Korean Job Discussion Forums

[LizN]

Has anyone heard of this school? It has three branches in Daejon City. I can't seem to find any dirt on them.

I would greatly appreciate any comments.
Thanks.

[soviet_man]

"ELS" is a division of YBM. I am not sure whether Yang-G is a company owned branch or a franchise.

In general, ELS branches are usually for high school students and adults (no elementary) which is okay, but it also commonly results in some employees ending up getting bad split shifts (maybe 6am-9am and again 5pm-9pm). Be sure to ask about your timetable.

30 hours a week equals 120 hours a month. At 2.0 mil that is at the low end if you are teaching mainly adults. Other places could more commonly pay 2.0 mil for 100 hours per month.

In my experience, ELS will also calculate working hours and minutes exactly. They won't round up to the nearest hour. So at a minimum of 6 teaching hours (average) a day, they could potentially calculate it so you will physically have to be on the premises for 8 hours (or more) per day.

Also if an ad claims to have "3 schools in Daejon" perhaps they are also planning to farm you out to another branch of his on certain days of the week. It could even be to a kids hagwon, trading under his name in the same city. Be careful of this, as second or third locations will usually not be covered by your visa. I know this because it happened to me last year.

Another trick some ELS branches try to pull, will be to also give you 10 days vacation per year not based on a block vacation (eg. they will give 2 days here, 3 days here, scattered throughout the year) as long as it adds up to 10 days. Beware!

On the plus side, you will *probably* be paid correctly. On the down side, watch out for 600,000 won housing deduction clauses in your contract.

Having worked for ELS (not this branch) I would rate this job/school as being slightly below average. Daejon is also a smoggy inland city with few attractions. I wouldn't *settle* for this job unless you really, really, had no other prospects.

[out of context]

I worked at one of the branches for about a year. There were only two branches then, though they were talking about opening a third. Elementary & middle school students. Block scheduling (2:30-9:30). 1 pay hour = 1 class + 10-minute break. Mandatory 4-week winter and summer intensive courses. I only worked at one location. No housing deductions for my cubicle.

Communication between management and teachers was not great. Personally I wouldn't choose to work there again, but I survived my stint with my sanity mostly intact.

[Milwaukiedave]

ELS will deduct a housing deposit from your first 3 checks. That is standard for all YBM schools.

From what I've heard it's illegal to deduct deposits from checks, but I would double check that.

[lcridd]

just to make it clear for anyone else who is searching for this school in the future. only one guy on this posting knows what he is talking about. in daejeon the yang-g els schools are owned by a family and a family friend. they are all run a little bit differently.

there is no deduction taken for housing.

they are also not at all related to ymb.

the comment about good communication is true because all of the staff speaks excellent english. you could do much worse than this school. just ask questions. some of the branches require you to be there two hours early. some provide lunch and dinner for free from a restaurant of your choice (no joke). some have mondays off. in june 2005 there was 4 branches and another was thinking about being opened.

the only bad part is the intensives because they are manditory. your contract says you have to work a certain number of hours a week. most of the year, you will work less than this. however during intensives you might think the extra 4 hours a day will be all over time pay, but first you must reach the contracted hours before they start paying overtime. it comes about to about a million extra.

[SeniorEnglish]

One of my co-workers used to work there. There are 3 owned by the President of the hogwan association and 1 by his brother. By from what my friend was telling me, they want to control you completely.

The hours were 12:30-2:30 prep time, 2:30 to 9:30 class time. My coworker said during intensive, he was up til midnight grading papers. His time there was very stressful and taxing. The owner's wife is American, so no communication problems. You won't have to worry about getting paid.