Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Chris2007]

It was my understanding that POLY would only hire certified teachers in the past. I've been seeing ads that no longer state this as a requirement. Are they having trouble recruiting qualified teachers or are they/have they become a typical Korean hogwon?
Just curious.

[cedarseoul]

i've known a few certified teachers who have had tremendous difficulty adjusting to the hagwon teaching experience...and i've known a few non-certified teachers (esp. english / humanities majors) who've done quite well here. it's the same principle embraced by "teach for america": sometimes, folks *outside* of the field of education, who haven't been immersed in standard pedagogy and etc., function better in nontraditional or unique teaching environments than teachers who have all the training (and the preconceptions that accompany it). that's nothing against certified teachers by any means - it's just an observation.

i'm not speaking for poly here; i don't know if their standards have changed. i do know that at my school, i prefer to hire english majors over ed majors.

[DCJames]

They only say that in their marketing stuff, but they've been hiring uncertified teachers for at least 4-5 years now.

[bassexpander]

"Certified" or do you mean truly "Certified?"

The term "certified" is a joke. Pay any business $$$, take their TEFL course, and BOOM... you're certified.

The only truly certified teachers are the ones that can legally teach full-time at a public school or university in their home countries. This means they have passed the proper government and/or state certifications/tests to become such.

The term "TEFL Certified" is a manufactured certification.

It means nothing.

[Taya]

In one particular POLY school, 50% of their teachers are certified real teachers and the other 50% are not. However, they won't just hire any jerk off the street. They're pretty clear in their hour-long interview that they want teachers who will work hard and are coming over to teach and not to party around Korea for a year. I almost didn't get hired because I casually mentioned that I like to play video games in my spare time... when I'm not hiking, swimming, shopping, or drawing.

[sbp59]

Is Poly a good school to work for? I heard their hours are really long.

[Ukon]

[DCJames]

[Howard Roark]

I HATE POLY. I came to work for them in 2004. They brought me to my "furnished" apartment which had NOTHING. No dishes, wardrobe, TV, not even a bed! Then nobody would take me to Emart to get things I needed. When I asked where is the furniture, they said "like what?". When I got upset and quit they tried to talk me around, when I almost was ready to co-operate with them they decided I was fired and they kept my degree until I paid back the airfare.
It was somewhere on the outskirts of Seoul and the manager was called Grace. I told her I had recently broken up with my boyfriend of 3 years and then he was killed in a motorcycle crash in Korea. She said "well you were broken up so you probably weren't going to see him again anyway". If this woman dropped dead in front of me I would step over her evil body.

I wouldn't work for CDI either. They had a long interview process and wanted me to take a drug test. I said no thanks.

[loggerhead007]

+1