Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Tribal]

Yes, I know - yet another CDI post. Thing is, I'm not seeing the answers I'm looking for, so I'm posting. If you're one of those "veterans" who are so tired and irritated by a recurrent theme, well...too bad. Seriously, why waste your time telling people how to behave when you could just ignore it? Just seems a tad sad.

Anyway, for those of you working in CDI Seoul branches, I'm curious of a few things, so to the extent you can answer these, it'd be much appreciated!

1) How many hours do you average per month?
2) I've heard that during school vacations, intensives are taught. If so, do you see a spike in your hours during these times?
3) How good is CDI at actually promoting from within? (I used to write books for WoongJin Media, and am hoping to do so again for CDI.)
4) How do you manage vacation on such a restrictive contract?
5) Do you find your managers/directors overbearing? Do they micro-manage?
6) How is the atmosphere at your branch? Collegial? Competitive? Cliques?

[wesharris]

Sad is not doing your research.
Part of the research is remembering that :
A.> CDI offers no vacation time or very little.
B.> You are video taped.
C.> The holidays are non existent.
D.> CDI sucks.
E.> Refer back to D.
F.> Refer back to E.


_+_
Wes

[linky123]

[frankhenry]

I consider not getting pension or health benefits kind of shifty. This is one of the reasons they have been successful. They have profited from this scam.

[linky123]

[PRagic]

So 3.2 million for 120 contact hours is considered good at CDI? I thought most of the chains were paying 2.5 plus housing, in addition to health, air travel, and severence. Oh, and the other chains at least throw you a bone vacation-wise. Sounds to me like CDI is touting themselves to be a cut above the rest, but is really just juggling the numbers to make a mediocre job seem better than it is.

So, OP, if you want to work burn out scheds with no vacation, get video taped, and have draconian constraints put on your classroom management, go for it. Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

A hakwon is a hakwon is a hakwon. If they're boasting that they're different, even better, than the next institute because they pay on time, they can't have too much going for them. Come on. You deserve a second look because you actually pay on time? Says something about the said state of affairs here in Korea in the ESL teaching market.

[linky123]

[PRagic]

Again, I like the fact that the person answering in defense of CDI does not attempt to call the place a school; it's a hakwon. A school would not seek to overload teachers with too many contact hours and too little vacation time, recognizing instead the necessity to rest, recharge the batteries, and engage in professional development.

I just can't see hakwons as an option for any serious, qualified teacher. To each their own, though. For those who would sacrifice freedom and flexibility for a modicum of stability, even in a wide open market, I suppose it is an option. The sad thing is, hakwons can always count on a steady flow of either newbies or unmotivated teachers to keep them staffed.

[linky123]

[PRagic]

Interesting response. So when CDI starts recruiting and promoting qualified and professional teachers, limiting contact hours to 4 a day with time and a half for anything over that, and providing at least 10 days of vacation a year, the teaching public will perhaps take them seriously. Otherwise, all the rhetoric just screams of an organization milking the people it can get for all they're worth and then letting them go.

Come on, really. People who want vacation or a social life cannot be serious teachers? I've put my time in at a hakwon and seen the schedules the 'best teachers' keep in this diamond crop of the private education sector. It's insane, and the organization is quick to dismiss anyone who doesn't make the 'client' happy.

The public education system has serious problems here, but a lack of qualified teachers isn't one of them. To suggest that the best teachers go to hakwons is laughable, particularly when Korean teachers are the highest paid in the OECD. People work the hakwon circuit to make some coin, the same reason that they put out 'text books' here; both are usually good examples of unqualified people getting by with the skills they have in supply of a staggering demand. It's a show. As long as test taking is a way of life here, the private institutes will have a place in the drudgery that has become the educational system in the Land of the Morning Calm.

[Tribal]

[linky123]

I wish I could. I'm also starting in April. I've done my home work but I can't give you those specific answers.

[PRagic]

With all the experience, hunker down in your own place and open a study room or something. My buddy pulled in 10 million a month his first year and his only regret was that he hadn't done it sooner. Not the only one to have done it, either. It does sound like the OP has an F-series visa. Why not just start up a company if you're interested in corporate work and writing/publishing?

Seriously, OP. If you're going to give your life away, do you really want to give it away for 30,000-40,000 won an hour? And isn't that without vacation, housing or benefits? Personally, I just find that insulting. Oh, but they VALUE people, give OPPORTUNITIES, and PROMOTE FROM WITHIN! Keep it. There are so many better options for someone with drive and a bit of creativity here, especially if they have the visa.

[linky123]

[Tribal]