Korean Job Discussion Forums

[lastat06513]

The reason Direct English has a bad rep

1. They offer their full time teacher about 18,000 won an hour for each student they teach (this is a 1 on 1 program). But if the student doesn't show up, you don't get paid.

2. They start at 6:00 in the morning (at least at the Samsung school) and they have a tremendous split shift. But if you want extra dough, you can volunteer for the lunch time classes they have.

3. They have a time card, and if you are late, it will reflect on your time card and if you are late for class, you WILL be docked pay.

I got this info from;

1. the interview at the Samsung school
2. I knew a guy who worked there for 6 months.


True, 2.2 million won doesn't sound like much for a 4-hour public school job, but then you can also do something of "extra work"

Sometimes, the company that dispatches the teacher to the schools sometimes arrange "group tutoring" classes at the students home. And you can negotiate more pay in your contract for that.

[J.C.]

If you deceided to work for PAGODA this is a little taste of what to expect. Last Feb. Pagoda forced teachers to sign this a"ddendum." Sign it or be fired.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y40/Rblaire/law_issues/page_one.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y40/Rblaire/law_issues/page_two.jpg

Be warned. This is how PAGODA treats it`s teachers.

[animalbirdfish]

YBM will generally have you teaching kids - often very young ones - and their pay isn't great. Then again, people who work for them have told me that they've never had a problem being paid.

CDI probably pays the most, especially if you get through their interview process well. The hours are manageable (starting at 4 or 5 pm), but you'll probably have to travel to different locations. They're also open 7 days/week, so you might have to sacrifice your weekends.

[koryo1]

I would not recommend any of those places.
Two of the worse are Pagoda and CDI. They're the worse, but also maybe preferable, for the same reason. They're both big with many branches. You can work a lot of hours and get lost in the corporate maze. That could be good, if that's what you want. At least, everything is very much spelled out. Direct English has been getting a bad reviews for a while and $18 would not help you achieve your goal of making money. Captain Corea will disagree with me because he likes it, but Princeton Review is also not recommended. Captain Corea likes it there, but with respect I will say most do not. Some of the worse horror stories I've heard come from Direct English, Princeton Review, and CDI. With DE being the worst, PR second, and CDI least bad. This also is reflected in their pay. DE pays least and CDI pays most. This also reflects their regimentalization. DE is less regimented, PR more, and CDI the most.

The earlier advice is best for you. Keep your job or catapult your experience in Korea to a good public school job or uni job. Agree, in advance, in your contract to be allowed outside work. Get a letter of release. Then, you have a nice job that gets you the e2 visa and you can pick up all the extra hours that you want. If you don't want to do privates, you can work part time or tutor through an agency. Part time jobs pay more anyway. You can find work part time for 40-50,000 won an hour through an agency. at a minimum you can work for 30. you can also try out the "Big Baby" hogwons in the meanwhile, on a part time basis. Princeton Review, CDI, Pagoda, etc. all hire part time. Try them out and leave your self options. Don't be a hogwon b-t-h. be the boss of your own life.

[elksnitis]

So how does one do part-time work legally? When I was caught teaching my private, I asked immigration and they said it's not possible to work 2 jobs while holding an E2 visa. Then I asked someone else in the office and he said if the hogwan owner and the person/company making the 2nd job offer sign an agreement and file some sort of mysterious paper work with immigration, it's possible.

Frankly I don't think that they really know what can and cannot be done. It's a gray area that few venture into, legally that is...

So here's my question. Is there anyone working with an E2 and doing part-time outside of their hagwon legally and with immigration's stamp of approval? Please share how this was possible for you to work two jobs. I've got 6 months left with this contract and I'm dying to work more hours... legally....

[Son Deureo!]

You need permission from your employer AND Immigration to work at a second location legally.

[CrazyMonkey]

If you are in the Gangnam area, one thing you might want to look into is working in the public school system. It isn't the easiest to get hired but they pay 2.5 mil, plus if you already have a place to live they'll give you an extra 350,000 per month. I would advise against going through EPIK or GEPIK because working through them means crap pay. If you can find a school district that is hiring directly you'll have better chances of high pay.

If you want a Hogwan, I think YBM sounds pretty good. I almost took a job with them. The pay isn't great but its better than some.

[elksnitis]

anymore info or stories on ybm, cdi or pagoda?

[elksnitis]

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[elksnitis]

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[elksnitis]

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[elksnitis]

Hello all. So it turns out that instead of having to wait until February I will be able to get out of my contract now. So I'll need a new job in the next week here...

With that in mind, can anyone steer me in the direction of higher paying/longer work hour schools that are hiring? I've heard YBM is hiring, but would I need to apply to each location separately?

Please help if you can.

Thanks in advance.[/b]