Korean Job Discussion Forums

[robot]

what do you want, just a warm body? because that's what you get for 2.0.

any decent teacher with experience would find that wage offensive. and any newbie could easily hold out for more.

but you're right, a huge chunk of the teachers in korea are crap, and i certainly wouldn't want to pay many that rate either.

however, your school is destined to continue getting crappy teachers and likely being a crappy school unless you offer a proper wage. you must spend money to make money.

the best teachers are also business-minded professionals who can sell the course they teach, draw more students, expand, build powerful programs, turn heads. they're not a dime a dozen, though, and that's why they're well-paid.

for 2.0, you may get lucky and bag someone green but awesome, but most likely you'll get some backpacker who has no idea what he's doing boring your students to death.

good luck!

ROBT.

[Homer]

double post

[Homer]

As someone mentioned, fewer people are coming to work here. The word is out, from Cape Brenton to California. Korea is not an easy place to live. School owners are nasty and want slaves- not workers. They promise things and often don't deliver. People get put in jail and fined huge amounts after being chided into bar fights by locals. Immigration people show up in little vans with red lights on top to haul you away for not jumping through their crazy hoops and getting the proper paperwork. Not to mention for doing privates, which are legal everyplace else on this Earth, that I know of. Even US and Canadian Embassy websites all but say, "DO NOT BOTHER COMING HERE."

And now back to reality....

The shortage of teachers here is mostly due to:

a) Higher number of jobs being offered in Public Schools (usually better conditions vs hakwons)

b) More competition from China (this is only increase).

The "reputation" of Korea would only have a small impact on the number of applicants. Most recruiters I know mention that they have as many applicants (even more) vs previous years. The problem they are having is too many jobs being offered and a hard time placing at hakwons with the public school positions opening up left and right.

As for the question of privates....the act of teaching them is not necessarily illegal...it becomes a question of income tax or of undeclared income....that seems to be illegal in most places in this world...

As far as I know the Canadian consular affairs does not say don't come here.....it says do your research and know what you are getting into before coming here....slight difference and that advice is actually basic common sense.

People get jailed for many reasons...how about getting busted for drugs? This happens here...the laws here are extremely clear and penalties quite severe for drugs..yet, every year a few foreign teachers get busted while crying "but its only pot". People also get jailed for fraud (using fake credentials) or undeclared income (tax fraud) is that Korea's fault as well? Well partly it is as they should screen degrees better and make it easier to register private lessons and declare income...yet the rules are crystal clear, if a person chooses to break them then they are rolling the dice.


As for the OP....the pay you offer is somewhat low. Also, you are in the boonies which may make it harder to get a teacher. I agree that no teacher would really argue for lower pay!

[Karabeara]

Ah, the Canada embassy comment was not correct. They do say this, however:

"Keep in mind that there is no shortage of teaching jobs in Korea; you can be selective in your choice."


http://www.voyage.gc.ca/main/pubs/korea-en.asp


As for the word being out about Korea, I stand by what I said. The treatment of teachers here has made the news back home. Especially for Canadians, where it was printed in the media. I'm not Canadian, but I heard about it from my Canadian friends. Korea is gaining a poor reputation.

Everyone who comes here from another country, and leaves, is like an ambassador passing information to friends and family. Just read some of the links below, which are a mix of newspaper articles and blogs, to get a feel for what type of things are told to those back home. People who are interested in finding a teaching job in Korea come across this stuff every day when they research coming here. It does have an effect on quality people coming here. It likely does not effect the people who are desperate, and more likely, the bottom-o-the-barrel types:

http://www.discovervancouver.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=43030

http://www.cbc.ca/manitoba/story/mb_korea-20051014.html

http://www.nowtoronto.com/issues/19/29/News/feature.html

http://eflgeek.com/index.php/eflgeek/comments/why-you-should-not-teach-in-korea/

http://seamonkey.ed.asu.edu/~jonb/warning_letter.html

http://theseoultimes.com/ST/?url=/ST/db/read.php?idx=2529

http://joongangdaily.joins.com/200305/23/200305232353030009900091009101.html

http://www.lilithgallery.com/articles/2005/DONT_teach-english-in_SouthKorea.html

http://esl.about.com/b/a/2003_10_28.htm

[Homer]

double post...again...php error...

[Homer]

Karabeara,

What you said about the information floating around online is true. I do not dispute that this has some effect on applicants...however, that impact seems to be very limited as I mentionned most recruiters I know are receiving more applicants than last year but this is still not meeting demand hence the shortage.

Also Korea does not have the cultural pull China or even Japan has on people wanting to teach in asia.


The online info flows both ways...there are many blogs and other types of forums where Korea is presented well. I still think this would have a minimal effect and would not be a deciding factor for the number of applicants.

Basically it is too many jobs being offered and an ESL market that is becoming more and more competitive everyday.


as for this:

The treatment of teachers here has made the news back home. Especially for Canadians, where it was printed in the media. I'm not Canadian, but I heard about it from my Canadian friends. Korea is gaining a poor reputation.

You are most likely refering to the Globe and Mail article that was published last winter or fall about canadian teacher being arrested in Korea.

That article was published and then the journalist was basically trounced for using less than credible sources and quoting out of context. The news event had the lasting power of a fart on a windy day.

[Karabeara]

Several links added above, Homer.

Again, Korea's reputation around the world is damaged. People are coming and going from this place every day, and most of what I hear from people who are going isn't good.

Again, those are just a few links I found when searching about teaching in South Korea. Anyone searching the net will run across such information as this from multiple sources.

Are you telling me this doesn't have an effect on the job pool here?

[princess]

[jacl]

[ontheway]

The number of English teaching jobs in Korea is increasing rapidly.

The number of English teachers coming to Korea is increasing, but at a rate slower than the number of available jobs.

Korea is also experiencing some price inflation these days as the government is once again expanding the money supply.

As a result, teacher salaries are rising in the market and employers will have to pay more.


Some teachers who have already signed a contract at a lower salary might argue that other teachers deserve a lower salary in order to avoid feeling foolish for accepting lower pay or to avoid feeling inadequate in comparison to the higher piad teachers.

As to salaries outside of Seoul, they are generally lower, because people who hate big cities will gladly take less money for a quiet, clean, peaceful lifestyle, and because the cost of living is so much lower that they can save more money than people in Seoul while earning less.

[princess]

[Karabeara]

It could be that more teachers are coming, but not as many as would be coming, if Korea weren't blasted so much on the internet. I happen to enjoy it here, overall. If I was in a bad situation, my feelings would certainly be different.

Another thing to think about....

What would happen if Korea suddenly decided to end the public school experiment? A flood of teachers and lower pay at hagwons?

[Yu_Bum_suk]

[Homer]

Are you telling me this doesn't have an effect on the job pool here?

No. I am telling you that I think the effect of the things you mention is often made out to be bigger than it actually is, thats all.

[IwalkAlone]

Have to agree with Homer on this thread. Nothing personal against kara, I just don't see how we can assume that teachers should be pouring into Korea at a better rate than they are presently. All we know is what's now, and at this moment, there has only been an increase of teachers (just at a lower rate than jobs offered). To say there is a causation relationship between a theoretical rate of supply and criminal acts of hagwon directors seems a bit foolish.

But...since we are all speculating on this forum, I will go one step further and state that in my experience, teachers feel they are invincible. Basically, we each think we know what's up and can handle any pitfalls in our job. With that mentality, do you really think criminal acts of directors are really swaying the masses??