Korean Job Discussion Forums

[thewhisperer]

philomath (a head teacher) was told from management to post a fair review of ICEV, which I think he has for the most part. What he says is true, that if you can't deal in a work environment that will make you are not valued, then ICEV is not the place for you.

Here is my experiences at ICEV:

Preface:
I have finished my contract with ICEV and I have stayed for a period of one full year. There is so much that I can say about this company, but I will try to keep emotions out of my comments as much as possible. There are both pros and cons to working at this type of environment.

Let’s Be Positive and Start with the Pros:

-ICEV always pays on time and typically they pay the amount that you are owed if the amount is agreed upon.

-If you are hired you live in a private dorm room, and pay no utilities, which include electricity, washing and drying machines, water, internet, and air-conditioning (but be aware that you will not have your own private kitchen and you will have to share 4 burners with 25 other people as well as the occasional bus drivers from another school located nearby)
-there is a possibility, for some people, to move to apartments, but selection for this is based on the will of the management to choose this as a reward for employees to do a good job. If you choose this option, utilities are not covered; however, you are given 100,000 won (which covers most of the expenses). The apartment and dorm are located in different areas, the dorm in a rural setting, and the apartment in more of an urban setting.

-Transportation is provided either by bus or taxi. The taxi is paid by the employee up front, but then it is reimbursed by the company monthly or bi-monthly. But sometimes people who live in the dorms have to walk because there is no bus and a taxi driver will not drive across the street as a fare.

-If you like to work overtime, there is an “option” to work overtime, for which the rate of par is 25,000 won. The overtime will be on Saturday. Everyone must work Saturday, but sometimes you are given an option to have a day off during the week, but this is an option given to very few. This means that most everyone’s work week is Monday to Saturday with only Sunday off.

-If you don’t feel like traditionally teaching, or developing teaching skills, this is the place for you! You are encouraged to have fun first while interacting with kids in English. There is no real accountability, and I have never been observed in class personally. If you want to really learn, or practice teaching, however, this is not the place for you.

-You are generally, with few exceptions, required to work outside of your working hours. In Korea, it is common for people to work unpaid, but generally this is not the case at ICEV.





Now, Time to Be Constructive:

-Asking clarifying questions are discouraged by managers (especially Korean managers) and are seen as a personal attack on them. As an employee if you ask why you should do something, or suggest an alternative, it will be seen as an act of disobedience. You will be accused of complaining, especially if the topic in dispute has to do with an entitlement found in your contract: for example, duties that are not required of you, or losing prep time to complete another class, thus resulting in being unprepared for class. The bottom line is, that you will not be taken into consideration as a teaching professional, but rather just as an expendable employee.

- Because people constantly feel like they are being mistreated, there is a vast negative work culture, especially among the foreign staff. There have been consisting problems with working conditions that managers are aware of, but because of the rigid structure of GlobalEDU’s (the parent company of ICEV) hierarchy, they cannot change. If there is a problem, managers often say that if employees don’t like something, they shouldn’t try to change it, but rather, just quit. It is frustrating to work in an environment where everyone recognizes problems, but no one has the ability to change them, or even speak out against them without being singled-out by upper management.

- There is no solidarity among staff because everyone is always trying to appear like they are doing the best job in order to get benefits. It is common that employees will stab each other in the back to get ahead. If you decide to work here get things in writing as much as possible especially when it relates to changes of schedule, place, or orders from managers.

- The contract will be bent (and sometime broken), however, you will be expected to follow your contract 120% For example December 2013, the entire ICEV staff had to wear Santa hats, although on the surface this seems jolly. But there was no choice in the matter, the hats were sweaty and gave people rashes on their heads. The problem here was that hats of any type were strictly forbidden by the contracts agreed upon by ICEV and each employee. When that fact was brought up, it was stated that the owner of the company and the headmaster wanted everyone to wear the hats, so if we were caught without it we would suffer disciplinary action. Anything in the contracts are subject to change (but only by management when they choose).

-You will be accused of doing things without proof. This is mostly done to save face when shifting blame. For example I was accused of writing articles on Dave’s ESL café (by which I was told by my manager that I was a liar and that she should not believe anything that I said, then threatened to report my writings (which I never wrote) to upper management. This prompted me to write an article myself to not make a liar out of her. ☺

-When someone is left to blame it will never be a manager or supervisor, even when it is clearly his/her fault. Anyone who feels that he/she is above you in company position will never accept blame for anything no matter how small or large. It will always be your fault, and you will be belittled and made to apologize in fear of losing your job.

-There is no communication at all between different departments in the school, and from manager to manager. Many problems will be created from having at least 5 different managers (some of whom do not speak much English at all) that do not communicate to each other. This most commonly includes scheduling problems and sometimes problems with being paid for overtime or reimbursed for taxi fare.

-If there is a problem with you personally or with your work, you will be dealt with unprofessional manners. Managers might cry in order to make you accept guilt, say that you cannot leave the company because of the fragility of the children that you teach, or belittle you and say that they are trying to “teach you a life lesson” when reprimanding you (most likely for something that you did not do).

- At the end of the contract they may or may not decide to pay you for your sick days. There is paperwork to fill out and they might say that you didn’t submit it, or submitted it to the wrong person (they do this of course after you leave the country). This payment is up to 500,000 won.

-They might consistently ignored my emails after they failed to pay me the money that they owed me. To this day, I still have not received the money that they owe me. (If that changes, I will update this posting.)

As a caveat, please do not confuse ICEV with Korea! Korea is a great place to live and sometimes to work—just not at ICEV. It is possible to find a respectable job in Korea that won’t treat you like you are a machine or a piece of meat.

[lifecircle87]

If some people try to find things to complain about, they even complain about wearing a Santa Clause hat for the students on Christmas day. (by stating that it's against the contract which says that teachers are not allowed to wear a hat in the classroom)
I hope the readers have a common sense to judge what's right and wrong...
I truly believe that whether you have a great time or not wherever you go really depends on how you take everything and what kind of people you meet and spend time with...
Too bad to hear that your time in Korea was miserable..
I've seen many people who take things negatively and have miserable times in Korea finally break the law and contract(stealing, not paying back the penalty, fighting when drunken, etc.) get blacklisted by immigration office and get kicked out of country..
oh well,,, Isn't it so simple and better to just work, get paid on time, enjoy your time in Korea while you're there? Life goes on~

[SeoulNate]

[Fallacy]

[Weigookin74]

[Keeper]

The thing is with a village you are worthless to them. If you have an issue either deal with it or leave. Those are your two options. After you arrive they make it clear that you are not needed and easily replaced. Also they have so many teachers working there that a new mentality takes over where some teachers are doing everything to try and get rewards. These are the teachers used as contacts for new applicants who have questions. I would not call them overt liars but they will not tell you the full story. It will be told with a positive spin. Talking to a teacher is good advice but understand there is a filter in place.