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hutchingson
Joined: 29 Jan 2008
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 Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 12:01 am Post subject: Anoyone here with Berlitz Korea??? |
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Hi all, boy it took a long time to get my acount activated. Well I decided to work in Korea for a year and applied to the EPIK program and to Berlitz but was informed in January that they'd like to take me on, I was left with the monumental task of trying to get the documents together and sent off in time for my visa application process to go through for me to arrive in South Korea towards the end of February. Although I have all the other documents I'm still waiting on my Police record check to come through and really doubt it'll all be sorted out in time for the orientation period with EPIK. Berlitz Korea seem to be consideralby more helpful however and was wandering if anyone here have been, or are with Berlitz Korea and if they could shed more light. Another part of my reasoning to go with Berlitz is that there would be more English speaking people there and although I would very much love to try and learn Korean, more likely to settle alot easier.
Thanks for reading people, at lot of your posts here have been insightful. Hope someone can help. |
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KoreanAmbition
Joined: 03 Feb 2008
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| Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 12:16 am Post subject: |
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Just a question, how come it takes so long for your police check to go through.
A couple years ago I went in for a police check. I believe it took me like 10 minutes in total. I went in with my social insurance number and ID... I requested it... they printed it off and I was outta there pretty fast.
I'm in Canada mind you. Have things changed since I last did this? |
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hutchingson
Joined: 29 Jan 2008
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| Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 3:20 am Post subject: |
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| KoreanAmbition wrote: |
Just a question, how come it takes so long for your police check to go through.
A couple years ago I went in for a police check. I believe it took me like 10 minutes in total. I went in with my social insurance number and ID... I requested it... they printed it off and I was outta there pretty fast.
I'm in Canada mind you. Have things changed since I last did this? |
I'm in the United Kingdom, here individuals can only request a Police check report to find out what information the Police database has on them. This takes up to 40 days and the form has to be counter-signed by someone of standing eg lawyer, priest, lecturer etc. The only other method I'm aware of is a CRB check but it's not available to individuals, only employers can request this but the whole process requires the involvement of the individual and frankly is far too bureauocratic for my liking. |
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bobbybigfoot
Joined: 05 May 2007
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 5:08 am Post subject: |
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| I wonder how many jobs are going unfilled because of people waiting on police checks? |
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hutchingson
Joined: 29 Jan 2008
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| Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 3:33 pm Post subject: |
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| I suspect quite a few. I really don't see why it would take so long really especially as I know my Police chek report should clean. However, you never know, I could be amazed at what is being held about me on the Police database. |
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mindmetoo
Joined: 02 Feb 2004
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| Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 4:08 pm Post subject: |
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Do people still work for Berlitz Korea? A school so monstrously bad, so racist, that employees actually unionized. Think about it. People who were only going to be working for a single year decided to give up part of their pay for union dues in a desperate attempt to get a better shake.
Last time I checked, Berlitz pays below average, no free apartment, terrible shifts, lie to you about everything... Really, you could not ask for a worse situation. Avoid this school if a) they haven't seriously cleaned up their act in the last year b) you haven't already signed up.
http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewtopic.php?t=58420&highlight=berlitz
| Quote: |
Apparently, a sincere "no" was not going to deter this loser from badgering me into signing their crappy contract. He continued to send emails, stating the company had changed, and the contract conditions had improved. Why was he overdefending his position? I gave no reasons for my refusal to sign there.
If the emails weren't enough, the drool bucket commenced on a series of incessant phone calls to BOTH my home phone and cell phone numbers. (He had gotten my resume from a job related website, on which I had posted several months earlier.) The first time he called me I told him that I wasn't interested in working at Berlitz, that I had better job offers, and that I didn't wish to speak with him again.
For the next couple of days he continued to call my phone numbers every hour or so until 1:00 am. I unplugged my home phone and turned my cell phone to vibrate mode, screening his calls. Shocked |
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hutchingson
Joined: 29 Jan 2008
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| Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 4:33 pm Post subject: |
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Last edited by hutchingson on Wed Feb 06, 2008 4:40 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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hutchingson
Joined: 29 Jan 2008
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| Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 4:34 pm Post subject: |
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Last edited by hutchingson on Wed Feb 06, 2008 4:42 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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hutchingson
Joined: 29 Jan 2008
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| Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 4:37 pm Post subject: |
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| mindmetoo wrote: |
Do people still work for Berlitz Korea? A school so monstrously bad, so racist, that employees actually unionized. Think about it. People who were only going to be working for a single year decided to give up part of their pay for union dues in a desperate attempt to get a better shake.
Last time I checked, Berlitz pays below average, no free apartment, terrible shifts, lie to you about everything... Really, you could not ask for a worse situation. Avoid this school if a) they haven't seriously cleaned up their act in the last year b) you haven't already signed up.
http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewtopic.php?t=58420&highlight=berlitz
| Quote: |
Apparently, a sincere "no" was not going to deter this loser from badgering me into signing their crappy contract. He continued to send emails, stating the company had changed, and the contract conditions had improved. Why was he overdefending his position? I gave no reasons for my refusal to sign there.
If the emails weren't enough, the drool bucket commenced on a series of incessant phone calls to BOTH my home phone and cell phone numbers. (He had gotten my resume from a job related website, on which I had posted several months earlier.) The first time he called me I told him that I wasn't interested in working at Berlitz, that I had better job offers, and that I didn't wish to speak with him again.
For the next couple of days he continued to call my phone numbers every hour or so until 1:00 am. I unplugged my home phone and turned my cell phone to vibrate mode, screening his calls. Shocked |
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This is what I have been trying to find out, thanks for this information. I don't know about them cleaning up their act and disputes that came about previously. From the information they have sent me they provide a house for the first three months of working with them in order to adjust and find your own apartment and then they provide a stipend of 300,000 won towards my apartment as well as providing the neccessary key money. Their operating hours did seem a bit strange, from 06:45 to 21:00 although there is a break from 11:00 to about 16:00. I had read somewhere that South Korea has the longest working hours in the world and sort of thought this was somewhat the norm. I haven't signed and sent off the contract yet, I wanted to get onto this board and get more information from others who work/worked with Berlitz or at leas had some experience with them. The information pack stated that the average wage was 2,500,000 won and they also have a minimum guranteed salary of 2,000,000 but sneakily, this as per the contract includes the 300,000 stipend towards housing making the actual minimum guranteed salary 1,700,000. On the positive side I have found them to be helpful, would others work with Berlitz or envisage encountering probems/difficulties? There's a very slim possibility of going with EPIK but with my Police check report yet to arrive and the EPIK introduction period being just around the corner I think it would take a miracle to get all the paper work processed and arive in time. Any thoughts? Thanks people. |
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Shimokitazawa
Joined: 14 Dec 2007
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 8:35 pm Post subject: |
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Hutchingson,
I'm going to caution you right now - Be very careful about getting involved with Berlitz!
I have worked for Berlitz in Seoul and it was the worst experience in my EFL career. Your housing will be abominable - delapidated and so dirty that you may end up with some fungus growing on your feet! That's what happend to me!
Yes, 6:45am start and they will give you what we called the "Swiss Cheese" schedule. The "Swiss Cheese" schedule is where you start at 6:45am and then teach for 3 or 4 blocks, get an hour or two off, then go back to teaching again. You will be tied to the school from 6:45am - 9:10pm each day you work!
It was the first, and only, school that I had ever seen bunk beds put in the teachers' room for teachers to sleep in!
The shifts were so long that people needed to sleep. I mean, we were getting up at 5:30am to be at school by 6:30am and taught until 9:10pm every day! Ask yourself this: Are you prepared to hit the alarm at 5:00am / 5:30am every morning? If so, fill your boots! But, for me and many of my coworks, it sucked. Further, when I taught for Berlitz Seoul, we had to work 5 days on / 2 days off, and then the following week 6 days on / 1 day off. I'm not even going to start getting into management issue with you! 
Again, I strongly caution you against getting involved with Berlitz. And it pretty much goes for any country Berlitz operates in - Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, etc. Stay away - you can find something less demanding and more satisfying.
Hey - check out the Berlitz Japan union website, that should give you also a good indication of what you can expect. You can also e-mail the Berlitz teachers that are union members fighting for better working conditions in the company. I'm sure they'll fill you in on the latest. Berlitz Union Japan: http://berlitz.generalunion.org/news.htm
Last edited by Shimokitazawa on Wed Feb 06, 2008 8:45 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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expat2001
Joined: 28 Jan 2006
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| Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 8:38 pm Post subject: |
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| hutchingson wrote: |
| mindmetoo wrote: |
Do people still work for Berlitz Korea? A school so monstrously bad, so racist, that employees actually unionized. Think about it. People who were only going to be working for a single year decided to give up part of their pay for union dues in a desperate attempt to get a better shake.
Last time I checked, Berlitz pays below average, no free apartment, terrible shifts, lie to you about everything... Really, you could not ask for a worse situation. Avoid this school if a) they haven't seriously cleaned up their act in the last year b) you haven't already signed up.
http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewtopic.php?t=58420&highlight=berlitz
| Quote: |
Apparently, a sincere "no" was not going to deter this loser from badgering me into signing their crappy contract. He continued to send emails, stating the company had changed, and the contract conditions had improved. Why was he overdefending his position? I gave no reasons for my refusal to sign there.
If the emails weren't enough, the drool bucket commenced on a series of incessant phone calls to BOTH my home phone and cell phone numbers. (He had gotten my resume from a job related website, on which I had posted several months earlier.) The first time he called me I told him that I wasn't interested in working at Berlitz, that I had better job offers, and that I didn't wish to speak with him again.
For the next couple of days he continued to call my phone numbers every hour or so until 1:00 am. I unplugged my home phone and turned my cell phone to vibrate mode, screening his calls. Shocked |
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This is what I have been trying to find out, thanks for this information. I don't know about them cleaning up their act and disputes that came about previously. From the information they have sent me they provide a house for the first three months of working with them in order to adjust and find your own apartment and then they provide a stipend of 300,000 won towards my apartment as well as providing the neccessary key money. Their operating hours did seem a bit strange, from 06:45 to 21:00 although there is a break from 11:00 to about 16:00. I had read somewhere that South Korea has the longest working hours in the world and sort of thought this was somewhat the norm. I haven't signed and sent off the contract yet, I wanted to get onto this board and get more information from others who work/worked with Berlitz or at leas had some experience with them. The information pack stated that the average wage was 2,500,000 won and they also have a minimum guranteed salary of 2,000,000 but sneakily, this as per the contract includes the 300,000 stipend towards housing making the actual minimum guranteed salary 1,700,000. On the positive side I have found them to be helpful, would others work with Berlitz or envisage encountering probems/difficulties? There's a very slim possibility of going with EPIK but with my Police check report yet to arrive and the EPIK introduction period being just around the corner I think it would take a miracle to get all the paper work processed and arive in time. Any thoughts? Thanks people. |
6 45 -21 00 pm -thats slavery
Most hogwons/ public schools average wage is 2 million -2.1 million for someone without experience.
Most howgons opperate from 10 00 am - 6 00 pm .There are some hogwons that work from 2 pm -9 pm
Just because they seem helpful ,doesnt mean they are good.
For a first year teacher some of the better hogwons are
CDI
PAGODA
YBM
ECC
YES
With these hogwons ,one can apply directly to the company without a recruiter .Avoid any wonderland school
If you really want to work for EPIK /GEPIK ,then i wouldnt worry about making the march dealine.They will take anybody -anytime
What you have to remember is that with epik/gepik , you will be teaching anywhere from 30 -40 kids per class. With a hogwon ,its less then 12 per class |
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mindmetoo
Joined: 02 Feb 2004
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| Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2008 1:43 am Post subject: |
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| hutchingson wrote: |
| This is what I have been trying to find out, thanks for this information. I don't know about them cleaning up their act and disputes that came about previously. From the information they have sent me they provide a house for the first three months of working with them in order to adjust and find your own apartment and then they provide a stipend of 300,000 won towards my apartment as well as providing the neccessary key money. Their operating hours did seem a bit strange, from 06:45 to 21:00 although there is a break from 11:00 to about 16:00. I had read somewhere that South Korea has the longest working hours in the world and sort of thought this was somewhat the norm. I haven't signed and sent off the contract yet, I wanted to get onto this board and get more information from others who work/worked with Berlitz or at leas had some experience with them. The information pack stated that the average wage was 2,500,000 won and they also have a minimum guranteed salary of 2,000,000 but sneakily, this as per the contract includes the 300,000 stipend towards housing making the actual minimum guranteed salary 1,700,000. On the positive side I have found them to be helpful, would others work with Berlitz or envisage encountering probems/difficulties? There's a very slim possibility of going with EPIK but with my Police check report yet to arrive and the EPIK introduction period being just around the corner I think it would take a miracle to get all the paper work processed and arive in time. Any thoughts? Thanks people. |
Key money is another issue. More of it, the better your place. I would not at all trust Berlitz to be ponying up anything major. And think about it. Do you really want to live one place for three months (probably in a dorm with other people) and then hump to another place for the remaining 3/4 of your contract?
If you do turn them down, do future generations a favor and email them back laying out the very bad things you've heard from former employees. They don't seem to grasp there's this thing called the internet. People can tell their stories to everyone. When they begin to grasp that negative stories outnumber positive stories about 500 to 0, they might really clue in they actually need to trade on something more than their name. |
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Roch
Joined: 24 Apr 2003
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2008 7:32 am Post subject: |
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IIn 2001, a man who taught for one of their branches in Osaka, Japan was asked to go to Seoul or Pusan, South Korea to help them out in a managerial role. He did just that and felt compelled to make a web site about the horrible stuff he experienced here in the Land of the Morning Traffic Jam.
I seem to recall the Seoul branch as being the one which was the focal point of his ire.
Fist fights, a constant barrage of insulting local staff, racist/anti-caucasian pupils who needed a beating, and getting shorted on pay and everything else made up the essence of the fellow's short sojourn in the Republic of Korea.
He hated the Berlitz in question with enough passion to make a web site about it.
I'll try to dig up the address for the site, mate, and feel free to drop me a Private Message at your first opportunity.
Roch
Last edited by Roch on Thu Feb 07, 2008 8:34 am; edited 2 times in total |
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Roch
Joined: 24 Apr 2003
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2008 7:45 am Post subject: |
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| mindmetoo wrote: |
| hutchingson wrote: |
| This is what I have been trying to find out, thanks for this information. I don't know about them cleaning up their act and disputes that came about previously. From the information they have sent me they provide a house for the first three months of working with them in order to adjust and find your own apartment and then they provide a stipend of 300,000 won towards my apartment as well as providing the neccessary key money. Their operating hours did seem a bit strange, from 06:45 to 21:00 although there is a break from 11:00 to about 16:00. I had read somewhere that South Korea has the longest working hours in the world and sort of thought this was somewhat the norm. I haven't signed and sent off the contract yet, I wanted to get onto this board and get more information from others who work/worked with Berlitz or at leas had some experience with them. The information pack stated that the average wage was 2,500,000 won and they also have a minimum guranteed salary of 2,000,000 but sneakily, this as per the contract includes the 300,000 stipend towards housing making the actual minimum guranteed salary 1,700,000. On the positive side I have found them to be helpful, would others work with Berlitz or envisage encountering probems/difficulties? There's a very slim possibility of going with EPIK but with my Police check report yet to arrive and the EPIK introduction period being just around the corner I think it would take a miracle to get all the paper work processed and arive in time. Any thoughts? Thanks people. |
Key money is another issue. More of it, the better your place. I would not at all trust Berlitz to be ponying up anything major. And think about it. Do you really want to live one place for three months (probably in a dorm with other people) and then hump to another place for the remaining 3/4 of your contract?
If you do turn them down, do future generations a favor and email them back laying out the very bad things you've heard from former employees. They don't seem to grasp there's this thing called the internet. People can tell their stories to everyone. When they begin to grasp that negative stories outnumber positive stories about 500 to 0, they might really clue in they actually need to trade on something more than their name. |
Bullwinkle told me that your post deserves a Word from us: WORD!
Rochie and Bullwinkle |
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Roch
Joined: 24 Apr 2003
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2008 8:21 am Post subject: |
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| Shimokitazawa wrote: |
Hutchingson,
I'm going to caution you right now - Be very careful about getting involved with Berlitz!
I have worked for Berlitz in Seoul and it was the worst experience in my EFL career. Your housing will be abominable - delapidated and so dirty that you may end up with some fungus growing on your feet! That's what happend to me!
Yes, 6:45am start and they will give you what we called the "Swiss Cheese" schedule. The "Swiss Cheese" schedule is where you start at 6:45am and then teach for 3 or 4 blocks, get an hour or two off, then go back to teaching again. You will be tied to the school from 6:45am - 9:10pm each day you work!
It was the first, and only, school that I had ever seen bunk beds put in the teachers' room for teachers to sleep in!
The shifts were so long that people needed to sleep. I mean, we were getting up at 5:30am to be at school by 6:30am and taught until 9:10pm every day! Ask yourself this: Are you prepared to hit the alarm at 5:00am / 5:30am every morning? If so, fill your boots! But, for me and many of my coworks, it sucked. Further, when I taught for Berlitz Seoul, we had to work 5 days on / 2 days off, and then the following week 6 days on / 1 day off. I'm not even going to start getting into management issue with you! :shock:
Again, I strongly caution you against getting involved with Berlitz. And it pretty much goes for any country Berlitz operates in - Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, etc. Stay away - you can find something less demanding and more satisfying.
Hey - check out the Berlitz Japan union website, that should give you also a good indication of what you can expect. You can also e-mail the Berlitz teachers that are union members fighting for better working conditions in the company. I'm sure they'll fill you in on the latest. Berlitz Union Japan: http://berlitz.generalunion.org/news.htm |
Thanks for the post!
Roch |
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