Korean Job Discussion Forums

[braindrops]

to both the previous posters...for convenience's sake, i will concede. i wasn't originally trying to make the post about money; rather, i was trying to gauge public opinion on a dilemma.

i do know of a hagwon teacher banking 2 billion won a year, though. mr. owner showed me how he helped that teacher get started in korea. (the "that could be you" part of his pitch.) as for that teacher's hours, i couldn't tell you...i just imagine that it wasn't at 20,000 won an hour...unless working 8500 hours a month is humanly possible. heh heh heh

patrick, what is the education market like in busan compared to seoul? in the future i would like to get a very detailed answer on this subject, but for now i'll take anything i can get. i spoke to a hagwon owner in haeundae who specialized in test-prep and he said that the busan market is obviously smaller than the seoul market but still fiercely competitive, a fact that apparently went against his initial expectations. i'd like to hear your thoughts.

[Modernist]

I too find myself fascinated by these numbers you're throwing out. Even the lowest, ~200 USD an hour? For teaching English? To WHO? Why would anyone pay that much? What exactly are you offering to these students? Is this some kind of 'we put you on the fast track to Yale' kind of joint sucking up the money of the foolish, gullible and naive in Jamsil and Gangnam?

The most interesting question though, is assuming this is actually a real position--hey, super-rich people spend LOTS of money on LOTS of stupid things [try living in New York City for a while and you'll see]--then how did you put yourself in a place to be offered such a thing? Sounds like you did a lot of privates, so what, are you going to claim you just got hooked into the ultra-wealthy network of chaebol heirs, and they told ALL their friends how great you are, or what?

[Zyzyfer]

[TheUrbanMyth]

[ThingsComeAround]

[braindrops]

gee, it's weird that i have to defend myself for trying to approach a decision in a way that considers just more than money / hours...

and if you're confusing my writing with the stuff that comes out of the new yorker, you're doing both of us a disservice. what's next? are you gonna zing me for the decapitalization of my posts? "look at this [bleep]...he thinks he's e.e. cummings. what, is he too good for capitals?" yeah...bingo. you got me.

so if you don't want to read these so-called "new yorker-style" posts, then either don't read the posts or skim the fat like the other smart guy did. but i like writing, and you're not going to tell me how much i should or should not write. sorry buddy.

and dude...if you got a 99% on your verbal GRE, then GOOD...go get one of those 200 dollar an hour jobs. it's not like i'm saying go find yourself a unicorn. you know these jobs exist. people are not bs-ing you. i never said they are all over the place. but if you're in that 99th-percentile, then that should be your market, right? hey, maybe you already have something that brings you in something similar, in which case why you would get on my case would be beyond me. and as for where you sign up, well...i guess you'll have to wait for the book to come out.

but seriously. why i'm being taken to task for just repeating what a hagwon owner told me, i'll never know. i never said anything else other than that.

i never said i condoned or even rationalized any of the stuff that these people do. why is it that people on dave's want to find out about stuff like this, but then when it's mentioned, all of this suspicion and random bashing comes up? and everybody wonders why these things are kept on the down low. one reason is probably that even when these these things do come up from time to time, the person who brings it up is subject to needless ad hominems. well, i apologize for bringing it up. you can go back to your regularly scheduled program.

how did i put myself in that place? i didn't do anything special. i did all my work, i learned korean, and i made myself presentable. i think that's very attainable. most people have "but for" reasons, like "i would do that, but for my XYZ." family, friends, religion...the three demons to slay. i'm still relatively young, i'm presentable in a nice suit, and i try to cater to the wishes of my employers (whether they be school directors or clientele). i tried to manage my resume. and i got lucky. let's just make both of us happy by leaving it at that.

i actually much prefer the post by wysiwyg. thank you for acknowledging my attempt at humor. and yes, i heard that toeic and toefl pay pretty well. i had a friend last year (female) who was making 7 million a month...she seemed pretty happy, even though she worked quite a lot. the market for toeic and toefl are broader than the sat market, for sure...

[ThingsComeAround]

[braindrops]

goodness...i never said it was likely! ... man. let's keep the logical fallacies to a minimum.

[ThingsComeAround]

Jeffrey Sohn

Is Gyopo.

Unless you are also gyopo, it will be unlikely that you can command that salary. Even Isaac Durst (one of my faves) doesn't earn THAT much.

[braindrops]

[ThingsComeAround]

You didn't offend me, player. You did ask a question- and we answered. When you threw out that ballpark figure of 200 an hour, well then we started the giggles...

Kind of like the black belt that says he is a 38th degree because "He trains that much harder".. Not that it isn't possible, but not probable. Don't take it the wrong way.

[braindrops]

someone mentioned earlier the new yorker like quality of the post...it was kind of funny because i was tearing through season 3 of married with children while i was writing. It must be all the bundy eloquence rubbing off on me...lol

[PatrickGHBusan]

[ajuma]

So...are you going to let us know what you decide?

[braindrops]

sure. here you go. if you were to open a hagwon in busan, what steps would you take to ensure yourself a solid start? based off your knowledge of the market and its differences from the seoul market, is there a specific region of busan you would find attractive? test prep is supposed to be highly specialized...what is the state of the test prep industry in busan?

if you had the benefit of owning a large plot of land in busan, from which you could set up an educational facility, and you also had means to circumvent the usual govt red tape parade that comes with starting a business--say, you were a citizen of the country and had no outstanding liens or debts--what would be the next order of business to discover/research?

and aside from haeundae, where are other attractive areas of busan where might reside those with discretionary educational income?

what are the well known schools of the area, the ones that people try to get their kids into?

and where can you find good mediterranean food in busan?

...