Korean Job Discussion Forums

[dcrayne]

Just wondering if it is important to be a "superstar"? At the Uni a work, the students say hi to me and treat me with the same respect all professors are given. You can't compare a good Uni job to a good HS job.

[Smee]

Well, if you constantly need that sort of positive reinforcement from minors . . . bravo your life.


But BigBlackEquus I appreciate your posts in this topic. Something I and my friends have realized as we apply for jobs in Fall, 2006, is that your average university job is overrated and not worth the competition.

[Hotpants]

An interesting topic.

I think that it's possible to have a good job in Korea whether it's with kindies or uni students as long as you pick a GOOD SCHOOL. A good school means that you enjoy being there, have responsive students, good perks, and have respect from your employers. Such schools are few and far between, but they can be found. So far, I can count myself lucky with my selected schools. Yeah, perhaps LUCK is the key word, here.

I think uni teachers still have on average less work than a regular hogwan, and can therefore save themselves a lot more mental and physical energy by the end of a working day. Also, many unis are more permitting that staff can just turn up for classes and have the rest of the day off. I'm sure most of us are at schools which require attendance all bloody day long regardless of whether we have any function during our non-teaching time there or not.

Importantly, as some of the above posters have mentioned, Korean educational institutes are prone to going through changes in the contract terms for foreign employees. I've also had a good job which went bad after some new reforms got swept in by the whim of some parents who had too much power. And, terms just ain't seem to be getting any better as each year passes by. Quite the contrary. Quite frankly, I don't think you can count on any job for life here - a stability problem if you have a Korean spouse and kid. You have to come here being flexible for any change that can be launched upon you during your contract period. A good school will allow you to negotiate a bit, but you really can't count on anything as a surefire guarantee. The whole system is lamentable for anyone with decent teaching qualifications or at least anyone who is committed to wanting to do a good job.

[Yu_Bum_suk]

A very good post indeed. I can say that everything BBE says about high school has been true for me. I feel like I'm part of something in a way I never have at any other job. Would I throw it all away for 12 hours a week of teaching top uni students and four months a year paid vacation? Well, I guess I would. But even though I've only been here for eight months I can see that leaving would be incredibly difficult and my VP has already pulled me aside and had a little talk where he said he wants me to stay 'many year' and get settled in this town. Given what the competition must be getting like for the best uni gigs I can see that happening. I spend most of my waking hours at school but when it's a school like mine I really don't mind.

[BigBlackEquus]

For reasons I don't quite understand, my Superstar comment has been misinterpreted by a few as me expecting to be treated as such (or something??).

I am just telling it like it is (or at least, was for me). At a high school, the kids love you, scream at you from across the street, run to you in the halls, etc. My comment wasn't an attempt to prop myself up, or say that I was in love with this sort of thing. I'm just telling it like it is. Some people may hate it. Well, then you might not want to teach at a high school. At a uni, you aren't really treated in the same way. I'm simply commenting on the day-to-day goings-on.

I don't need to be treated like a superstar to be happy. I will be honest and say that I do miss going to work and being greeted so happily and kindly each day. It was nice. I'm not afraid to say I miss that sometimes.

[Kimchieluver]

I'm with EPIK and teach middle school. I have turned down two uni gigs because of the pay cut. The vacation offered was 12 weeks at both. They had a private pension plan. They didn't want to pay anything for housing. It was not negotiable. The jobs were mine, but if I didn't want to accept their terms, they had 40 other teachers more/less qualified than me to take my place (I was recommended by friends).

I love teaching at middle school. My students like me (most of them) and I get respect. The teachers respect me and I am one of them. I go for lunches with them on weekends. Get sloshed the occasional time with some of them.

Would I take a Uni job? Yes, but the ones that I would take are almost all but extinct.

What can I say? I love my job.

[Lemonade]

[Lemonade]

[Kimchieluver]

Lemonade,

I spend quite a bit of time preparing lessons. However, I think it is safe to say that you might/are doing more prep work than me. I get OT. I have at least 3 extra days off each month because of school functions. My vacation on paper is 4 weeks per year. Off paper it is about 3 months. Sure I have to do some camps and stuff during the breaks but the amount of work is so negligible it is not an issue.

The Min of Ed pays for my airfare home and back every year. I have F2 status so I don't worry about visa runs, if I did however, I could do them on my paid holiday in my own country.

My apartment is nice. 20 pyoung and it is mine. EPIK pays me a housing allowance. My pay is about 3.1 net. My students look forward to my class. I don't have to mark papers or grade the students. I have autonomy in what I teach.

I don't have my own office, but I love shootin the **** with my co-teachers during breaks. I get severance. I don't expect the boys to tell me they love me. The girls sometimes do though. I am not knocking uni jobs, but I know uni teachers that are wishing they were back in the public school system (although not many from EPIK).

I see the Uni jobs advertised. If you are in country, that's all you get is a visa run paid for. The rest like your airfaire home and back each year is not included.

Each to thier own, Lemonade

[Yu_Bum_suk]

I just got this email from a friend I haven't heard from in a while who quit an EPIK job to teach uni (I don't think he'll mind me passing it on). It says quite a lot about how Koreans shoot themselves in the foot all the time. The issue that triggered everything was him demanding he take a week off to be with his mother in NZ who was undergoing surgery and had no close relatives nearby.

Well, I got rather a rough time from ____________ U, I
left in storm, and they didn't pay me a whole month's
wages. I think I mentioned at one time, that they
re-interpreted the contract when they wanted; well
they re-interpreted it one time too many for me.

I was really at odds with the middle management there,
but since I was the most qualified foreign teacher in
the department, when the shit hit the fan, upper
management tried to bend over backwards to save me. By
that time, it was an impossible situation.

Anyway, I returned to New Zealand for the Summer [Winter], got
a few part-time jobs to ensure cash-flow, and flew to
Japan for some interviews in January. I scored a great
job at __________ University, so here I am in the land of
the rising yen. Stopped over in Thailand for a few
weeks on the way here for a April start. Thailand is
such a refreshingly liberal country compared to the
f*ck*d up sh*thole of Korea or even the anally
retentive nature of Japan.

[Kimchieluver]

Yu Bum Suk,

Middle management is one of my only complaints about EPIK. You got so many supervisors in so many positions just aching to make a name for themselves. Some want to re-invent the wheel and you are going to be the first tool they use (it actually does seem that way).

I know a lot of EPIKers who are not renewing. EPIK does shoot themselves in the foot. Speaking of shooting, EPIK is a crap shoot. You can either get lucky or get Ffed. I got lucky.

Nice to see you on here again. I have been away because of lack of interest. However, today has been an exceptionally boring day.

[BigBlackEquus]

[Yu_Bum_suk]

[Kimchieluver]

Yu Bum Suk

Well EPIK will say that you are teaching whatever level students you want, wherever you want, until your are almost finished orientation. Then they will stick you where ever they want. If you don't have an F2 you are literally screwed out of you airfare money. The pay is predetermined. I am Level one- the highest. I know a fellow with 11 years teaching experience (Ihave 4.5) and is level 2. Unless he gets a TESOL or TEFL certificate they wont bump him up to level one. Some supervisors just don't care about what the contract says. Most do, but some don't.

Some supervisors will insist you stay from 8:30 - 4:30 and come in on days when there are no classes. The whole "you are a civil servant thing", others don't. Some EPIKers never meet their supervisors. Many just deal with the Vice- Principle and only have to work with him/her. Some (like me) meet all sorts of education officials.

Anyways, I love my job. No complaints here, but I can tell you a lot of my friends are not renewing. Some because of EPIK, some because of Korea and some because of the small towns they got stuck in two to three hours from where they were told they would be teaching.

[Kenny Kimchee]

BBE, if you could have:

a) your current uni job
b) your old HS job with the old terms (i.e. beau coup vacation)

Which would you take?