Korean Job Discussion Forums

[chi-chi]

Ok guys, here's another poll...
How many hours a week do you work at your hogwan?
Count total working hours, not just teaching hours. Include travel time if such a thing exists for you, also include mandatory meetings as well as lunchtime if you have to be at the hogwan during that time. How many hours a week, total, do you spend at your hogwan?
I saw a thread here on this, and I thought it would be much better as a poll, so you can see how your hours stack up to everyone else's.
Btw, I used the term hogwan as just a sweeping term....I also mean wherever you work here in Korea, be it a university or whichever.

[chi-chi]

I am so over-worked compared to you guys...you guys suck
I take it there are a lot of uni workers here, and not many hogwan workers....I can't believe the majority work 20 hours or less!
You lucky bastards

[atina]

are you including uni prep time too? cuz you don't have to prep much for hogwans unless you want to be a great teacher but in uni you will lose your job if you don't.

[kimcheeking]

If I included prep time I would be on the high end of the scale. Prep and grading takes a lot of time.

[mokpochica]

I teach 23 hours a week--that is contact hours with students. Planning, grading, meeting with students, and being a presence at my school take more time than that though, especially since I have no textbook. One nice thing is that what I choose to teach and my hours are pretty flexible. If I'm sick one week I can plan a more simple lesson so I can get more rest.

I try to spend about the same amount of time as other teachers at my middle school, with the exception of Saturdays (I don't go to school then). Many teachers have commented on what a hard worker I am, but I feel like I work about 5 hours less a week here than I do at home.

[chi-chi]

Yeah, count prep time.

[Pilcrshr]

Hehe...you guys make me want to become an English teacher. Although I am not an English teacher here in Korea, I'm here on assignment for the next several years. I visit Dave's forum because it seems to be the most active one for expatriates.

My firm usually has business hours from 9am to 6pm, but that lasted for like 3 weeks. Nowadays, its pretty much 8am to 9pm Monday thru Friday with half-day Saturdays. I used to be able to take leave at 6pm (due to the fact that I'm a foreigner), but seeing that everyone working for me AND the people that I work for often stay until 11pm as well as on the weekends, I felt a little guilty.

I must say that I respect the Korean work ethic. Take away the fact that they are nearly "forced" to work like this or lose their job, but that's the life of a Korean salaryman. Getting paid half the salary and nearly double the work of their Western counterparts in foreign countries. But one thing is for sure....they work their asses off!!

[chi-chi]

I really hate to say it, but it almost sounds like you Would have a better time working at a hogwan....since you're already in Korea anyway, why don't you look into it?
(I work 40 hours a week-I did 50 for one month but that was while we were waiting for a teacher to show up. At any rate, with your current hours, you couldn't do any worse.)
If you can make more money working at a hogwan than you are making now, I would say do it. Just check out some of the jobs and see if you'd be doing better with salary also.

[dutchman]

Hey Pil, I've got a question for you. From my point of view, Koreans always seem to be 'at work' but not really 'working' all that hard. You would know better than me. When they work from 8 AM to 9 PM, are these productive work hours? Could they do the same amount of work in an eight or nine hour day?

[Pilcrshr]

Dutchman...you hit it right on the spot! Nearly half of the time, it is pretty slow in the office and they spend their time "working." I think they could do most of the work in the 8hour day. Unfortunately, the heirachal structure of the Korean coporate community does not allow for a more productive day. There is much micromanagement going around. Since no one wants to look bad in front of their superiors, there is much overlap in work. Endless hours of meetings eat up the majority of the time, and no real work gets done until the evening hours when the team leaders make final decisions on what is to be done. (I think they got it backwards...project assignments should be given in the morning...) Well a lot has changed since the IMF period (97-00) and things have gotten a lot better and hopefully will continue to improve.

[VanIslander]

I average about 28 hours a week of actual teaching in a hagwon and two hours a day of prep time, including cleaning and minimal grading (more like reviewing to give feedback). My goal is to work 40 hours every week like a normal full-time job back home, but I usually come up short, unless I really try to do a lot extra. I feel lucky to have no formal grading responsibilities (though plenty of in-class assessments) and no office meetings (nothing formal nor regular anyways).

Should I count after work dinner and drinks with the director? I consider it mandatory because it's traditional in Korea for staff to consider it so. But since he pays, and it's only twice a week, maybe it doesn't count.

I still have plenty of time to do what I want to do on a daily and weekly basis. I have a wealth of time, so I can afford to squander some at Dave's.

[wylde]

22 x 50 minute classes a week


it seems i get like 400 days off a year though

[canukteacher]

I've taught quite a few of these "hard workers". Most admit that they spend a good portion of their work day playing computer games or surfing the Net. It's quite hilarious when their boss goes away on a business trip. They are like a bunch of little kids goofing off from school.
Long hours does not always equal productivity.

[Crois]

I want Wylde's job.

[just because]

I am doing 27 45/50 minute classes. pretty easy I suppose.