Korean Job Discussion Forums

darkcity · Joined: 13 Sep 2007 Location: SF, CA

Hi,

The search function is a MAJOR pain in the arse. tried a gaggle of different search terms but everything keeps coming up blank, so i apologize if this has been asked a dozen times.

I was offered a job by Direct English, which is a branch of Pagoda. I know Pagoda has a pretty good reputation, but I also know different branches/locations can vary.

Can anyone vouch for Direct English? I would be working at Jongno, although Gangnam, Yeouido, and Guro were my other options.

The contract looks really well-done, and newbie that I am with no certificate, I can't really b!tch about split shifts. My contact has also been very forthcoming with providing employees' emails.

thanks in advance...

anyangoldboy · Joined: 28 Sep 2007

The Direct English teachers are fun people...

ED209 · Joined: 17 Oct 2006

You can always bitch about split shifts.

Merlyn · Joined: 08 Dec 2004 Location: Korea

I used to work there. It could have been good. Let me explain. It was nice to go in and have one-on-one lessons with the adult students. It made for a good atmosphere provided the student was talkative and wanted to practice. What blew about it was mainly management. They wanted to give teacher reviews just about every month or was it two. And every month they would complain about this and complain about that. If a student every complained or said they wanted something different in their lesson management would say it was with all the students and they wouldn't even tell you who said it so it could be fixed in particular class.

Then the next month another student would have a different complaint, this again would lead management to say all of your students say this and many times it would be the exact opposite complaint of the previous which just keeps going in circles. Maybe, it was my Direct English but I hated these reviews all the time. It wouldn't be so bad I guess if the pay weren't among the lowest in all of Korea. You have these good students coming in and paying a lot to go there and they give the teachers 1.7 million a month, unless it has gone up from the time I was there with a petty housing allowance. I wouldn't recommend it. Then again, I think my former Direct English in Apgujoung isn't even in business anymore so that may tell you something about the one I worked at.

darkcity · Joined: 13 Sep 2007 Location: SF, CA

I was "guaranteed at least" 2.4 million, could make more depending on various things. not great, not horrible, happy enough for me.

anyangoldboy, i'm not sure what you mean by that.

anyone else with input?

anyangoldboy · Joined: 28 Sep 2007

[quote="darkcity"]I was "guaranteed at least" 2.4 million, could make more depending on various things. not great, not horrible, happy enough for me.

anyangoldboy, i'm not sure what you mean by that.

anyone else with input?[/quote]

they are good people to have fun with

darkcity · Joined: 13 Sep 2007 Location: SF, CA

sorry, the ellipsis made me think you were being vague or sarcastic, i didn't know you meant it literally.

tselem · Joined: 24 Apr 2006

darkcity · Joined: 13 Sep 2007 Location: SF, CA

or they could just fix the search function? never had this problem with the many other forums I search on...easier said than done i suppose.

thanks for the advice though, i'll give it a shot.

spliff · Joined: 19 Jan 2004 Location: Khon Kaen, Thailand

You say that a salary of 2.4 would "depend on some things"...what like OT? What is the base salary they are offering for how many hours/classes. And, I used to work down the street at BCM and knew some of the teachers at pagoda who related that they were constantly getting their sausages slapped by the management....too much (monthly) negative feedback is no pleasant.