Korean Job Discussion Forums

[pfraser]

My girlfriend and I have taught in Korea before and are planning on heading back in September. In the process of applying for jobs, we were discussing something, and we wondered if anyone else has tried or done this successfully.

The theory is this: say we work at different jobs in the same city. Our available start times are slightly different, so I go over early and get settled in a job/apartment. My gf gets hired at another job and comes a month later. Could she use the fact that she already has a place to live as leverage to negotiate a higher salary? It seems reasonable to assure that there are a few upstart hakwons (perhaps shady) that would possibly be willing to fork out a few 100 000 won more if they didn't have to provide an apartment for their foreign teacher.

Again, its been a few years since we've been in Korea, so this could be dreaming - but we were just curious if anyone had any insights.

[tired of LA]

I don't think you will find any that will increase the "salary", but will instead offer a housing allowance if you don't need housing. The difference being they won't have to pay pension and severance on the housing allowance as opposed to the salary. The amount for housing allowance varies, but it is usually around 400,000 krw per month.

[pfraser]

interesting, thanks....we'll see how this goes....makes more sense than applying for couples positions (if, of course, we are willing to work at different schools)