Korean Job Discussion Forums

[fiery101]

This is a job I'm considering. Any comments will help me.

Why teach at ERI?

1) Excellent Management
2) Training and Orientation
3) E-2 Visa sponsorship
2) Salary : 2.3 � 2.5 million won
3) Contract length: 6 - 12 months
4) Airfare : Round trip ticket provided by ERI based on completion of 12 month contract. One way ticket provided by ERI based on completion of 6 month contract.
5) Accommodation : Single / Shared depending on availability.
If accommodations are not required ERI will give a accommodation stipend of 300,000 - 350,000 won per month
6) Working hrs : 92 teaching hrs per month / 23 hrs per week
7) Typical work day : 9 am - 6 pm / 10 am - 7 pm / 3 pm - 10 pm
Class size : Maximum of 10 students
9)Students : Elementary and Middle School
10) Curriculum : Developed by ERI. Teacher's manual provided
11) Severance pay equal to one month's salary
12) Overtime pay of 25,000 won for each hr worked over 92
13) Medical Insurance : 50% coverage
14) Holidays : 13 - 15 depending on calendar year
15) Vacation : 5 days paid vacation

ERI teaching philosophy is based on Mrs. Keyes home school system.
ERI's students don't go to a �hakwon� to learn English. They are taught English in their very own home by you!

If you want a completely difference experience while working and living in Korea and want to change from working in a "hakwon" this is definitely the job for you!

ERI truly cares about their teachers and understands the challenges and difficulties one may face when working and living in a foreign country.

From the time of the interview to visa processing to arrival in Korea, ERI will guide and assist you in any way possible and will do what is necessary in order for you to have the best possible experience in Korea.

[gteacher]

Unless you are an F-series visa going to a students home and teaching them is Illegal.

[DongtanTony]

Teaching and working hours are way off...it looks like huge amounts of split shifts.

Some people are alright with that though...your preference.

9 am and 10 am starts mean kindy programs....again, your preference.

Most schools will offer higher salaries if you participate in kindy...expect a lower off if you take the afternoon start time.

Good overtime rate at 25,000.

Hopefully it's NHIC medical insurance....there's also no mention of National Pension in this advertisement.

5 days paid vacation is half of what good hagwons will offer...10 is more or less the standard.

If you get a contract to look at....go and post it in the contract sticky....you'll get some good feedback on it.

Good luck.

[DongtanTony]

ahhhh...I missed that.

Home teaching...sketchy.

[bassexpander]

[gteacher]

[soviet_man]

It looks illegal. The workplace address must be registered in your documents you can't do it from peoples houses.

[ED209]

[gteacher]

[fiery101]

? Maybe there is something I'm missing. I guess it "could" be illegal, but I know people who have worked for that company for 2-3 years.

Disregarding the fact that it might be illegal, does it sound ok?

[chickyabroad]

Just because people have worked there for 2 or 3 years doesn't mean it isn't illegal, it just means no one's gotten caught yet. But beyond the illegality of going to student's homes, I would object to these two:

[nomad-ish]

[jinks]

Generally, I like to look on the bright side, but this job looks crap - even if you are not worried by how legal or illegal it is (and you don't seem to be).
First of all, teaching students in their homes is sucky. Sure, their moms will be hovering around so the kids won't play up too much, you might even get a nice cup of yu-ja-cha and some cut up fruit. The travelling will suck big time as well, it'll probably cost you too as there is no mention of a school bus to take you around your various jobs or pick you up. The 23 hours a week are presumably teaching hours, you probably won't get paid for the time you are travelling between jobs. How long do you think that will take?
Maximum class size 10 students! Forget it, not only are you travelling around to get to your jobs, once you get there the neighbours' kids and cousins and church friends' kids will all be there too. You can probably forget your cup of tea and snack if that's the case. 10 kids in an apartment sitting room, imagine it!
5 days holiday is rubbish. You can bet your bum that the moms will want you to teach their kids during the public holidays, too. Not that there are going to be that many of them next year, I think a lot will be falling on Saturdays and Sundays, I don't even think there are any golden weekends in 2009. Poor you, you'll be run ragged by the end of the year, you can forget the 13-15 days public holiday they are semi-promising, really.
Someone said 25,000 won overtime is OK (I beg to differ), but the way they seem to calculate what will count as overtime looks dodgy.
I sense from your OP and your subsequent comments that you like the idea of not being tied to a regular hagwon so you are hoping - against your instinct - that this job will be OK. I don't need to pull a tarot spread to tell you to trust your gut, and don't take it.

[OneWayTraffic]

The whole point of working for a company is the accommodation and the valid visa. If you were going to illegally go around private addresses and teach people in their homes why not advertise on the street and get 40-50k an hour rather than 20?

You need a valid work location. Every time you walk into someones home you're taking a (small) chance. The key point is: You could do this yourself with a student visa and a bit of gumption.

I know this whole legitimate workplace thing is rubbish, but I don't make the laws here. And people do get caught.

[Zaria32]

I'm not convinced that working in a student's home, under the auspices of a hogwon, is illegal, although it may be. But it for sure isn't a "private."

However, think of this...if you are teaching 90+ hours per month, in people's homes, how much travel time is there? I think it means VERY long days. Also, a 6 month contract on an E-2 visa IS illegal, and they aren't paying pension...big no-no.

Keep looking...