Korean Job Discussion Forums

[suzhou2010]

I have seen a few older posts related to this school and area, but if anyone has current experience working at this University your experience/advice is appreciated!

1. How is student motivation?
2. How is the housing?
3. Is there alot of support for teachers?
4. Any other things that jump out in your mind?

Thanks!

[Goon-Yang]

1) Student motivation: Same as any other private university. Most students could care less about English. Don't get me wrong, there is the odd diamond out there, but it takes a lot of polishing to find it.

2) Housing sucks. They stick you in small apts across the road from the uni (full of loud uni students). On the plus side the bathrooms are pink. That's awesome
They only give 250k housing, so finding your own place would be difficult to impossible.

3) Zero and that's the way we like it. The staff is pretty useless (not teaching...admin staff. They are undergoing some difficulties right now)

4) Screwing people out of medical, under reporting our wages so they save $$ on tax/pension.

If you are applying for one of the uni positions it isn't that bad (even with all of the above) if you want one of their "public school" positions...move along. Any other questions...PM me. I've probably said too much.

[suzhou2010]

Thanks for the info . . . its helpful

[ChilgokBlackHole]

And the University Hospital has a foreign clinic doctor who is about ten times less intelligent than a dust bunny.

Seriously. He's an idiot.

[bcjinseoul]

in regards to the public schools sponsored by the uni down there, well;
GOT THIS EMAIL ON FACEBOOK FROM A FRIEND ON FACEBOOK WHO WORKS FOR SUN MOON SCHOOLS IN THE SAME AREA:



"there are two schools that do the English program for the Asan Board of Education, Sun Moon and Soon Chun Hyang.

Soon Chun Hyang hires about 80% of the teachers and Sun Moon, the rest. there's been a big problem over at Soon Chun Hyang though. apparently some of these teachers that have been working for them for the past 2,3,4, and 5 years weren't legally employed through them according to the new lead immigration official in charge at the Daejeon immigration office. it turns out, both universities (according to him) have been hiring us ILLEGALLY ever since the program started. i guess it caught this guy's eye and not the old official. it turns out, the teachers over at Soon Chun Hyang decided to contact a lawyer to see what's up. they eventually found out they were running into more problems than just being illegally hired throughout their whole time in korea. it turns out Soon Chun Hyang said they would put them on their own private pension plan and not the national one that you and i are on. but as it turns out, E-2 holders can't legally be on the private penion plan, only the public one....so the university has screwed those teachers out of all their years' of service of pension contributions BECAUSE they didn't even contribute that money to the pension plan AT ALL! but the lawyer is fixing that....at a rate of 30% commission for fees. so, basically this one teacher at my school who was hired through Soon Chun Hyang is only going to get 70% of his grand total of pension back (because he and the other teachers that filed the class action lawsuit obviously have to pay the lawyer). A LOT of teachers are leaving that school. however, everyone of us at Sun Moon believe that our uni has been upfront with us. besides, we're all on the public pension plan. i've been very satisfied how they've handled things since this immigration bust.

this is the deal. if you get the job (which is taking a risk) you will be hired through the university, but your contract will be through the Asan Board of Education. you will be paid by Soon Chun Hyang though....and i'm assuming they will be straightening up their act and do the pension right this time.

it's your call. you definitely have a better chance getting in through Soon Chun Hyang than Sun Moon, just because there's likely to be more positions and the word of mouth about Soon Chun Hyang has gotten pretty rotten within the last few months.

oh, and if you have any interest than making more than the base salary of 2.0 a month, you should ONLY apply for the elementary position and request that you want to work for the after-school program. besides, you get out at lunch time everyday otherwise and you're finished. if you get the after school program, there may be a chance that you might have to do it at another school, which means investing in a car or scooter or spending tons of time waiting for buses or spending tons of money on taxis. if you work at the middle or high schools you won't have any after school program and you'd have to stay until regular time everyday.....and there's no bump up in pay to compensate for all that time just sitting there.

the 10 weeks of vacation is a new one. that's a bump up from 8 that i'm guaranteed, but i'll be getting 10 anyway this contract."

[ghettofabulous]

i'll be working for them soon (uni not public school) im really excited. i hope it goes well.

[Goon-Yang]

[Draz]

[Becka]

A couple things to add about public school stuff through SCH:

- Not all elementary schools have an after-school program at their school. It's pretty random whether or not you'll be placed in a school with an after-school program. Requesting elementary won't necessarily get that for you. Also, working at an elementary school doesn't guarantee you'll be done at lunchtime if you don't do after-school programs. It means you'll be done by 3 at the latest.

- Some of the schools are quite a distance and not on a bus route. The uni used to invest in a few small cars for these teachers, but I have a feeling that's no longer the case. A friend of mine employed to teach elementary school at SCH winds up staying until 4 or 5 most days because she's far out in the country and no bus comes between the time she finishes and late afternoon.

[fakeplasticvero]

Hi. I have an interview on Friday for a teaching position through Soonchunhyang and I became a little worried after reading this thread. I have a few questions.

1. Should i expect to encounter problems if I get the job?
2. How is the housing?
3. How is life in Asan? Is it easy to get around (into Seoul, Incheon airport, etc).

Thanks!

[languistic]

[thecount]

I have worked with SCH before.

I know all about the recent drama (I was on the mailing list when everything broke loose).

Sanghyun works hard. Unfortunately, he has to attend to the every need of all of the teachers. It's tough for him.

Youngae seems capable, but harried.

Overall, the benefits (while they lasted) were impeccable. Even the teachers who complained about their apartments or the schools they were assigned to (if they were teaching public) agreed that features such as their special health care policy (50% off, PLUS additional discounts if you used the SCH hospitals) were almost impossible to beat anywhere, not just merely in Korea.

Short hours, good pay, friendly people.

I was always paid on time, and my minor issues were taken care of (not swiftly, but taken care of nontheless).

You could do a whole loss worse than SCH or SM.

-Count

[HelenaJ]

I know a couple who were there for several years, and I believe they had a two-bedroom apartment. Maybe that was because there were two of them.