Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Ramin]

Has anyone worked for them before? I'm about to sign a contract and wanted to make sure that they are a legitimate school.

[Skippy]

Ya just asked a question asking to

Has anybody heard of McDonald's restaurants?

Reading Town are a mid sized chain of private academies/ hagwons in Korea. There is are many of them. So if you want a better chance of help - where in Korea? Specifics matter!

Plus please search this board there are probably quite a few threads about reading town. Plus read more of the boards about contracts and chain hagwons.

google - site:forums.eslcafe.com/korea "Reading Town"

[Ramin]

Thanks for the advice. As you can see I'm new to this.
It's for the Hongdae location. Anyone?

[Skippy]

Even a basic google search comes up with some info...

http://smileyjkl.blogspot.com/2009/12/job-hunt-update.html

Checking by date you can see the school has been around a few years. So is likely stable. But stable does not mean good. or bad, well less bad.

You may also find some emails and phones numbers. Checking those out you will find more about people.

Also do some searching on Iksan or Haundae area. Wiki, Google map. Try to get a lay of the land. Schools can be one part of the picture. Good school can be ruined with a bad location.

Remember Korea has its own net culture. While most people use google - they use daum or naver. So try out those sights. Maybe with some use of google translate you can glean some info.

Dig!

[Ramin]

You must be better at searching for these things because I tried a number of google searches on the location but didn't really get anything of value. That's why i'm here asking people who obviously have more experience with this than I do. The school has been around for 7 years and they apparently have a lot of returning teachers (two of which I've been contacting through email).

I already know about the area so that's not an issue.

The contract (which i posted in the contract thread) seems iffy though when compared to other contracts.

Thanks for your help.

[Big Mac]

I worked for a Reading Town for a year. They have a very easy curriculum to follow, so it's a good job for a first timer.

Watch the contract though. I had a lot of problems with this. Make sure it has 50/50 national medical insurance (NOT PRIVATE). Also, make sure there is something in the contract about paying into the National Pension program. These were the two major issues I had with my Reading Town boss. They're both mandatory programs and they both benefit you. Don't let them convince you otherwise.