Korean Job Discussion Forums

[anton81]

Hi guys. Just a quick question. I recently received an offer from the YES Youngdo Education Corporation. The teaching post is in Juyeop Ilsan. The contract seems fairly standard (2 million won, 120 hrs a month, age group 6- 16, no split shifts, 10 days paid vacation and 3 sick days). I have reviewed the blacklists, seached the discussion forums, and researched the internet (EFL- Law in particular) and found little, if any unfavourable comment. As such, I am seriously considering accepting the position. Before I do however, is there anyone that actually worked (or is still working) at YES Youngdo, and may be able to provide me with an insiders perspective. Thanks. Anton

[schwa]

You could & should also ask the branch directly to provide email addresses or phone numbers of staff members.

Its normal protocol. If they refuse, big red flag.

[Gorgias]

My friend just started working at a Yes Y..., it sounds pretty proffesional to me which is why I guess he chose to go there. Who knows how things will go six or eight months from now, but in the past I have worked for other hagwons with good reputations, and Yes Y... sounds similar. Ilsan is not a bad place. My friend is getting a tad more pay that 2, but he's been out here for a while. If I were you I'd go for it. Sounds like you get paid on time which is my number one and only real concern.

[GMK]

I currently live in Ilsan and know a few people that worked at the branch you got an offer for and some that are currently working at the other Ilsan branch. It seems pretty standard and they have no huge complaints. The only thing they dislike is the winter & summer intensives, but at the same time you make alot of money w/ O/T.

[plato's republic]

I was going to post something about Yes Youngdo but the OP beat me to it. The one thing that baffles me is the length of their lessons. Two or three hour lessons??? WTF? Can anyone enlighten me as to what you are actually expected to teach in a two or three hour lesson? How can you keep your lesson going smoothly whilst still retaining the attention of those poor kids for a full two or three hours? I was considering applying but their crappy schedule, late finish (2pm-10pm) and average hagwon salary changed my mind.

[shorty8977]

I just interviewed with YES the other night. I too have done a lot of research and haven't found anything too discomforting. I did ask if they give you the names and emails of other people who are working or have worked for YES. They WILL give you them if you ask. I say go for it!

[aisainmind]

I would never work in hagwon but here is my take on the place,

They make you stand throughout your entire lesson.

They have cameras in the classrooms that allow parents to peep in on your classes.

It's very easy to get canned before your contract is up because of the camera situation, and the way their system is set up.

Here is why:

Basically if you do one thing wrong (according to your contract) they have recourse to fire you.

If they have no interest in keeping you for another year or they get wind that you are not planning to stay. You bet your bottom dollar, you will most likely get fired shortly before your contract ends. Leaving you in the dirt for your severance pay or return airfare, and to top it all off you might have a problem getting another job if your new employer finds out you got fired from your previous job. Depending on the situation.

My best advice to you,

Never go to a place that makes you stand and has cameras everywhere. It can be very discomforting, and I wouldn't be surprised if your lessons are being broadcasted to over 3000 people.

I rather work at Wendy's.

[kreitler7]

If you wanna know about Youngdo, PM me. I worked there.

[seoulsista]

I just finished a year contract with Youngdo. I can't speak for every branch or every teacher but my experience was pretty miserable. As far as the day to day working conditions there is nothing stand out about how aweful it is but there were a number of situations that happened at my school and others in the area that were pretty agregious. I can give you a few examples:

My boyfriend and I signed a contract with them that stated we would be placed in a 1 bedroom. When we arrived we were placed in an apartment that was a single room. There were a number of other teachers all beginning at the same time as us and there apartments were the same size, however they were single individuals. I told my manager about the situation and she absolutely refused to even make a phone call or have a conversation with me about it. My boyfriend later talked to his boss and they gave us 400.00 won a month under the condition that they were going to find us another place asap. When that didn't happen and I pressed them about it and Daniel Joo ( the owner's nephew, who no longer works there) told me I was not allowed to discuss the issue with any other staff or teachers. I continued to press it and finally was given an apartment of two teachers who were leaving only because I happened to know them and specifically asked for there apartment. Since it was a relatively dumpy villa and Daniel Joo wasn't in charge anymore they gave it to us.

Another example: a couple of teacher's training at my school asked me about my apartment situation. I told them the story and they repeated it to Daniel Joo. This promted his phone call mentioned above. The couple was later told that the single room they were given was in fact a one-bedroom as their contract ascribed. They argued. They lost the arguement and pulled a runner after payday.

Another example: a teacher who arrived with me arrived on a passport and visa that ran out midway through the contract. He made supervisors aware of the situation on more than one occasion. The supervisors had months to resolve the situation. They never did. When his visa ran out they told him it was his fault and his responsibility and he would pay for the visa run or loose his job. He did.

Another example: a teacher's mother was in intensive care and the doctors were saying she was not going to make it. She asked to leave and according to the contract should not have to pay back her ticket because of a family death. Well they argued that because her mother wasn't dead yet she had to pay her own way home. Her mother died less than a week later and that teacher never recieved anything from the school.

As far as the working conditions, the classes are ridiculously long and there are cameras. Neither of these things really bothered me. The legnth of the classes for some levels are really not substantiated by the ciriculum. I spent a lot of time coming up with supplementary material. However, for me 6 hours is 6 hours.

I liked the cameras in many ways because if there was ever a problem I could just say "Look at the camera and show me." This luckily never happened to me but...

What bothered me is the following: the school I worked at had serious issues with students being placed in levels far beyond their ability or being allowed to continue to move up through the levels despite the fact that they were completely failing in every aspect of the class. This is true at most hagwons from what I hear but not at all at the one I work for now. The difference being that Youngdo's expectations are extremely higher than other hagwons and at least at my old school the student's performances were far far lower than the expectations of the school.

The resolution to this problem was not to build a reputation for excellence by forcing out students that don't perform but rather to keep the ciriculum the same and lower the grade scale to the following:
A: 100-80
B: 79-60
C: 59-30
D: 30-0
no failure

Consider that about a third of all my students were below a 50% grade.

Discipline was also a serious issue. We were told at training that for cultural reasons we were not allowed to discipline students. We were only allowed to send students out to the front desk. At the front desk the students were not disciplined even a little. In fact, after once sending a student out to be disciplined I later went out to see were he was an hour later and found him running around the hallways. When I asked if they had spoken to him they said no.

I know alot of people out there are rolling their eyes saying "that's all Hagwons," that may be true but it's not true at the one I work at now and it's not true at the ones of other teachers I have spoken to so...

Also don't expect you ten vacation days to be at all consecutive. Two here, three here, one there. You may or may not be able to travel outside of Korea depending on whether or not you want to go somewhere for four days.

Bottom line Youngdo should be a last resort for anyone thinking about signing a contract.

P.S. Please don't reply to me about my spelling or grammatical errors. It's not work-related it's a website.

[seoulsista]

I just finished a year contract with Youngdo. I can't speak for every branch or every teacher but my experience was pretty miserable. As far as the day to day working conditions there is nothing stand out about how aweful it is but there were a number of situations that happened at my school and others in the area that were pretty agregious. I can give you a few examples:

My boyfriend and I signed a contract with them that stated we would be placed in a 1 bedroom. When we arrived we were placed in an apartment that was a single room. There were a number of other teachers all beginning at the same time as us and there apartments were the same size, however they were single individuals. I told my manager about the situation and she absolutely refused to even make a phone call or have a conversation with me about it. My boyfriend later talked to his boss and they gave us 400.00 won a month under the condition that they were going to find us another place asap. When that didn't happen and I pressed them about it and Daniel Joo ( the owner's nephew, who no longer works there) told me I was not allowed to discuss the issue with any other staff or teachers. I continued to press it and finally was given an apartment of two teachers who were leaving only because I happened to know them and specifically asked for there apartment. Since it was a relatively dumpy villa and Daniel Joo wasn't in charge anymore they gave it to us.

Another example: a couple of teacher's training at my school asked me about my apartment situation. I told them the story and they repeated it to Daniel Joo. This promted his phone call mentioned above. The couple was later told that the single room they were given was in fact a one-bedroom as their contract ascribed. They argued. They lost the arguement and pulled a runner after payday.

Another example: a teacher who arrived with me arrived on a passport and visa that ran out midway through the contract. He made supervisors aware of the situation on more than one occasion. The supervisors had months to resolve the situation. They never did. When his visa ran out they told him it was his fault and his responsibility and he would pay for the visa run or loose his job. He did.

Another example: a teacher's mother was in intensive care and the doctors were saying she was not going to make it. She asked to leave and according to the contract should not have to pay back her ticket because of a family death. Well they argued that because her mother wasn't dead yet she had to pay her own way home. Her mother died less than a week later and that teacher never recieved anything from the school.

As far as the working conditions, the classes are ridiculously long and there are cameras. Neither of these things really bothered me. The legnth of the classes for some levels are really not substantiated by the ciriculum. I spent a lot of time coming up with supplementary material. However, for me 6 hours is 6 hours.

I liked the cameras in many ways because if there was ever a problem I could just say "Look at the camera and show me." This luckily never happened to me but...

What bothered me is the following: the school I worked at had serious issues with students being placed in levels far beyond their ability or being allowed to continue to move up through the levels despite the fact that they were completely failing in every aspect of the class. This is true at most hagwons from what I hear but not at all at the one I work for now. The difference being that Youngdo's expectations are extremely higher than other hagwons and at least at my old school the student's performances were far far lower than the expectations of the school.

The resolution to this problem was not to build a reputation for excellence by forcing out students that don't perform but rather to keep the ciriculum the same and lower the grade scale to the following:
A: 100-80
B: 79-60
C: 59-30
D: 30-0
no failure

Consider that about a third of all my students were below a 50% grade.

Discipline was also a serious issue. We were told at training that for cultural reasons we were not allowed to discipline students. We were only allowed to send students out to the front desk. At the front desk the students were not disciplined even a little. In fact, after once sending a student out to be disciplined I later went out to see were he was an hour later and found him running around the hallways. When I asked if they had spoken to him they said no.

I know alot of people out there are rolling their eyes saying "that's all Hagwons," that may be true but it's not true at the one I work at now and it's not true at the ones of other teachers I have spoken to so...

Also don't expect you ten vacation days to be at all consecutive. Two here, three here, one there. You may or may not be able to travel outside of Korea depending on whether or not you want to go somewhere for four days.

Bottom line Youngdo should be a last resort for anyone thinking about signing a contract.

P.S. Please don't reply to me about my spelling or grammatical errors. It's not work-related it's a website.

[Big T]

seoulsista, it sounds like you have a bit of a grudge on youngdo...

i have friends there who have not had anywhere near the experience u had....they are treated fairly and are enjoying their time. It seems all hagwons have their faults but that youngdo is a cut above the others.

the best thing to do is ask to speak to a current teacher at the school, wherever ur going and hear it from them.

[plato's republic]

Sounds like each campus is different. Some are good, some are bad.

[anton81]

Hi guys. Just wanted to offer a big 'thank you' to all of those who took the time to respond to my post. They were very helpful and much appreciated.

[nathanksimpson]

"Another example: a teacher who arrived with me arrived on a passport and visa that ran out midway through the contract. He made supervisors aware of the situation on more than one occasion. The supervisors had months to resolve the situation. They never did. When his visa ran out they told him it was his fault and his responsibility and he would pay for the visa run or loose his job. He did. "

Your visa is your responsibility (despite the fact that the school basically owns it, it's in your name). Visa extensions based on your contract are easy to obtain.

[DeLaRed]