Korean Job Discussion Forums

[guerillera]

http://www.eliteprep.co.kr/

I think there was a thread about this place before. They do SAT prep and such.

Just doing a lil research.

[Chokse]

I've worked at several of these SAT prep schools over the last 10 years and they have both good and bad points.

The good:

Ability to make a lot of money in a very short amount of time. Over the 10-week summer sessions, you can easily make over 20 million won.

Highly motivated students, most of whom speak at a native English level.

Professional work environment.

Because of the work schedule (mentioned later) you can travel during the off-peak travel season.
The bad:

It's a high-pressure job and you have to be perfect all the time. No mistakes. The parents will complain about anything and everything (too much homework, too little homework, not enough focus on this or that, etc, and there isn't a lot of forgiveness. Basically, if you get enough complaints (maybe 5 or more), you're out. You really have to be mentally aware at all times when doing this kind of work.

Lots of prep and grading time. You'll spend a lot of time getting materials ready for classes and you'll spend a lot of time grading. You are usually not paid for this time.

Schedule: The schedule kind of sucks because you will work like crazy for about 10 weeks during the summer (mid-June to late August), and again in the winter (mid-December to early February). There is also a week in the spring and a week in the fall when the schedule gets pretty hectic. During the rest of the year, you will work very little, sometimes as little as 5 hours a week, and most of those hours will come on Saturday. (Saturday work is usually mandatory).

Hours: As mentioned above, during the student's school year, you will not work many hours, and any hours you do get will be late at night or on Saturday. During the summer and winter vacations, you will usually work 60 or more hours a week (10 weeks in the summer and 6 weeks in the winter). You will also be expected to teach Monday through Saturday, and often on Sunday as well. These hours do not include prep time or grading/evaluation time. As you can see, you'll have no life outside of class during the summer and winter. Expect to get about 25,000 to 30,000 won per hour when you start. After you have been doing this for a year or two and the parents and the school like you, you can negotiate higher pay. I have been doing this for over 10 years and get 90,000 won per hour. But, new teachers at the schools where I work start at 25,000 won per hour if they have no verified experience with SAT teaching in Korea.


Final thoughts:

It is a great job if you can deal with the schedule and the hours, but it is also a job that really requires an F2 or F5 visa. If you get an E2 visa through the SAT school, you'll be their b**ch and you won't make enough money to justify the time invested. You should also know that these SAT places get visited by immigration quite often. Last summer, 3 of the 4 schools I teach at were visited at least once during the summer and several teachers on E2s were taken away and fined or deported.

That being said, it is a great job for someone who teaches at a university and has an F2 or F5 visa. I teach at a university so I have summers and winters off. This lets me teach unhindered at the SAT schools over the vacation, and adds about 100 million won to my yearly pay. I also teach Saturday classes during the semesters, which adds another 15 to 20 million won, so it is a great way to earn some extra money on the side.

[Geoff1111]

I am a Canadian with an F2 visa. Is it possible for me to teach SAT?

Thanks in advance.

[Chokse]

It's possible for anyone to work at one of these schools, but without verified Korean SAT experience, they will most likely have you take an SAT exam (reading and writing only... not the math). Most schools allow you to miss 2 questions on each of the two exams. This hiring test seems to apply to anyone without verified experience, regardless of nationality. The students at these schools pay a lot of money for these courses, so they expect very high-caliber teachers.

If you are really interested in this kind of work, I would suggest hitting one of the larger bookstores and picking up several SAT practice books. Then, try taking the exams (timed) and see how you do. This will let you know whether or not you will have a shot at getting hired.

[t1m1ty]

I didn't know Elite Prep had hagwons in Korea... I went to Elite when it started back when I was in high school. It actually helped (I improved 300 points somehow haha)

[artist]

I went to Elite over the summer waaaaayyyyyy back in high school (LA branch... or was it Pasadena?). I loved my verbal teacher--he was an enthusiastic UCLA professor.

Can't speak about the Korean branches though. I didn't know they were expanding into Korea.

[jizza]