Korean Job Discussion Forums

[dominic]

Poly is a terrible company to work for. Ive been in korea three years so now give me any bs that im korea bashing because im agreeing with princess. Ploygave me an interview, said i had to start work at 1:00 and finish at 9:00 pm which i though was very funny. The housing was 45 mins away from the school and i asked why is it so far away, the reply was, that's where the director bought it, i said u mean the director is so cheap that he cant buy housing in Mok dong, near the school. then I said, ok lets talk about pay, and she said we are offering you 1.9 for working from 1-9, i said u must be joking, i have three years exp. and she said well we dont really care what u have, and i said that salary is too low for my experience and she said that nothing was negotiable and i got up and walked out of her office. They also false advertise, because their ad said 2.3-2.7 million a month depending on exp. but what they meant is that if you're at poly for 25 years straight, then they'll give u 2. whatever. SO i said that's not what the ad said and she said nothing. the last thing is that you're actually teaching real english text books, like very thick difficult to teach american books, which im sure most of the korean kids have problems with it because they arent native speakers, and the book was designed for native speakers. IN a nut shell, i dont know who princess is but i agree with her, all ploy locations are a few bricks sort of a house.

[kylehawkins2000]

So, you haven't actaully worked for them.....but you are bashing them anyways....interesting.

The way I see it, they made you an offer. It was an offer you didn't like, so you refused it. Did they do anything wrong? I don't think so. It is a free market. If they are low balling you on pay and benefits it may be because they did not care to offer you more. The offer I had was very attractive and I really thought about accepting it.

Really, I'd prefer to hear from people that actually work there. The only things I've heard from people that have worked there are generally positive.

[Bound in Bundang]

Dominic - Dude!

Are you the guy who showed up for an interview wearing shorts and a T-shirt? Dude!

Are you the guy who met one of the Poly teachers in the courtyard outside the school, and claimed that YOU were inteviewing THEM? Dude!

Are you the same guy who said, "Prep time? What do I need prep time for? I just show up 5 minutes before classes and start teaching." Dude!

[Derrek]

I've been watching the job ads for a long time... mostly just for fun, but currently to search for a job.

I have also seen/read posts by Princess for several months now. Although she does sometimes seem a little angry at the Korean establishment, and perhaps easily inflated by the crap that is thrown her way, I don't see why she would fabricate something out of thin air like this.

POLY is advertising all of the time. I am always suspect of schools that need to advertise constantly for teachers. It makes me wonder if people don't want to stick around. Also, their ads seem very picky, and honestly, make me not want to even apply there no matter what the pay. Usually the higher-paying schools seem to treat their teachers better -- but who knows in this case?

It's obvious that POLY has employed some sort of damage control campaign in this thread. I'm in the job hunt now (in Seoul), and every Hagwon but one in Bundang has either misrepresented their ad, or outright lied.

This is why, once again, I am not accepting any school without seeing EVERYTHING in advance. Even then, you still can get screwed, as happened to me when an employer pulled out after I signed a contract and took my vacation trip to the USA. Now I'm paying for my own hotel until I find something.

When it comes to Korea and Hagwons, they are all guilty until proven innocent, in my opinion. Bad way to look at it? Maybe. But it is a heck of a lot safer.

[BTM]

Interesting. I've applied at the Gangnam branch, and don't know yet if I've been shortlisted for the job they advertised recently. We shall see.

I hope you're mistaken, Derek - it sounds like a reasonably good job (though I'd prefer working at a university again)...

[rapier]

Stay away from that poly ho. she's got a real bad rep. She drinks herself silly every weekend in geckos and throws freebies for all the Gi's on the base.

[itaewonguy]

hahahahaha rapier you kill me!!!


the school has been tarnished!! it's too late!! it's over!!!
only a sucker is going to work there now after reading this thread!!

[CanKorea]

I've applied to a POLY branch and could possibly have an interview... seems to be a lot of bashing about this company. How much of it should I believe?

[Austin]

Can we look at this situation from another perspective?

Imagine a potential employee walking through the doors of a school and not appearing to be what they were looking for in a person to work for them.

Do you seriously think they would offer that person more than the minimum? What would Poly's motivation be?

Korean people tend to be far too polite when it comes to being candid with foreigners, so reading them accurately can dramatically improve your success here.

About a year and a half ago, I applied to Poly and they responded to my application and offered me 2.8 million (I ended up declining that offer, as a public school gig came up). Granted, I am not sure what type of applicants they usually receive, but most of the staff were spot-on at the time I applied, as I did my homework on the school!

Admittedly, being a certified teacher with public school experience in the U.S. and in Korea, along with university experience undoubtedly helped my application. However, I would like to think that it was my focus on the goals and outlook of the school during my interview, as well as my understanding of what was going to be expected that made the difference.

I understand exactly what Bound in Bundang was referring to in his post, as I remember years ago going to a group style interview for a weekend gig in Seoul and several candidates arrived in shorts and T-shirts. Many of us appreciated it, as it only helped to improve the rest of our chances (several of us that had come prepared ended up getting the gig).

Why should a person's appearance and attitude not matter when applying to Poly, when it matters at every other place?

They might have just made the right decision for their school with passing on D, which is not to say that he may or may not be a great teacher for some other operation.

I hope he finds his thing, but let us not confuse his perspective with that of what Poly truly is, a great organization.

[Jove]

I have been looking for a job for my second year in Korea and recently interviewed at Kangnam-Poly. Whether the school is good or bad (I didn't receive a job offer. I need Sept....they needed July), I don't know, but it looked like a promising situation for me. Plus they handed me an envelope with some cash at the end for my "time and travel." It was equivelent of what I would have made at a private lesson, which is a lot more than other schools I've interviewed with gave me (mainly nothing...even for 2 hour round trips to Bundang and the like).

So, knock them if you like, but a good organization starts from the top and the Princess sounds like a bottom-feeder.

[matthews_world]

One bash by a user on this board causes all sorts of negative replies by users.

Yes, you can take the advice into consideration but just don't go paint a school black because of the posts of a few people. Get the e-mails of teachers from the school and ask all the questions you can on this board.

Princess should have come back in this thread and give more rebuttle to her post. She's been on lately. Does she have the guts to discuss her damaging statement??

I sent a resume to the school in interest to their openings. Was contacted by them and found something else. I didn't get to research them more thoroughly.

With the English level of the kids, it seems like a pretty good place to work. I'm always up for teaching older students with at least some English.

Keep in mind that their is no ESL dream job in Korea. Each school has their own different crap to deal with.

[mary_73]

This is a fairly old thread, and one that I followed with interest from the beginning since I was considering returning to Korea and wanted to check out prospective school. I have now been working at a POLY campus for two months. I stumbled upon this thread again today as my supper is cooking, and I wasn't going to respond, but thought it was a good opportunity for someone who IS working at POLY to stand up and tell the truth. Is it heaven? No, it can be a lot of hard work. Is it rewarding? Yes, immensely. It is also completely in line with what I was told with my initial interview. Pay? The schools have set standards and criteria for pay scale. You earn more for teaching in the am, also you are compensated for experience and qualifications, regardless of where that experience was. One of the things that first drew me to POLY was their pay scale (hey, let's be honest), not JUST for the money, but I firmly believe that a school that truly values its teachers SHOWS them they are valued. In my experience so far, the school does this not just with money, but backs that up with actions, which is far more valueable in my books. The management is great, very helpful and willing to help out or get something fixed when the need arises. The school is a bit farther from the apartment that I would like, but hey, I had to travel more than 20 minutes to work in Canada, too. Other teahers? I have made great friends in my past schools, but I can honestly say that the teachers I'm working with now are definitely some of the best I've worked with, both in Korea and in Canada. We're virtually freak free (how many of you can say that?) Does this mean we don't complain? Heck no, we can spout off with the best of them, but all the teachers are caring, skilled, and conscientious, in their dealings with students, parents, and coworkers. As for POLY being tarnished and no one but a sucker would work here? Hee Hee believe what you like, this sucker is happy to be here. And judging by the number of teachers who have already resigned contracts, and the several more who are consdering it, I don't think I'm alone. Well, folks, hope I didn't ramble too much (even though I know I did, sorry), but I just thought that someone should take the time to state the positive.

[The Man known as The Man]

[matthews_world]

You do that bro! Whatever floats your boat.

[OiGirl]