Korean Job Discussion Forums

[jillie]

Hey, I'm new at this and was hoping to get a bit of info. Is it true that most Hagwons operate from 2-8, rather than a 9-5 schedule? Is this schedule limiting on after school plans/weekend travel?

Any shared knowledge would be greatly appreciated!

[lifeinkorea]

Hagwons can run 6:30am-midnight. You will have a shift, but usually there are two kinds: morning which has kindergarten students and you finish late afternoon, and afternoon where you teach from 1st or 2nd grade to middle school. You might also get some high school students or adult classes depending on the school.

Now, this is what you have to watch out for, split shifts. They might give you a good shift and then change it. Be careful about "temporary" requests, especially if you don't want to do them. Personally, I like a change in schedule so I welcome them, but I also make sure the schedule isn't spread too far. If you live close to the school this can be ideal, but if you are an hour away, forget it. You will lose a lot of time in transportation.

[sheba]

Yes. Hagwons are schools that are run privately (institutes, academies etc). There are usually 5-6 hours teaching a day somewhere between 1 and 10pm(because kids go to public school during the day and then attend hagwons after school finishes). For example, I taught 5 classes a day from 2-8pm which also included 5 min breaks between classes, prep time and a dinner break.

Or as mentioned, if you teach kindy as well you usually start earlier (maybe 10.30am-6.30pm), or adults typically have split shifts (before and after work) so maybe 6.30-8.30am, and then again from 6.30-9.30pm (my friend taught adults and also had a class from 10-11am). I think split shifts suck, it means you have to get up early in the morning, dont have a lot of time to do stuff in the day, and then work into the evening as well.

Both jobs (public and hagwon) have their pros and cons, but I liked the PM schedule because I never had to worry about getting up early if we decided to go out for a couple drinks after work, I am not a morning person anyway, and almost all of my friends had the same schedule (hagwon jobs are much more abundant than public school). My one PS friend often regretted her schedule.

That being said, Im going public this year! haha. It depends on your preferences.

[Tycho Brahe]

you might want to bear in mind that some hagwons change their opening hours when public schools are on vacations.

i normally work 2 to 8 but for this month I'm 9 to 4.

it came as a bit of a shock to me...

[jillie]

Thanks for all the info! Exactly what I wanted to know.

[balzor]

the one I was at was from 10a to 7p

[VanIslander]

all four hagwons I've worked at had directors who didn't like to get out of bed until noon, ran afternoon hagwons, so there has never been even the potential threat of teaching morning classes

beware the hagwons which also teach adult classes or kindy, as they are the ones most likely to require split shifts, early mornings in addition to the standard after-school elementary and early evening middle school classes