Korean Job Discussion Forums

[kr0525]

Hi!

I'm Korean American so have a work visa that allows me to work anywhere anytime. From January onwards I need a place to stay and a steady income. I've already taught for 1 1/2 years in Korea.

What would you do? SEVERAL PART-TIME JOBS OR ONE FULL-TIME JOB?

All teachers feel welcome to respond (gyopos and especially non-gyopos if you had this kind of work visa) about the pros and cons and any other additional thoughts.

Payment
-Full-time: housing stipend, and/or airfare, housing usually located close to the school.
-Part-times: Seems possible to make up for the difference and even make more but may end up running all over the city.

Relationship with students:
Full-time: Can establish a real classroom atmosphere, rules, effective discipline and control, etc. if seeing them on a regular basis (more respect?).
Part-time: Less monotonous allowing more time for creative lesson plans since they're not driving you crazy on a daily basis.

Job enthusiasm:
Full-time: Does it get monotonous and boring doing the same thing year round? How do you get over this?

Lesson planning:
Full-time: Usually work with one age group, i.e. kids or college students
Part-time: Maybe have a mix of many age groups so keeping on top of effective teaching methods for each group may be overtaxing?

Job security:
Full-time: Have a contract but heard those are basically worthless
Part-time: Do employers feel less obligated to keep promises since there's no contract? i.e. could work stop abruptly without reason?

Privates/additional teaching:
Full-time: Are you usually too burned out to do any additional work?
Part-time: Is it easy enough to find privates/additional teaching where ever I'll be living or only in certain areas? I prefer to work as close to home as possible.

"Non-Gyopo vs. Gyopo" preference:
Full-time: Most or practically all public schools won't take Gyopos, maybe universities too?. What's left? Hagwons.
Part-time: I'd have to piece together various part-time jobs which may be tricky anyways, then fitting in only Gyopo friendly employers may be more complicated.
...Although I see many ads specifically for one or the other. Are opportunities just about equal for both these days?

I'm really perplexed by this and thank you in advance for your feedback!

[Ya-ta Boy]

[PRagic]

Part time = no paid vacation. Nough said.

[saw6436]

I am currently working 4 part-time jobs. Each job is different with different demands / requirements. Frankly, I would never go back to working for a school on a full time basis. I love the flexibility and the variety.

True, I do not have paid housing (don't need it), paid vacation, school sponsored health insurance (on my wife's policy) or other "perks" from full time gigs. But, I control my pay and the hours I work. I do actually work alot of hours in a week (48 classes) but I get paid for each class and not some salary. Thus, my pay offsets any "downtime" I might have due to losing a gig or whatever. As to paid vacation, I havn't missed it. I just finished a 3 week break and havn't experienced any hardship because it wasn't paid.

If your comfortable being your own boss and taking a bit of insecurity I recommend going all part-time.

[PRagic]

I've always found that university jobs are the way to go, but only ones with fewer contact hours and fully paid summer and winter vacations. It is possible to work around a university schedule, and the hourly pay is better than most make on the 'outside' (think I'm at over 100K/hour for university lectures). Plus, during the summer and winter, you can load up on all the part time you want and still get away for a vacation....paid.

Another thing to consider is the long term. Yes, if you are comfortable being your own boss and juggling the work, go for it. However, the market changes, as do the laws, so you'll have to be prepared to roll with it. 10 years down the line, all those part time jobs don't add up to much on a resume should you, for whatever reason, want to shift careers or look for full-time employment. Guess I'm just playing the Devil's Advocate here, but it is something to think of.

Good thread. I'm sure many a person has thought about going it on their own.

[Horangi Munshin]

For me (because it all depends on the person).

I did part-time jobs for three years. I made a lot of money in that time (averaged at least 3.5M net a month. I worked at a kindy and two afternoon schools on different days. I had to travel a fair bit. I left at 8:30 and got home at 9:30 most days. Some days I could make it home for lunch.

In September I traded in the jobs for a public school position and I'm doing a few "extra classes". I make less but I'm home by 4-5 pm, I get a lot more time with my family and with the few extra classes I haven't taken too much of a hit in pay considering the extra time I have off and a hell of a lot more paid vacation.

[inthewild]

Any more thoughts on this, someone who's done it? It'd just seem like you'd make say 1.5 million a month without even trying hard with a few part times and the max you could make being much higher... given the hourly pay rate has a chance to be quite high...

[meangradin]

I'm in the several part time group right now. At this point I love the diversity of being at different schools, but as mentioned by a previous poster, I travel a many km's a day. Another thing I am geting tired of is the constant negotiating for wages and then having to collect on those wages. However, I make 3 times the average Hogwon salary, so I am willing to endure the "pimp" like feeling of being a free agent. I think in the near future I am going to focus on teaching out of my apartment, and if this goes well, then open my own school. So if you have the apartment and live in a good area, perhaps think about home schooling. It may the best of both worlds.

[bellum99]

The amount of money possible is high but you have to factor in travel time and cancellations. I know people who make 10 million a month tutoring (a good month)..not joking. They work everyday and all day.

[inthewild]

There has been good input on this thread just I'm wondering if there are any more people that have tried doing all part time work? Since it's hard for someone like me to get a uni job in central Seoul and I want freedom to work a ton or not at all some weeks... I'm leaning to all part times.

[okokok]

I work 3 part-time jobs currently and this month I'll bring home 4.7 mill. I find my hours are actually shorter than if I worked fulltime (I work about 30 hours a week). Part-time for me is great because there is no added responsibilities, just show up, teach and get paid for every hour that you put in.
I wouldn't base my part-time work on privates however because they can be quite unreliable. However it is quite simple to get a T/Th afternoon job for good pay with block hours. And then do the same for M/W/F. And then top up your schedule by picking up morning Kindy classes somewhere. If you're really ambitious you can occasionally find block hours on the weekends as well, especially Saturdays. Anyways, the combinations are really endless. There's lots of part-time gigs here. That's not to say that there won't be bumps in the road, but as you work different jobs and meet new people, the opportunities will increase.

[jangsalgida]

[EMKAYES]

How do you guys doing PT jobs deal with the tax issue. Are you taxed at source or yearly?