Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Sir John Hawkins]

Any info about this tandem?

I just was offered a job in Bucheon, 2.5 Severance is only 1.6 though..

What say you?

[balzor]

Poly schools are hit and miss. 2.5 is nice, but you're gonna work for it. 1.6 severance is not good, should always be at or close to your salary

[joshhughes77]

Be prepared to work something like 9-730 every day. This severance thing is a new scam of theirs where your contract states that your salary is only 1.6, but you get "bonuses" or something to make your monthly pay 2.5. Since the "official" salary is stated as 1.6, they can get away with only giving you that much in severance.

[Sir John Hawkins]

What are some of the main questions I should ask them during the interview?

Why is it so many hours?

[furtakk]

ask why your severance isn't equivalent to one months salary.
ask why you are required to work 10.5 hours a day.

honestly, don't bother with the interview. poly is pretty reputable, but you won't have a life during the week with this job.

[KoreanAmbition]

My friend worked at Poly in Mokdong.

She always had good things to say about the students and the curriculum, but she also worked all the time.

As another poster said, they are reputable, and therefore you can trust that you're going to get what is promised in the contract. However, as you're finding out, sometimes the promises are rather low.

In an interview, I disagree with the above comments. I wouldn't ask them about the hours... the hours are the hours...take it or leave it. They aren't going to change just for you. As for severance, I would almost think the same thing applies.

If you're going to work for them... then don't rock the boar early on. Either accept their offer, or don't... but don't try and cause waves at this point.

If you want to work for them, then do it. But you're not going to win the battle of "hours" and "severance" (most likely), so don't start off on the wrong foot.

Just my opinion.

[aweitzm1]

the 2.5 sounds like the middle school salary. Not all the hours are bad. I am making that salary and only work from 2 to 10 pm. I only teach 24 40 minute classes a week. I believe the old contracts had the base salary and bonuses to make it seem much higher, but when I received my contract it was one figure. None of the bonus crap.

I would ask the recruiter about it. before making a decision ask questions about the contract. I did learn though that nothing was able to be changed, no matter how hard you tried.

[globalcyclist]

Hey aweitzm1,
I read about your post on the JEL contract but I've not enough postings to PM you. I was wondering if you took the job and if so, how it was working out, and if not, why not? I've got a similar offer through an agent and wouldn't mind some background info. Thanks

[vermouth]

I was just placed in a Poly school through Morgan recruiting. So far I haven't had any negative surprises.

I actually found Morgan to be far more communicative than the US recruting Agency Aclipse which brought me to Korea the first time. Maybe that's just reflective of me being here and not there.

[Taya]

Poly is great in many ways, but it has it's downfalls. And of course, every school is a little different.

In my experience, we were always paid on time, we were treated very well by superiors, we got bonuses for holidays, and a chance to earn a monthly bonus, we got free dinners, and pizza parties. The children already speak English very well so classes are usually pretty easy to teach. Most children are also well behaved.

BUT
you will need to stick to a tight curriculum, teach as many as eleven classes in a day (but probably 6-8 classes a day), make monthly exams, do report cards, grade a ton of tests and assignments, and you may have long hours. If you work the morning program, it could be 9:00 am to 6 or 7:30 pm. The afternoon shift is more standard: 1:00 pm to 9:00 pm. You will always be pressed for time and you may have to bring things home to grade.

If you want to actually TEACH, Poly is a great place to work. But it's not for the lazy or the weak!

[InDaGu]

[Ramen]

[anners]

[geldedgoat]

[hawkeyz11]