Korean Job Discussion Forums

[kodigurl20]

Hi everyone! I just had a recruiter email me about a position where the director wants to interview. The school is Daegu Siji Kids College- the recruiter also pointed out that Kids College's tend to have bad reputations but this particular school is very good. Of course, I'm trying to determine whether he's making this up.
After looking up info on Kids College, I have read a lot of bad reviews, but it all seems to be pretty dated on here. I was wondering if anyone had more recent experience or if the bad reviews still stand??

or if anyone has direct experience with this specific school, any information would also be great!

Thanks!

[miljeong]

I don't mean to come off being rude, but what kind of reviews are you expecting to be 'good'? Most people who have good experiences are too busy living their great lives to write reviews anyway. Reviews by nature tend to be negative.

If you are however looking for a starter school, you can't go wrong with *ANY* school, because no matter where you go or what you do, experience is far more important than 'getting it right the first time'.

It's like that whole 'give a man a fish and he eats for a day' thing. Just jump in and start learning. And if you were a totally clueless teacher like I was when I first came here (honestly didn't even know about the world of ESL at ALL, I just came here to do ANY work) you'll be thankful later you got to be used AND use your first school the way you will and make all your mistakes under the radar.

Later on when you find the 'right school' (*cough* flawed concept *cough*) you will be pruned enough to make a good impression, be smart enough to stay out of trouble, and hopefully have learned how to work hard enough to MAKE your life a better one with the boss.

As for Kids College as a hagwon, please don't tell me you actually think there is a difference between any new franchise other than the rich A-holes who run them because they are bored of sitting on their piles of money all day long.

[gymnasium]

I just finished my contract at Siji Kid's College. I just googled kids college looking for the address and came across this and I've been thinking to put in my two cents for a while now.

It's a good job. She always paid us on time and at the end gave me my severance pay and plane ticket. Her husband owns a hotel in Daegu and she runs the school. They both went to university in the states so they understand western culture. Also, their kids live in the states. She's a cool person.

I didn't pay attention to the company name until I accepted the job, and when I googled 'Kid's College' I was worried at what I read so was preparing for a rough year. Everything was fine. We actually even got one extra day off a month from what it said in the contract so it was more like 3 weeks. During Christmas we had a week off when many of my friends had to work.

She does have a hard time finding people for replacements. I told her about the bad stuff written online and she had no clue. Nothing she could really do about it I guess. I can't imagine that any of her previous employees would have written anything bad. She's that nice.


In Korea the school name doesn't usually mean much for the teacher. If someone wants to start a school they decide what company name and materials they want to use. What matters is the owner. Different from Japan where the norm is a big company with a head office and branch schools everywhere.

Anyway if you have any questions about the place feel free to ask me.

Jim

[joshhughes77]

That exact branch of Kids College wouldn't even give me an interview last year because, at 31, they said I was "too old." Nevermind that I was experienced, in-country, and had glowing reviews from my previous employers.

[gymnasium]

The ages of my coworkers when I was there were: 35, 31, 30, 24, 23, and I'm 30. But maybe she's on a secret mission to hire younger. I don't know.

[abaum]

I was offered a position at Siji Kids College three weeks ago. It looked like a great job and the western teachers were very kind and helpful. A friend of mine was offered a position there as well; we had done our homework and our research and we both accepted. A week after our signed contracts and visa documents arrived at the school, both of us were informed that we no longer have jobs because "one of the teachers decided to renew his contract." They have only 6 foreign teachers. Suspicious that two would change their minds at the last minute, on the same day. Shouldn't the guy(s) have been required to make a decision before two other people were counting on jobs and went to the trouble and expense of obtaining all the documents and sending them there? I'd think so.

I've inquired about getting the documents back (which include my original college degree) and haven't received a straight answer.

[frankhenry]