Korean Job Discussion Forums

[lou2565]

So I've found a school/contract I liked and have requested to speak with at least one of the current foreign teachers at the branch...what are some good questions I can ask them to make sure all bases are covered. Any insight would be great. Thanks.

[semi-fly]

I can only think of a few questions you may want to ask the current teacher. I'm sure others will chime in with other questions.

- Were you paid on time? If not, how often was your pay delayed, etc.?
- Did you ever have to work outside scheduled contracted hours?
- Did you have any major problems with your co-teacher, principal, etc.?
- Did you have to do a lot of seat warming?
- Did you have difficulties getting vacation?
- Did you have any problems calling in sick?
- Did they pay into health, pension, etc.? If they did, did they take out/put in the correct amount?
- How was the VISA/ARC process handled by the school, etc.?
- How involved was the principal/co-teacher in your free time/daily life outside of school?

[Yu_Bum_suk]

There are three main issues:

- Did they pay for everything they should have?
- Were your students expected to treat you respectfully and did your co-workers?
- Did they keep the hours reasonable and was there a decent amount of time off.

[ChinaBoy]

QUESTION #1: Is someone from the school listening to you now, either in the same room or on another phone?

Teachers will feel obligated to lie to you if the boss is standing there.

Also, ask the teacher about Korea. If they say all wonderful things, it means they are obviously will to lie and wear rose-colored glasses about everything. You need to know what kind of person you're dealing with before asking all the other questions.

I'm not saying Korea is all bad, but they should say some good AND bad things about it.

[moosehead]

ask them if they've ever stood up for another FT against management

ask them if they plan to renew their contract

ask them if any FTs have ever been fired, pulled runners, or renewed

ask them where else they have worked - if this is their only teaching gig they can't compare it to anywhere else


*mostly understand if you decide not to take a job after talking to another FT, it could come back to bite them so they might be very careful what they say. mostly you really can't count all that much on what they say - they might just be wanting to finish their contracts and skidaddle outa there

[Yu_Bum_suk]

[lou2565]

Awesome; thank guys...I'll be sure to have this thread open when I get to talk to them...

[geologydude]

i e-mailed the guy who was supposed to be the head teacher and he says they alwasy get paid on time, and that overall the experience has been very good.
however someone reviewed my contract and said it looked scammy.... should i just ask the recruiter to change the contract? opinions?