Korean Job Discussion Forums

[bdbarnett1]

How much do international schools in South Korea pay, generally? I can't seem to find their pay scale. I have an M.A. in English literature, BA in Spanish and English. Have 3 years teaching experience. Any ideas?

[flyingteacher]

The big question is if you are certified as a teacher and have a valid teaching license. If you are not certified you normally cant get a job at an international school.

As to salary, they are good, paid vacation, real teaching experience which counts back home, bonuses etc. I think most schools start from $29,000us a year and go up depending on experience and qualificaions. Each school is different depending on size and quality.

[oxfordstu]

Sounds like you have the minimum requirement for international schools, as long as you have a teacher's licence. You'll work your ass off though, and be teaching spoiled little rich kids, but it can be great because you'll be teaching pretty good material and (most likely) to native speakers. And, because it's an international school which usually has loads of money, the resources will be excellent.

[ajgeddes]

My friend works at a private/international school, and he makes 4.5 million per month with free accomodation and meals. They were also offering 4.1 million for non-certified English teachers because they were desperate at the last minute. I think he gets 3 or 4 months vacation per year, as well.... probably just 3 though.

4.5 x 12 = 54 million a year.

The downside, it is out in the country.

[bdbarnett1]

[koon_taung_daeng]

i think thats a great idea if you have a kid, because most internationl schools will give your child free tuition if you are a teacher there. but also if you really want to make money you should find like 2 4 hour hagwon jobs and you can pull like 4 million won a month but i like the vacation with international schools

[azzwell]

www.tieonline.com
you have to subscribe and it costs some cash but they have ads for international schools all over the world. last time I saw an ad for an international school in korea, in Teajon, the pay was 1.9 million per month plus benifits. You HAVE to be a certified teacher for these jobs. The big jobs fairs in the states are at UNI (university of northern Iowa), Febuary, New York, and Boston, I dont know when they are but around Feb, March. There are also job fairs in Toronto, San Fransisco, Dubai, and London at later times. If you are a member of Tieonline, it has the dates and contact details for all of the international job fairs.
pm me if you have more questions
I also have a Tieonline subscription so could get you the dates and locations of all the job fairs if you wanted.

[flyingteacher]

In your case, I would contact SFS (Seoul Foreign School), YISS (Yongsan Internation), SFS (Seoul Foreign) or any of the International Christian schools in Korea. These are the big ones and will most likely have the best deal for you and your family. They also like to have highly qualified teachers and also like you to have a christian background. There are also a number of smaller schools (200-500 students) which you may also want to check out.

You will need to start looking at least 6 months out. Normally schools ask teachers their intentions around December and start looking for replacements then. For example my school has already hired for the 2007-2008 year. Most of the main schools will only hire from the job fairs or from people who are already in Korea as you normally have to interview in person.

Good luck. There is a shortage of qualified teachers in Korea so you shouldnt have too many probelms.

On a side note, I dont think $50,000 a year is very likely. I know people at KKFS, KIS, DODS, YISS and dont know anyone in this price range.

[bdbarnett1]

Are tax rates the same (pension, health, etc) for int'l schools? If you know anyone at int'l schools, what positions were they hired for? I have secondary Spanish and English certification, so I could teach either one (would actually prefer to teach Spanish, but I'm cool either way).

[Len8]

Tax rates are the same, and they do offer alternative health care plans. You can keep your korean plan iff you think you wont be needing any major operations. Other than that they offer better plans to cover major health care and serious problems. The seoul International school offers the highest salary of all the international schools in Korea. It might be just over W3,000 a month.

The other International Foreign (WASQ) Schools offer a lot less than seoul International school, and you work your arse off. I mean you really work your arse off. You gotta prepare your lessons, give tests and mark them, write and submit lesson plans, take a turn at lunch duty to ensure kids aren't missbehaving, meet the parents, and coach either basketball or soccer. You might actually be givin a class that you have no knowledge of whatsoever, and have to teach it like you are the expert in the subject.

[bdbarnett1]

[ajgeddes]

Sorry, forgot to check this post. I think the name of the school is 청심, but I may be wrong. It is out near 가평.

[bdbarnett1]

[pest1]

I was offered a job a year ago at the Busan Foreign School teaching math. They only offered 2.0 and was being an asshole when I asked for a bigger apartment because I wanted to live with my bf. My bf is also an English teacher from American and we were teaching in China together at that time. The director told me that smuggling men from China into Korea was illegal and when I told him he's American he said they couldn't offer him a job, which I never asked to begin with. And they also told me I had to work 8 hours a day teaching non-stop. Watch out for that school. It's a bad deal altogether.

[Len8]

That's interesting "Pest1". The place I'm at is in the sports league with that outfit in Pusan. We work hard, but not that hard. All of us have a 5 hour work day. I balked at coaching, but now I actually enjoy it. Takes my mind off the daily grind.