Korean Job Discussion Forums

[bradshaw]

I've recently been offered a position teaching in a private elementary school in Seoul. Most of my friends have taught public, hagwon or uni jobs, but I haven't met a soul who have been employed by a private elementary school. Can anyone tell me the difference in working conditions? Is there anything I should be wary of in these institutes? So far, the benefits (at least at this specific private school) seem to strongly outweigh those offered in public schools. It almost seems too good to be true! Any comments?

[Ukon]

Yeah the benefits can be more than a public school job...I'd go for 2.3 and under 25 hours a week. I decided against it and went public...and lucked out, but if I ended up in a screwy PS job I would have decided to join the private one that wanted to hire me in a heartbeat.

Apply for both and if SMOE accepts you you can use that as a bargaining chip(it impressed the one that was trying to hire me). Talk to the former employees and the current ones too.

Th Biggest pro is that there is no susprises(SMOE is a crapshoot and you have no say on which school you get) and the staff doesn't change every few years...so if you have an awesome staff...they will be there for awhile...public school staff switches.

If I was here for a year, I'd go with the private if it was paying over 2.3 and under 26 hours a week. Don't take 2.1....that's chump change. A great SMOE school is god's gift to jobs...but it's roll of a die to get placed in one of those schools.

[moosehead]

having worked at both - and am at a private elem now - it's true the pay, conditions, vaca all are generally better at a private - resources tend to be more plentiful and classes tend to be much smaller; discipline is given a higher priority which something to be grateful for

on the neg side, you can still be stuck w/ poor E speaking coteachers, sorry arse disorganization, conflicting methods, etc., after all, TIK - right? probably the worse aspect is private elems are pretty much run by the mothers and they are more or less just exclusive hakwons - while you won't be fired as easily, cheated out of pay, or denied benefits, you will be expected to cater to whatever mom's decide is the rule. believe me, you will be working for every single won you earn, too.

overall I'd definitely choose priv over public but just do it with a grain of salt. also your schedule will be more defined, camps are dated ahead of time so you know exactly when to plan your holiday time, which is of course good.

[MollyBloom]

go private

[buymybook]

You said nothing of the "conditions" offered to you so how can we answer your question. When it "sounds to good to be true" it usually is. You need to be more forthcoming to get a good response.

Are you working for an After-School Program where you teach about 4 classes per day but are at the location for about 5 hours per day, 20 - 25 per week? Are you getting severance pay equal to one month pay after 1 year? Are you getting pension(employer/employee retirement match = approx. an additional 3 -4 million Won each year?). Are you getting PAID vacation? Do you get health insurance etc...?

[bradshaw]

Thank you for your replies, they've been very helpful.

The conditions at the private elementary school in question include pension, 50/50 health care, severance pay, 26 hours/week teaching, new officetel housing, paid-in-advance airfare to and from my home country, a decent salary, and two months paid holidays. So far, it appears to be pretty much everything I had hoped for.

[Thunndarr]

Private schools generally have better conditions, the main one being better contractual vacation. Certainly, some random public schools will allow their teachers the whole winter and summer vacations off, but that is the exception, not the rule. By contrast, most private elementary schools generally offer a minimum of 6 weeks paid vacation per year.

Also, teaching in a private school is generally more rewarding than teaching at a public school. You generally are not expected to teach that awful government English book. You will have fewer students, and you will see your students several times a week, as opposed to the once/twice per week in public schools.

The students' English level is better *on average* than the English level in public schools as well.

The catch is that there are not very many private schools, and the good ones don't often advertise their openings.

[iflookzkill]

[yingwenlaoshi]