Korean Job Discussion Forums

[esglumac]

O.K. so maybe this as been done to death on here..but here goes.

I need the lowdown. Are they really as wonderful as every-one says...??

Most of the ones I see posted, say 16 teaching hours a week??? So is that

total hours you have to be at school??? What about unpaid teaching

hours??? Pension, taxes, empoloyee turnover, motivational levels of

students, outsourcing oppurtunites??? What about chances to do research

and publications???

All and all would it be worth leaving a public school contract 6 months early???

[bassexpander]

No. Finish your contract.

[DCJames]

The uni jobs seem to be getting worse in terms of pay and benefits...

16 hours a week is just the face to face teaching hours. You WILL spend more time in office doing paper work, grading papers, making tests, doing office hours. Basically it ends up like any other full-time job IF you want to do a good job.

It's not that hard to get a uni job out in the sticks even with just a Bachelors degree, but do you really want to work in the middle of nowhere?

A good stable hogwon job in a nice area of Seoul/Busan with good pay with housing included seems just as good as these uni jobs sometimes.

[FUBAR]

[bassexpander]

I'd have to think that most unis who would consider hiring someone mid-contract must be desperate.

Given that, I'd avoid them.

[esglumac]

thanks guys...

I just don't know, everything in Korea seems so dodgy..

I was thinking it would be better, since, I am starting Graduate School.

I just don't know though

[esglumac]

OK, so I will confess....

I just like the idea of a 4-day work week, so I can brush up on my Friday

Golf Game...

[Hyeon Een]

[ajgeddes]

Yeah, I figure I work a max 90 days a year and that is if there are no holidays on any of my work days.

[kiwiana]

yeah ajgeddes, like you, I love the fact that overall I work less than 2 days a week (hahaha, 1 day= 4hours) throughout the year and still get paid well over 3 million a month. A top tier uni job trumps any other non-Phd job in Korea hands down.

[bassexpander]

You don't have to publish?

[jackson7]

Yeah, I have to publish...comments on my facebook and twitter pages. Seriously, I work 3 days a week for a total of 15 hours contact time taking home just under 3 mil. a month before taxes, etc. 5 months vacation. Prep/grading time is less than 30 minutes per hour of contact time. I work with a few cool guys and my school and department are waaay laid back. They've expressed sincere interest in keeping me around as much as I've said I'd like to be around for a few more years. Compared to hagwons...yes...it's THAT good. Put in your time in the 'gwon (I think I remember some poster wanting to start some hagwon nickname slang...let's bring it back) and then work your with up through the uni system to shangri-la.

edit:don't type on sojuuuuuuuuuu

[kiwiana]

Publishing is not compulsory for regular English teaching jobs at universities in South Korea. One of my friends, an Anglo-American man, who works at one of the top 3 universities, has a Phd, is tenure track, and is expected to publish at least once a year in an a well recognised journal. I also have another Anglo-American friend who has a Phd, is non-tenure track, holds a position of responsibilty, and is also expected to publish once a year.

The deal is, if you are a Westerner and don't have a Phd, or hold a position of responsibility, you are not expected to publish. However, if you do choose to publish then I am adimant that a publication in the field of Second Language Acquisition would be looked upon quite highly among prospective employers.

[ajgeddes]

[kiwiana]

highly likely