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Wonderland (Again!) in Olympic Park, Seoul

 
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WormBones



Joined: 19 Jan 2010

PostPosted: Wed Feb 10, 2010 7:47 pm    Post subject: Wonderland (Again!) in Olympic Park, Seoul Reply with quote

Wondering if anyone has any experience with this branch (or just wants a new thread to vent about this famous chain).

The location is fantastic, being near the Olympic Park metro stop, but there are already some contractual issues arising and of course they want a signed contract returned within the hour. Rolling Eyes

Without going into too much detail some examples:

- No stated working hours with a clause stating "The employer cannot guarantee the teacher�s requested teaching schedule."

I'm almost certainly looking at a long split shift based on what I've researched.

- "The teacher agrees to teach 115 teaching hours a session and to adequately prepare for classes. The said workload is equal to 172 forty minute classes per session "

172 classes divided by 20 working days = almost 9 classes per day!? Am I doing some bad math here?

Add to this a 600,000 apartment deposit and 15,000 /hr overtime, and I'm thinking this is pass based purely on contract, let alone chain reputation.



HOWEVER... After all that reasoning and thinking aloud I'd still like to hear any personal opinion of this branch. I'd still consider the school if I heard a couple of rave reviews and got the contract up to par.

And how soon after receiving a contract is a reasonable amount of time to review it and give a decision. Contacting a current teacher alone is likely to take more than an hour. Maybe it's just a typical recruiter rushing technique, maybe the job market really is that full up on teachers. Meh.


Thank you very much.
(and mods: if that contractual stuff shouldn't be in here, just replace it with "some sketchy business")
-WB
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kinerry



Joined: 01 Jun 2009

PostPosted: Wed Feb 10, 2010 7:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

this is the blacklist of blacklists

wonderland is hell of earth from everyone that has ever gone near that place

stay away, run
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cheolsu



Joined: 16 Jan 2009

PostPosted: Wed Feb 10, 2010 8:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I don't think they're that bad from the interview I had, but I'll add my experience. I got a job with Wonderland. A mistake with my paperwork that would take a week to fix meant that they dumped me for someone else. They then took ten days (possibly more) to return my paperwork to the recruiter, who is then mailing it back to me so I can mail it back to a potential employer that's waiting for me.

I did my research before I signed (admittedly from desperation and a good location). The reality is that Wonderland isn't so much guaranteed to be bad as highly unpredictable due to their apparently decentralized system.
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ttompatz



Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea

PostPosted: Wed Feb 10, 2010 11:34 pm    Post subject: Re: Wonderland (Again!) in Olympic Park, Seoul Reply with quote

WormBones wrote:
Wondering if anyone has any experience with this branch (or just wants a new thread to vent about this famous chain).

I'm almost certainly looking at a long split shift based on what I've researched.

- "The teacher agrees to teach 115 teaching hours a session and to adequately prepare for classes. The said workload is equal to 172 forty minute classes per session "

172 classes divided by 20 working days = almost 9 classes per day!? Am I doing some bad math here?

Add to this a 600,000 apartment deposit and 15,000 /hr overtime, and I'm thinking this is pass based purely on contract, let alone chain reputation.



You did what most people don't do. You actually READ the contract. I am surprised that you still have to ask however.

172 classes for the SAME money as the average teacher doing 120 classes and a public teacher doing 88.

Double the work for the same money (not to mention an overtime rate LESS than your regular salary for class time.)

Time to look elsewhere. There are lots of options and that is NOT a good one.

.
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kthxbai



Joined: 27 Jan 2010

PostPosted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 12:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Wormbones, I just turned down this exact job offer today. They said they had another applicant waiting in line so I'm assuming that would be you. Anyway, I didn't sign because of the same reason's you stated here. I posted the contract for further review in the sticky thread but no one has yet to comment on it. If you need the number to the school to talk to some of the foreign teachers just PM me. Hope that helps!
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frankhenry



Joined: 13 Mar 2007

PostPosted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 2:21 am    Post subject: Re: Wonderland (Again!) in Olympic Park, Seoul Reply with quote

WormBones wrote:
Wondering if anyone has any experience with this branch (or just wants a new thread to vent about this famous chain).

The location is fantastic, being near the Olympic Park metro stop, but there are already some contractual issues arising and of course they want a signed contract returned within the hour. Rolling Eyes

Without going into too much detail some examples:

- No stated working hours with a clause stating "The employer cannot guarantee the teacher�s requested teaching schedule."

I'm almost certainly looking at a long split shift based on what I've researched.

- "The teacher agrees to teach 115 teaching hours a session and to adequately prepare for classes. The said workload is equal to 172 forty minute classes per session "

172 classes divided by 20 working days = almost 9 classes per day!? Am I doing some bad math here?

Add to this a 600,000 apartment deposit and 15,000 /hr overtime, and I'm thinking this is pass based purely on contract, let alone chain reputation.



HOWEVER... After all that reasoning and thinking aloud I'd still like to hear any personal opinion of this branch. I'd still consider the school if I heard a couple of rave reviews and got the contract up to par.

And how soon after receiving a contract is a reasonable amount of time to review it and give a decision. Contacting a current teacher alone is likely to take more than an hour. Maybe it's just a typical recruiter rushing technique, maybe the job market really is that full up on teachers. Meh.


Thank you very much.
(and mods: if that contractual stuff shouldn't be in here, just replace it with "some sketchy business")
-WB


Don't work for Wonderland! Don't do it! Do not accept a job from Wonderland! There is a reason Wonderland schools have a bad reputation!
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WormBones



Joined: 19 Jan 2010

PostPosted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 12:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

kthxbai wrote:
Wormbones, I just turned down this exact job offer today. They said they had another applicant waiting in line so I'm assuming that would be you. Anyway, I didn't sign because of the same reason's you stated here. I posted the contract for further review in the sticky thread but no one has yet to comment on it. If you need the number to the school to talk to some of the foreign teachers just PM me. Hope that helps!


I appreciate it, though I did talk to a current female teacher. She didn't have anything tremendously bad to report, but the unspecified working hours are indeed very long and even she thought I could do better for the money.

In my case I basically rewrote the entire contract and told my recruiter to take a gamble. I told him that I was aware that wonderland was going to tell me to go to hell, and he got a pretty good chuckle out of that.
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BoholDiver



Joined: 03 Oct 2009
Location: Canada

PostPosted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 1:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It would be fitting for all Wonderland chains to drop the Wonderland name and go independent.

The company's name has been dragged through the mud (often deservedly) for years. It's time for them to disappear from the map.
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WormBones



Joined: 19 Jan 2010

PostPosted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 5:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

BoholDiver wrote:
It would be fitting for all Wonderland chains to drop the Wonderland name and go independent.

The company's name has been dragged through the mud (often deservedly) for years. It's time for them to disappear from the map.


Actually this is exactly what's happening, at least at this Olympic Park branch. I didn't catch their new name, but according to the current teacher it's going down very soon.
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