Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Qinella]

I have a meeting this weekend with a director for a hagwon in central Seoul. The location is nice, the director speaks excellent English, and everything he's told me about his hagwon sounds fantastic. It sounds like a great place to work, and hopefully our meeting this weekend will prove that notion correct.

However, I have two concerns.

1. The hagwon is only a year old. It has 3 teachers and 75 students. I'm worried this might be a situation like Joe Doufu talked about where the boss didn't have the money to pay him.

2. He's replacing his current foreign teacher before that person's contract has expired. He explained to me that the current teacher has "caused problems" that the teacher has supposedly admitted to. For exmple, he's overslept through about 10 of his (afternoon) classes.


So I'm curious about others who have worked for fledgling academies. Did it turn out okay? When we meet this weekend, I'm thinking about asking him to show me his financial records and prove to me that it shouldn't be a concern. Would this be too rude, or unacceptable? I'm also planning on getting more details about the current foreign teacher, from the teacher directly.

What do you think?

Q.

[jacl]

You lost me at "1 year" and "75 students".

[ontheway]

Working at any new business is risky. Yours is one year old but has too many teachers for the number of students. You really need to see some numbers regarding enrollment trends.

When I came to work where I am now, it was a new hogwan with zero students, we've grown and done quite well, but there's a lot of work and there has to be cash somewhere to cover start up costs.

On an accounting basis with three teachers and only 75 students, the school could be losing a lot of cash. Do they have paid office workers or staff. Do they have hogwan vans and drivers? There are so many factors.

I'll keep reading for details and pm you.

[Qinella]

[Big Mac]

I worked at a brand new hogwan. We grew to over 400 students within the year. We started with two foreign teachers and two Korean teachers and when I left there were five foreign teachers and five Korean teachers.

It worked out well and we were always paid. The co-director was rich though and was able to bankroll the place quite easily. The biggest issue I had was that the director had never really dealt with foreigners before and didn't quite know how to handle us. He tried to pull some tricks on the contracts and thought he could get away with it and quickly learned that foreigners are a little smarter than he thought. He learned though, so I give him credit for that.

I would be very concerned about the low enrollment at the school you are talking about. With three foreign teachers there should be many, many more students. It means there won't be a lot of money coming in and that could mean you won't get paid on time or that your director will be pinching a lot of pennies (or Won I guess).

[Ya-ta Boy]

I understand your concerns and desire to see the financial and enrollment records, but if I were the boss and you asked, I'd smile benignly while escorting you to the door. Then delete your phone number from my computer.

[Corporal]

Last year I worked for a year-old hagwon. It was not too bad because the physical surroundings were actually fairly new, in good shape, etc. Then again, enrollment was about three times what you mention. Eh, I'd probably still do it if everything else seemed good. Qinella, do you have an F2? I think having one makes me more likely to give places a chance.

[Qinella]

Actually I have an E2 visa.

Ya-ta Boy, what you said is certainly a possibility. I don't want to offend him. Perhaps I should just mention my concern to him and that would be enough to prompt him to show me what I need to see?

Big Mac, he has actually one foreign teacher and two Korean teachers, and he teaches. He did tell me that he's lost students due to the foreign teacher being a slacker (oversleeping through classes, and thus probably not a very good teacher), so that might be important. Perhaps when I get there I can help boost enrollment through special events or whatnot.

Anyway, thanks for the advice everyone. I feel a bit more confident about what I need to do.

Q.

[Yu_Bum_suk]

I think asking to see the financial records would be a bit much. What matters more is how much he's worth personally and wether he's willing to bankroll a long-term prospect that is only growing slowly or is stalling. I think talking to the other teacher, getting his side, and figuring out how you're likely to be treated is much more important.

[Qinella]

[ulsanchris]

ask to talk to the foriegn teacher and the korean staff. Find out how long the korean staff have been there. see if the korean staff have good english. I think having good korean staff is more important than to the success of a hagwon than the foriegn staff. If the korean staff have been there since the beginning then that is a postive sign.

[Sliver]

[Qinella]

Everything you all are saying, the do its and the don't do its, I agree with. It's going to be a tough decision. This Sunday, I'll meet the staff, and hopefully get a chance to talk to the American teacher alone. One thing the director told me about the hagwon is that they have an English only policy, even when they go out to eat. So when I'm out with everyone, I can feel like I'm included. At my current hagwon, the teachers speak Korean almost always, which is good practice for my listening skills, but somewhat taxing. Come to think of it, if the director takes the teachers and students out often, that must be a good sign for both atmosphere and finances. They're having a big lunch with the students this Saturday, actually, which I unfortunately won't be able to attend.

Hey Sliver, I didn't really understand what you said in Korean. The first sentence contains "�����ڶ�", which I have no idea about. The second sentence says the constant stress will wear on my nerves?

Thanks,
Q.