happy campers as well. As is always the case, they are the silent ones, passing their days in their silent contentment. It must be remembered that many of the GEPIKers came from hakwons; bad ones in the main, and next to those, GEPIK with all its faults, looks like paradise found.

Or maybe not.

/quote]

I actually don't believe this...I'm not saying you are wrong, I'm just saying I don't believe it. I love my current job. I can scream it from the rooftops.(I'm not in GEPIK, or even Korea these days). I have met a lot of people working for GEPIK, and while not all of them HATE it I would be hard-pressed to find anyone to stand up and say they love their job.

I'd actually be happy to be wrong about this one.

Now as for the mass exodus, a lot of the people I know are working for what seem to be some of the better schools. They don't love their job, but as of last word it looks like at least half of them "feel" like they will re-sign for a second year.

What about you Grotto? I haven't put you on the feel like re-signing list quite yet...make any sort of decisions or waiting for the final word on vacation schedules and perks?

Personally I think the foreign teachers screwed each other over to some degree. I don't think they should have met with the GEPIK admin with a "list of demands" but since the Koreans were "stupid" enough to bring the teachers together, the teachers should have been "smart" enough to organize themselves a little better and used the "we want to stay but...". Life in Korea is about negotiations.

At least if the teachers that re-signed had negotiated side deals I could at least take comfort in the fact that they were greedy.

[scarus]

Firstly, thanks to those who can see where I��m coming from. In defense to those who don't i say the following....


1. In terms of a year here looking good on my c.v, i disagree. In a recent interview i was told that maybe i would be more suited to teaching YLs. After a whole year of this then i shall be even more suited.

2.The reason that it shows i can stick to a job by staying in Korea. I don't agree with that either. In my view why should somebody stick with a job if there is someone better waiting to employ them? If i can get a better job, then i figure why not.

3. Yes i already knew i would be teaching large groups when i signed the contract. Did i know how i would like it... no. As it turns out i don't. I like the money, the country isn't too bad, but generally it is not as good as I��d hoped. This can't be helped. The truth is i want to leave, if i do is not the point. I am. it is just the way that i do it that i am undecided about.

4. In terms of the school year not having too long left... well yes, that is true, i am happy to see it through to the summer, but many EU jobs terms start in September/October. I want to be ready to start those terms, and to be honest, can't be arsed waiting till next year, even if i will get all my holidays, flight, bonus etc.

In terms of "if u stay 6 months u don��t have to pay the flight". well my contract says if i leave at all then i must pay. which means more, contract or what u tell me. I hope is the latter as that is something less to worry about.

In terms of paying the settling in money. I am in 3 minds about this:

Mindset one (the one where i am a bastard)
I have not been given much support in this job. By this i mean being backed up on discipline decisions, often asked to do things which are impossible/unreasonable etc. I am meant to co-teach with a Korean teacher. They often leave me to teach the class alone. I don��t mind doing this. It is just the students who are getting buggered as they only have 1 teacher instead of two. It makes the whole point of having the native speaker teacher worthless, or at the very least, it is devalued.
In addition to this there is the plain unethical "well if i don��t get caught" excuse. If I��m not going to be chased, why not....

Mindset 2 (the one where i play it fair)
Plain and simple.... i sighed a contact saying i would pay the money. I agreed to this. Therefore i should. I also give my 4 weeks notice (which would be at the end of term, i don��t even have to work for the month of notice).

Mindset 3.....i pay the money, but don��t give any notice ensuring I��m not screwed in any way. I walk away knowing that i did half the right thing


so... all ask is this....
1. Can they/will they chase me if i leave without paying (i don��t plan on returning to Korea)?

2. My holiday pay. Whilst maybe not law in Korea, in many countries you accrue holiday pay (e.g. 2.1 days per month). This is a fairish system. You leave early, you don��t get all your holiday pay. You stay the year, u get it all.

So is it fair to say that most of you would be very surprised if the school took more than the \500000 of the settling in money?

Also��I would have given 4 weeks notice, but those 4 weeks are in the summer holidays, so do u think I will get the months pay, or not?

Thanks again to all who have helped me try to think this one through.

[Plume D'ella Plumeria]

All I can tell you, Turtle, is that I have communicated with, in one form or another, people within the GEPIK system, who have been quite happy with it. Granted, I haven't been in touch with some of those people in a while and perhaps things have changed for the worse. I do remember back last fall when I was still plugged in to the GEPIK group through Yahoo Groups, that there were, amongst the whiners (plenty of those to be sure), people who spoke up and said that they had good gigs and were satisfied. GEPIK certainly has its annoyances and I don't think that anyone would dispute that. I simply don't think that it is as black and horrible as some are painting it. No one (that I know of) is shouting from the rooftops about how wonderful GEPIK is (it isn't) but I also don't think anyone is about to leap from a rooftop because of GEPIK-induced misery.

And yes, I agree that the foreign teachers may have unintentionally screwed themselves/each other. I wish we had been able to organise ourselves and present a united front to the GEPIK administrators. I was pushing for it for awhile, got very little response and finally gave up. I would have loved it if we could have gotten a solid majority together and told GEPIK in no uncertain terms that we would be back only if certain conditions were met. Why did this never happen? (And please, Grotto, don't tell us once again what a bunch of spineless wimps we all are. That's shallow and simplistic and I suspect that the truth is far more complicated than that).

[thepeel]

[JacktheCat]

[crazylemongirl]

[Cherry Ripe]

The OP has a point about the timing of a contract. When working in Korea on a Feb to Feb contract it makes it difficult to shift to another country or even another job in Korea if their contracts start August. At some point you'll have to break a contract. It's difficult taking 6 months off (assuming you were to complete the contract then wait until the next August) - I have come across employers who require CURRENT experience. Also, quite a few universities in Korea only want to employ people who are residing in Korea.

I think life's too short to stay miserable in a job you don't like. It's just a job. Go for the job you want and good luck!

[Plume D'ella Plumeria]

Thanks for sharing, Jack. I think.

Seriously though, I did some checking around here and no one has heard of any mega-camps. Not that that means much in this last-minute culture. Were they to actually come about, I wouldn't care much one way or another. A camp is a camp. I WOULD care very much though if vacation days were yanked away due to that, and I think every other GEPIK teacher would care too. I am fairly certain that if that happened, there would be quite the outcry (I would be right out there on the front lines) and who knows? Possible mass resignation?

I am learning to take GEPIK rumours with a large grain of salt. One hears rumblings and grumblings of things that never come to pass. The latest whisperings that GEPIK is going to ease up a bit, I also take with a grain of salt...and yet there is a flicker of hope, that thing that springs eternal, fool that I am.

[scarus]

well... to answer those fo u who see korea as the best place to work for, and think that working fora public school is great there are other options.

check out international house or maybe (if u ra brit) the british council.

fair enuf to work for the council u do need celta + 2 years.. and preferably a delta, but for those who do they should have a go at it.

look at the jobs on https://trs.britishcouncil.org/internetSSL/indexmain.html

[Sleepy in Seoul]

To the OP: this is a contract you signed, in full awareness of the details. The boss is not trying to screw you, you are not losing money, you just have some problems with things that you were aware of from the beginning. The contract and the situation have not changed. Fine, if you want to leave, then do it the honourable way - give notice and leave.

I can understand people who do a midnight run if their boss is screwing them in some way or treating them like dirt. But I cannot understand anyone who wants to do a runner simply because they don't like their job anymore. If you are afraid of being stuck in jobs teaching children, you should have thought of that before voluntarily signing a contract that locks you into a job doing that for 12 months.

If you do a midnight run in this situation, you are the bad guy. Period.

[scarus]

wasa load of crap. maybe i was a bit daft to sign it, but i did. I have since found out that it wasa load of crap.

one bit was about repaying the flight if i quit at all. Nothing about stay 6 months and u dont have to pay it, which as i understand is law (please correct em if i am wrong).

there were other clauses, which having read sites like efl law, i have found to be suspect.

the contract said 24 hrs a week.. they wanted 30 when i arrived for no overtime.. the contract said only 20 -30 kids in a class... when i arrived there were 40-50.... the contract said i could take vacation at only 1 week notice, thsi was also a load of crap...

so.. without boring you... the contract was crap. Yes i signed it, but they have tried to break it on numerous occassions.

One of main reasons for wanting to leave is due to the way the kids are treated. every day i see them get hit, pretty hard. Whatever your views on corporal punishment, mine are that its not right. I feel that by working in the school, i am in some small way, endorsing it.

In terms of trusting them to pay me what i am owed at the end of the month.... i dont to be honest. Why is this?

well b4 coming to kotrea i read up on this website... in many posts peopel warn of being screwd over. few peopel talk about the honesty of korean boss. My decision has been influeneced by these posts, and from talking to other teachers.

I do realise that by giving no notice after only 5 months, and leaving money to cover my bills/settling in money etc.. does make me the bad guy, but in this situation i am happy with that.

[steroidmaximus]

by the sounds of it, you're a pretty young inexperienced teacher. My apologies if I'm mistaken. If my assumption is correct, sticking out a job for a year, especially one like what you've got, will only help you later.

There will be plenty of other 'great' jobs that come along, don't worry about that. If you do plan on quitting, I wouldn't necessarily include it on your resume, since serious employers dislike seeing teachers that hop around all the time. . .that is, if you begin to make a habit of it, because you found a 'better job', then another better job etc etc etc.

[iguanab]

I am a licensed teacher and I have been working in Korea for almost 3 years. The last year and a half I have been working for a public high school and have found it to be a great place to work...

I think the key to finding a good public school position is to NOT go through a recruiter and definitely DON'T go through any of the "programs" - Epik, Gepik, or whatever. If you can find a school that is looking on its own, you will have a much greater chance in gaining extra vacation, better hours, better pay, etc.

Also, be aware that many "public schools" are actually private schools which contract out to the public. While Koreans, in general, think the private schools are better, be aware that the bottom line in the private schools is money...and most of the people I have known who have worked in them have been worked to death ( an exception to this has been foreign language high schools, but I have worked in a private foreign language high school and really detested their need to control every aspect of my teaching, despite the fact they paid well above average). There are a few decent private schools around (especially at elementary level) but try very hard to get the name of the previous teacher, if possible, to check out how it went for him/her. Also be aware that Korean teachers in private schools seldom have teaching certificates, and many are trying to pass the teachers' tests to get into the public system, where they can have greater job security and protections.

What I am trying to say is if you can get your foot in the door without a program or a recruiter, you have a much better chance of getting a good position....more vacation, better hours, and much better working conditions.

[UncleAlex]

So, the kids are being beaten with sticks! Are you the one who has been
doing the beating and as a result suffer from a guilty conscience. Or are
you the one who has been getting the beatings from Korean teachers or
the students. Perhaps you're upset that the beatings are done with some-
thing primitive, obsolete, and unsophisticated - a wooden stick. If that's
the case, I would resign without giving any proper notice.