Korean Job Discussion Forums

[zenbone]

Has anyone, or does anyone currently, work for You & I in Korea? i am talking with a recruiter tonight and wanted to get opinions if anyone has had any dealing with them good or bad.

[jondepoer]

Feel free to PM me, but in a nutshell:

I work for a You and I in Gwangju. Overall, the situation is not bad, but I would have to caution you that a LOT depends on your franchise owner. I happen to have an excellent owner who doesn't try to rip me off, and does his best to take care of his teachers.

The curriculum, while currently undergoing an update, is thin, repetitive and hard to teach every day without becoming tired and burnt out. It is full of mistakes, and was written solely for the benefit of parents, so they can feel confident that their children are "learning". If you care about education, you'll probably feel bad about teaching it. That said, you are not technically required to do any preparation, and if you follow the routine they give you, you will have no trouble filling a 50 min. lesson.

The head office has no real administrative control over the branches. They just provide the books. So essentially, if you have a problem with your administration, you can complain to the head office, but there's no guarantee that they will be able to do anything.

NOTE: The contracts commits you to 6000 minutes of teaching. This does NOT include the 10 min. breaks between classes. That boils down to an extra unpaid hour at school every day. When I signed the contract, I assumed that 100 teaching hours would be required, with anything above 100 being paid overtime. With most contracts requiring 120 hours, I thought I would have a chance at some overtime - probably never going to happen.

Anyway, after 7 months, I am still willing to recommend working at a branch of You and I, with the caveat that you must carefully read the contract, and do not be afraid to enforce the terms of it. And again, the franchise owner can make all the difference.

Hope this helps :)