Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mtm216]

Has anyone heard anything about this school? I read horror stories on some reviews, something along the lines of a death trap lol. Has anyone ever worked for this school or know someone who has?

[natasha12]

Hi!
Yeah,I researched the YBM ECC yesterday quite extensively and found that their website basically told everyone they were great but when I cam onto the esl forum another question and answer session on this forum was full of complaints about them.

Apparently,if you read what people have said on this forum about YBM ECC there are good schools and bad schools but all in all they only pay 2.1 million won and they give you really long hours.

Therefore you are better off in a government run public school.

Google YBM ECC daves esl cafe and click on the conversation about YBM ECCs own public schools that will come up .

Hope this helps,
Natasha

[Ginormousaurus]

I had a great experience with Seodaemun ECC.

[hwa jang shil]

Did 2 years at the same YBM, I have nothing bad to say about them.
Not so keen on the dress code, but other than that it was most enjoyable.
In a public school now and though the holidays are nice I really did prefer working at the YBM hagwon.

[PatrickGHBusan]

[definitely maybe]

Two years at two different ECCs here. Neither were franchises. I have additional experience with other YBM entities as well. Admittedly, all of this was over three years ago.

I worked hard but I was treated well. At the time we had less contact hours than the other hagwons. That did not always mean a convenient schedule for everyone though.

I stand by ECC as a decent place to get your feet wet. I know a number of people who started off at my first branch, Seongbuk, who enjoyed the experience enough to stay in Korea for years to come.

As with any teaching position in Korea, public, private, or university, it pays to gather as much info as possible.

[Mr. BlackCat]

ECC is such a huge company and even within the different schools there can be a gap between teachers. When I was there I did kinder, afternoon and evening classes while some others only did kinder and afternoon or just afternoon and evening. It's a total crapshoot and can change at any moment. And kinder teachers work waaaaaaay harder than afternoon teachers yet their only "reward" is being at the school up to 4 hours earlier each day. Besides that there was tons of extra work. Monthly reports for each student, which can be up to 200, and if you do kindy it's very detailed. Realize that means one weekend each month you're at home writing those. Tons of marking, going in on weekends for events, field trips (again a "reward" for kindy teachers) and other paperwork all for no extra pay. Remember, you're already teaching more than twice as many classes as you would in PS (for less money).

Having said all that, I do agree it's a good place to get your feet wet and meet other FTs. It's not terrible, my beef was the uneven distribution of work in the office. I know that exists everywhere on Earth, but it's the only place I've been where I had to show up 4 hours before an 'equal' and get paid the same. And because I was there all day I was given more tasks (like creating worksheets, finding reading comp, hosting debates and other events, etc.). So I guess what I'm saying is if you get into that afternoon shift it could be sweet. But if you do everything it's not that great. I get the feeling that those on this board who really liked the place had the former. Once you have to teach 15 screaming 4 year olds (Korean age) in a windowless room for 3 hours before even doing the same tasks as the rest of the teachers in the office the rest of the day, you tend to grow a chip on your shoulder about the place.