Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ercan]

Is 1800000 a good salary for an English teacher at a university in South Korea? And what would be the tax on that?
I am asking this because I live in Japan and work here. This is less than what I get here but I have heard that living expenses are much cheaper. I need to make my decision very soon so I will appreciate if anyone can help me on this. Thanks guys and take care wherever you are

[J.B. Clamence]

How many hours are they expecting you to teach? How many weeks paid vacation are they giving?

[weatherman]

It all depends on how many hours a week you work, and the vacation time. If you average about 12-15 hours a week and have your summer and winter vacation free, then it is good. If you are working a lot lot more and have limited vacations, say 3 or 5 weeks, then it isn't great pay.

[sillyboy]

I'm just starting at another uni in seoul. I get 1.65 a month, + 300 for housing, so that's 1.95 x 12. I'll make another 400 a month for the 7 months that I teach.

So that's @ 2.35, - taxes & stuff x 7

and @ 1.95, " " x 5

plus 1.65 severance.

Hours: 10 reg. + 4 hagwon = 14.

Actually work 30 weeks, and am off for 22 weeks with no responsibilities whatsoever.

Share a big office w/computer, work 3 days a week, have insurance, severance, would've paid for visa run but I've an F-2.

Not wild about the pay, but I think it's about the going rate for such a job. Don't have masters yet, but will in a year.

Whaddya think?

Sillyboy

[Arthur Fonzerelli]

that's not a bad hookup sillyboy...

I work 16 hrs a week (undergrad spring/fall semesters) and get 1.9 mil...
I also work about 4 hrs of uni. hagwon (uni students) and get an extra 30,000 per hour for these classes... also have a little part time job that pays 45,000/hr which I do 3 times a week... My uni pays for my housing and utilities (nice cable tv, internet access)...

I also get 10 weeks of guaranteed paid vacation time (4 weeks summer, 6 weeks winter) and severance pay of 1.9 at the end of my contract...

I am content with my situation.

[BTM]

University in the outskirts of Seoul, here.

1.8 mil for 16.5 hours, four days a week. O/T at 25k per hour.
About 20 weeks paid leave in all.
Paid extra for two weeks of optional winter/summer session classes for uni students during each break.
Very nice apartment - about 30 pyung for me and my wife.
No severance pay, though.

Not fantastic, and they're starting to put the holidays-squeeze on (trying to institute required teaching of kids for three weeks during winter or summer, for example) as so many are, but I'm relatively content for the moment.

[rasta man]

2.0 for 540 hours/year which actually breaks down to 18 hours/week during the regular semesters. Wednesday's off. If we are not teaching 18 hours of reg classes then we can be asked to teach institute classes for no extra pay up to the 18 hours/week. Anything over 18 is OT only downside is if we work OT on the campus we live at they pay it either at the end of the semester or contract, if we work OT at our other campus in town we get it monthly.

Winters and summers are off. we can volunteer to teach an elementary teacher program for 40K/hour at our school or there may be other programs in other parts of the city we can work at for extra cash. We usually work 3 weeks of each break and double our salaries then.

Our school talks about adding an English Camp or hogwon classes for the students during breaks but everytime they try and start nobody signs up.

So far not bad we just reupped and it looks like everybody will be staying in Aug

[jsmac]

2.0 for 16 hrs/week (4 days/wk). 50% airfare, apartment. 4 months vacation, but must work some of that time for overtime (23,000/hr).

[kimchikowboy]

Deleted

[Arthur Fonzerelli]

Membership Training weekends at my uni usually consists of very little training, but alot of drinking, boozing, whiskey shots, beer chugging, and drinking some more... It's fun in the beginning, but it get's old fast...

[atina]

work out your wage to the hour- the going rate is about 30 per hour but the jobs are getting scarce cuz there are so many more "teachers" coming and accepting lower paying jobs which is making the wages go down

a fair monthly rate from a hogwan is about 2.2 plus benefits- but a lot of people are getting more so you should definately hold out for more

[Canadian Teacher]

In a university you need to weigh the whole package carefully. The most important thing is your hourly pay. For example, if you work 100 hours a month for W2.0m, you are making W20k an hour. If you work 45 hours a month for W1.8m, you are making W30k an hour. If is even more useful to figure it out over a year, ie how many hours a year vs annual salary.

One of the favourite tricks universities have is paying almost nothing for overtime. It should be at least as good as your straight time. Many pay only W10k an hour. BTW, anything less than 44 hours a week is paid at straight time.

Accommodation is a huge issue. Many universities will put you into a dormatory. It is up to you if this suits you. My university pays a generous housing allowance so we found our own place.

Even at a university, talk to the other teachers. There are some places that are nothing but glorified hagwans. Remember that children do not go to universities. Remember that all places have malcontents and brown nosers so talk to as many people as you can.

Good luck!

[kangnam mafioso]

i get 2.1, a free studio, 15 hours a week and 20,000 won an hour for any overtime (usually 0-5 hours), severance and pension, one month off in summer and winter plus two weeks of other holidays.

i know people who get 2.6, 5 months off, and only have to teach 12 hours a week. i hate them.

[PRagic]

3.6 for 12. No housing. Don't work overtime so can't help you there.

[schwa]