Korean Job Discussion Forums

[cdj5024]

I have been trying to do as much research as possible on the SLP in Gangnam. I have an interview tomorrow night, and just wanted to hear some more recent reviews of this hagwon. I have read that this is a relatively good place overall, but that the amount of work can be excessive. Is the shared apartment mandatory, or can you possibly negotiate for a single? Any info would be much appreciated.

[newbieteach]

[The Sultan of Seoul]

Don't know about thatr particular branch.

Worked at an SLP many years ago in the early 2000's near SNU. Pay was 2mil then. No shared apartments.

Everyone was pretty happy there tbh. Lesson plans were already made and all you had to do was photocoy them and make materials as and when needed.

Everyone doing the 2pm - 9pm - or some variation plus or minus an hr either way of it - with 45 min classes of ele and mid school kids was pretty happy and we had a really nice director. Those on the 9.30am - 5pm kindy / ele shift were not so happy though and got burned out quick due to the long 90 min classes full of kindy kids.

Usually with franchises, it differs from campus to campus and the only real way to guage whether you'll like it there or not is to visit in person and see how it runs, how happy the other foriegners seem and get their feedback on the place. At the very least, get a phone number or email addy from one of the current foriegners and ask them lots of questions.

Good luck.

[Skipperoo]

You couldn't pay me enough to live in shared accomodation with someone I've never met before. A quick read of the Freakiest Waygookin thread should put you off too.

[myenglishisno]

If they even suggested a shared apartment, that would really set me off. If they're willing to weasel out of something so basic (and universal), that means they're probably going to weasel out of other stuff too.

On the flip side, I worked at a hagwon that paid 2.6, had a great contract and gave awesome housing last year and it ended up being the worst kind of hell hole (they used to things to justify treating you like a subhuman so people just went back to their big officetels at night and cried).

It goes to show that you can never really know until you work there. I'd recommend having them give you a current teacher's cell phone number.

[cdj5024]

I just got off the phone with a girl who recently came back from her one year contract with this SLP. She seemed to really enjoy it, and had good things to say about the school. I specifically wanted to ask her about the housing, and she said she didn't mind it, but that she shared an apartment with her friend. I think it would be a lot different sharing an apartment with a complete stranger. It's a pretty big roll of the dice if you ask me. Thank you for all the responses and information. Guess I will see if I get an offer, and then make a decision from there.

[northway]

One of my good friends from uni worked there for a year. She liked the school on the whole, and there didn't seem to be any work issues, but the apartment was a bit of a drag, as she was placed with someone she didn't really know and didn't always get along with. Also, I think the apartments are a few subway stops away from the school, in an older, somewhat rundown neighborhood.

[geedawg]

If this is the SLP near Dogok Station on the yellow line and Daechong Station on the orange line owned by Charles Lee, avoid it at all costs. The shared housing isn't the worst part of the deal if you're in one of the apartments but you might have to stay in a house with three other people which could be fun...the workload and special open classes you need to do to please the mothers is probably more than you'd do at another hagwon, which might make you a better teacher...the pay if it's only 2.0 million is quite low, as that was what they paid me 6 years ago...but the worst part is the administrative staff are totally clueless, if a woman named Jenny is still the Korean head teacher don't walk away but run as fast as you can.

[Weigookin74]

Slave Labor Program.

[Weigookin74]

[The Sultan of Seoul]

Had a hakwan job with shared housing once and it wasn't so bad. Made a lot of new friends through the guy I was sharing with whom are still good, good friends today, so cannot complain.

Depends on you though, different strokes for different fokes and all that..

[Weigookin74]