Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mortilap1]

Hi all,

I'll be graduating from a university in the USA in May 2014 and I'm hoping to get a job in South Korea that does not require me to work 40 hours per week. I'm hoping to work part time (20-30 hours) and be able to save $1,000 USD per month. Is this possible? How many hours do most teachers work at hagwons, and how much are they paid?

I have a friend that is paid 2.1 million won per month and he works the following schedule:

1:00 PM - 8:30 PM Monday-Friday. Off on weekends. The day breaks down like this:

1:00 PM- arrive/lesson plan/BS
1:30 - 2:00 -- lunch
2:00-2:50 -- finish lesson plans, make worksheets, make copies, usually go on Reddit
2:50 - 3:35 - teach
3:40-4:25 -- free time on A days, teach on B days
4:30-5:15 -- teach on A days, free time on B days
5:20-6:05 -- teach
6:10-6:55 -- teach
7:00-7:45 -- free time on A days, teach on B days
7:50 - 8:30 -- grade papers, prepare lessons, usually answer emails

For me, I really don't want to have to be stuck in a hagwon for nearly 8 hours a day Mon-Fri, regardless of how much free time or lunch I'll have.

Thoughts?

Thanks!

[ibeattheborg]

You want to work part time? Not realistic. Most people come to Korea on an E1/E2 visa for teaching English full-time, ie 25 to 30 classes each week plus some office/prep work = 30 to 40 hours in the hagwon. This implies that you need a full time job to get the visa. Sometimes you may see a part time position advertised that offers the visa sponsorship but there will be
no accomodation or other benefits.

1 to 8pm, 2 to 9pm etc are the usual hours for elementary to middle school hagwons. An alternative to those hours is the afterschool programs in the public schools 2 to 6pm.

[Hokie21]

Part time and saving $1000 a month?

Probably not likely.

[Daniel1981]

As I recall from 3 years ago when I first came over, the E2 Visa is for full-time positions only. I'm not sure on the exact number of hours, but I believe only full-time teachers can receive this visa.

[YTMND]

The original poster is new to this. They don't understand working in Asia teaching English.

Typically, you will teach 20-25 classes. It is not hours, but classes. This is called full-time even though it seems like part-time back in your home country.

Everything else is negotiable, even the class number after this. Good schools will ask for 1 hour of office time and not care about it after a month if you are prepared. I tell schools and it is also true that I plan lessons at home at various times. That is my office time and I put in more than 5 hours. Without a computer in the office fast enough to get what I need and without resources, the schools never mind this.

Another thing to realize is that public schools have fixed hours. Hagwons don't. This means whenever money can be made, they want the teachers available. You might get a hagwon asking for 40 hours of availability, but in actuality you will only teach 3 or 4 class blocks. This means at most you will have taught 8 X 45 minutes of classes, 6 hours, one day.

Younger students leave at around 3 pm or earlier. Middle school and high schoolers come in the evenings. This will help gauge what kind of students the school will want you to teach. If you are scheduled at 5 or 7pm it's most likely not going to be kindergarten classes.

Get a hagwon which gives you an apartment within walking distance. That way you can just go back and forth. Otherwise, you will be commuting long distances and expected to stay in the office.

[goat]

OP is looking for an easy ride and a pocket full of money. Call in sick. Late for work. Late for class. Hands in pockets - feet dragger.

Have you ever had one of those co-workers that made your job more difficult because you had to pull up their slack?

[mayorhaggar]

I see a lot of hagwon positions where you have to be there like 9AM to 7PM, that's 10 hours. They must give you like a 2 hour lunch break or something. Hopefully.

There are part-time positions but I don't see many of them, and you'd probably be making half of what you would with a FT position. But you would probably get housing, which helps take a dent out of your budget.

Korea's not really good if you want a lot of free time. China or other SE Asian countries are probably better, but you'll be making way less and living in a generally poorer country. Korea is more for if you are ok with working 40 hours a week and getting a free apartment and a decent salary. A Korean FT position has you doing 22 classes a week at a public school, or about 30 at a hagwon (where you make less as well). Then you spend the rest of your time sitting at your desk, either lesson planning or just waiting until it's clock-out time. If you've worked at an office job in a country like the US before this is actually pretty decent. But if you're just out of college then it might seem pretty crappy.

[YTMND]

[ttompatz]

OP:

40-45 hours at the school is pretty common for a large number of hagwon positions.

IF you are lucky you will find a few that are still 30 class hours/week (usually evenings) with minimal desk time.

Almost ALL EFL jobs in the private sector are 30 classes per week.
ALL jobs in the public sector require you to be there 40 hours per week even though the class load is only 22/wk.

.

[mortilap1]

This was a huge help, thank you all so much!!

[wings]

Don't forget that aside from your teaching hours you will have a lot of prep to do, especially when you are a new teacher. 30 classroom hours means a lof more hours to prep yoru classes, do grading etc.

[mayorhaggar]

[Troglodyte]

[Troglodyte]

[parker82]

I had a friend who got E-2 visa sponsorship and a second job allowance from an employer she only worked for once a week for four hours. She filled the rest of her time doing other part-times and studying at school.

I also have another friend who has a four-days-a-week, 5-hours-a-day after school gig and still gets full pay and housing. He received this schedule in his second year (his first year had more regular work hours).