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ohme_ohmy
Joined: 13 May 2009
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 Posted: Wed Jun 03, 2009 8:16 am Post subject: Salaries - Public vs Private |
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From what I understand, private schools pay higher salaries than public schools. However, I was just given an offer for a public school position in Busan and was only offered $1.8 mil won/month. Is this pretty standard? It seems a bit low to me...I have my BA in Psychology and I'm not certified to teach but I have plenty of childcare experience in my background.
I have a friend who teaches at a private school who told me I shouldn't accept any less than 2 mil won, even for a public school teaching position.
Is it possible to negotiate a higher pay with the Busan MOE or is this one of those "it is what it is" situations? |
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Sector7G
Joined: 24 May 2008
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| Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2009 5:35 am Post subject: Re: Salaries - Public vs Private |
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| ohme_ohmy wrote: |
From what I understand, private schools pay higher salaries than public schools. However, I was just given an offer for a public school position in Busan and was only offered $1.8 mil won/month. Is this pretty standard? It seems a bit low to me...I have my BA in Psychology and I'm not certified to teach but I have plenty of childcare experience in my background.
I have a friend who teaches at a private school who told me I shouldn't accept any less than 2 mil won, even for a public school teaching position.
Is it possible to negotiate a higher pay with the Busan MOE or is this one of those "it is what it is" situations? |
2.1 should be the rock bottom you accept for the standard 22 hours of teaching job. I made 2.2 two years ago in my first job and had about the same experience you have, maybe less considering I had no childcare background.
I thought they were only offering 1.8 in that special program for AA degree holders. Also some university jobs will offer around that amount but you only teach around 16-18 hours and get as much as 6 weeks or more vacation. |
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Sector7G
Joined: 24 May 2008
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| Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2009 5:40 am Post subject: |
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Is it possible to negotiate a higher pay with the Busan MOE or is this one of those "it is what it is" situations?
Oh sorry, I am talking about jobs in general, I don't know about Busan MOE. Still, I would not settle for that. They are not the only game in town!! |
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Johnny_Bravo
Joined: 27 May 2009
Location: R.O.K.
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| Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2009 5:44 am Post subject: Re: Salaries - Public vs Private |
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[quote="Sector7G"]
| ohme_ohmy wrote: |
2.1 should be the rock bottom you accept for the standard 22 hours of teaching job. I made 2.2 two years ago in my first job and had about the same experience you have, maybe less considering I had no childcare background.
I thought they were only offering 1.8 in that special program for AA degree holders. Also some university jobs will offer around that amount but you only teach around 16-18 hours and get as much as 6 weeks or more vacation. |
I think you may have thought wrong.
SMOE's starting salary for someone like him will be 1.8 for e.g.
2.0 in GEPIK. Of course, some extra and or after school classes can add a couple of hundred thousand monthly.
bottom line is if you want to work in the the most sought after public schools, such as Seoul's (and Busan's I can imagine) , because of the demand, they can lowball any incoming teacher on salary and they do. |
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Otherside
Joined: 06 Sep 2007
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| Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2009 6:04 am Post subject: |
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| Sector7G wrote: |
Is it possible to negotiate a higher pay with the Busan MOE or is this one of those "it is what it is" situations?
Oh sorry, I am talking about jobs in general, I don't know about Busan MOE. Still, I would not settle for that. They are not the only game in town!! |
It is what it is.. Public schools follow a set payscale. The entry level (which with your qualifications you are) is 1.8 for Seoul and Busan. For the rest of Korea it would be 2mill.
As other posters have said, you can make a lot of extra money in afterschool classes (but you school may not offer them...in which case, too bad).
Personally, I'd rather earn 1.8 in an average PS, than 2.1 in an average hagwon. |
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Sector7G
Joined: 24 May 2008
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| Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2009 6:17 am Post subject: |
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| Otherside wrote: |
Personally, I'd rather earn 1.8 in an average PS, than 2.1 in an average hagwon. |
So would I, but I didn't think that was the only choice. The 2.2 I made was at a public school, but in a smaller town. And it wasn't through EPIK or Gepik either. But I think even my friends working through Epik were getting 2.1. |
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Sector7G
Joined: 24 May 2008
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| Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2009 7:24 am Post subject: Re: Salaries - Public vs Private |
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| Johnny_Bravo wrote: |
bottom line is if you want to work in the the most sought after public schools, such as Seoul's (and Busan's I can imagine) , because of the demand, they can lowball any incoming teacher on salary and they do. |
Do you mean sought after public schools, or sought after cities? Because I don't see why they would be sought after at such a low salary. And I agree, those cities are great, but how could you afford to live there?
Anyway, here are a couple Seoul area postings I found on Dave's starting at 2.1 to 2.4. The first one's schedule does not sound half bad!
http://www.eslcafe.com/jobs/korea/index.cgi?read=37751 |
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winterfall
Joined: 21 May 2009
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| Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2009 8:09 am Post subject: |
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If your going to Korea for the money. SMOE is not the way to go. Either take your chances with private or go to provinces. Living expenses in Seoul are high especially transportation. It all adds up. I was living in Seoul from 2000-2002 and back then it was high. I can only assume, its gotten higher.
Even if they give you an apartment and pay rent. A 200,000 monthly allowance is not enough. You have to pay utilities. Groceries and entertainment will get you at the end. In the provinces all these expenses go way down.
If your on the money plan and take a job with SMOE. Ideally you would clear $500 a month (Depending on exchange rate). That's nothing, you can probably clear at least a $1000 month if you live with your parents working in an entry level job.
If you want to stay in Seoul. If possible try to maneuver a position somewhere North of the River. Preferably the North East of Seoul like Seung-Buk, Yongsan is middle of the road and that's lots of foreigners around or any other place that is on the outskirts but, still in the city limits. They're be some travel time (1 hr +) but you'll still be in the city and the expenses won't be as bad as if you live in say Gangnam or the most expensive place I know of, Apku.
But, I hope someone will more experience can give you their thoughts. |
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Ukon
Joined: 29 Jan 2008
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| Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2009 3:25 pm Post subject: |
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| IF you get a TEFl cert, you get a pay raise with SMOE....so after that it would be 2.0....although not always guaranteed, there are after school classes which will likely raise your pay quite a bit. Not to mention yearly pay raises....but yeah, it's possible to end up making 1.8 mil....In that case I suggest getting a private which is easy becuase your evenings are free on a 9-4 schedule(unlike hagwons). |
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Otherside
Joined: 06 Sep 2007
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| Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2009 6:37 pm Post subject: |
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| Sector7G wrote: |
| Otherside wrote: |
Personally, I'd rather earn 1.8 in an average PS, than 2.1 in an average hagwon. |
So would I, but I didn't think that was the only choice. The 2.2 I made was at a public school, but in a smaller town. And it wasn't through EPIK or Gepik either. But I think even my friends working through Epik were getting 2.1. |
Well, as I mentioned, starting salary in Seoul/Busan is 1.8 with no qualifications. In the rest of Korea it's 2mill, with some places offering provincial bonuses, rural bonuses etc, so it's possible to earn 2.2base at a PS with just a degree. Your friends in EPIK may be getting 2.1, just depends on their qualifications and location, heck they could even be getting 2.5-2.6.
Secondly, Seoul and Busan can afford to lowball the teachers, there is sufficient demand. I've also heard that SMOE doesn't accept too many teachers with no extra qualifications/experience, so the majority of teachers would atleast have a year or 2's experience or TEFL certification...which would bring them into the 2-2.2 pay bracket.
From a personal side, I'm thinking of working with SMOE next year (want to be in Seoul for personal reasons, and don't want a hagwon gig), however looking at the current payscale it will put me at 2.2. I'm currently getting 2.45 + 150-300K for overtime with GEPIK, and not too sure how happy I'm going to be earning less, especially as inflation and the exchange have already hurt my savings potential by over 30%. |
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Sector7G
Joined: 24 May 2008
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| Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2009 7:17 pm Post subject: |
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| Otherside wrote: |
Well, as I mentioned, starting salary in Seoul/Busan is 1.8 with no qualifications. In the rest of Korea it's 2mill, with some places offering provincial bonuses, rural bonuses etc, so it's possible to earn 2.2base at a PS with just a degree. Your friends in EPIK may be getting 2.1, just depends on their qualifications and location, heck they could even be getting 2.5-2.6.
Secondly, Seoul and Busan can afford to lowball the teachers, there is sufficient demand. I've also heard that SMOE doesn't accept too many teachers with no extra qualifications/experience, so the majority of teachers would atleast have a year or 2's experience or TEFL certification...which would bring them into the 2-2.2 pay bracket.
From a personal side, I'm thinking of working with SMOE next year (want to be in Seoul for personal reasons, and don't want a hagwon gig), however looking at the current payscale it will put me at 2.2. I'm currently getting 2.45 + 150-300K for overtime with GEPIK, and not too sure how happy I'm going to be earning less, especially as inflation and the exchange have already hurt my savings potential by over 30%. |
Good points! Now that I think about it, I have seen the 1.8 on the advertised Gepik/Epik pay scales, but have never actually met anyone who got paid that low. Perhaps because they typically hire people with experience as you say. |
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dporter
Joined: 26 Apr 2009
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