Korean Job Discussion Forums

[prosodic]

The job I accepted is at Cheonan College of Foreign Studies. Originally, I was going to turn them down because I didn't like all of the clauses in the contract. I sent them a few very long emails outlining everything I didn't like and said the offered salary was too low. I figured that would result in them blowing me off and moving on to the next applicant. The director surprised me by calling and saying that he would make all requested changes in the contract and offered an extra 300,000 won per month. He said that was his final offer before moving on to other applicants. Since that seemed very fair, I agreed. However, nothing's been signed yet.

The next day I had a phone interview with SNU. I decided to do it just for the interviewing practice. The interview went extremely well. We talked for over an hour and she told me that my application was the strongest of all the ones they had received. The interview was the third stage of the application process. The second stage was a timed writing/proofreading/revision test (they emailed it and it had to be returned via email within 6 hours). She told me that I was the only applicant to get a perfect score on the written test. It's down to me and one other person she had yet to interview. She promised to send me their decision by Tuesday. For all the reasons stated above, I feel like I can expect a positive response.

Yesterday I received via email an offer from SCH univ. Terms seem fair.

What would you do?

[Grotto]

In all honesty which one offers the best options? Pay, holidays, location...etc.

I would pick the one I felt would be best for me. I would notify the other uni once I had the contract signed and the visa paperwork underway.

In short keep the bird in the hand until the other bird lands.

[prosodic]

Thanks Grotto. That's basically my plan.

Cheonan College of Foreign Studies is obviously in Cheonan. The job is 20 hours a week, half at Kyobo Life and half at the tutoring center waiting for students to drop in randomly with questions for the native speaker. No tutoring hours during the 5 months that CCFS students have vacation. Eight weeks vacation for me. 2.3 million won (that's after the increase). Private apartment (not dorm). airfare paid. pension but no severance (this abides with Korean law because it's the private school pension). Standard health insurance. They recently got a 5 million US dollar grant to develop digital curriculum materials. They want me to help develop those materials and will pay separately and on top of the 2.3 million for teaching ESL and U.S. insurance regulations. Big negative in my opinion: no Korean classes, but I could probably practice my Korean when teaching insurance regulations.

SCH is in Asan. They pay 1.98 million a month for 20 hours a week, 30,000 for overtime. I would teach conversation and writing. 12-18 pyong apartment. pension but no severance. Standard health insurance and a discount when you use the university hospital. No airfare, but 1 million won for relocation expenses (paid at end of final contract ). Big positive: Free Korean classes (but they may not be the best classes).

Everyone knows where Seoul National University is. I haven't seen a contract yet, but they said the base pay would be just under 2 million won a month for a 9-5 office job reviewing and revising proficiency exam questions. In addition, they pay up to 900,000 won a month for up to 30 exam questions that are both submitted and accepted. Apartment in dorm. Airfare paid. Standard SNU benefits including free Korean classes.

I'm also thinking about networking opportunities. I figure that SNU would be best for that.

With the exception of SCH, these aren't standard ESL jobs. I'm sure that had something to do with why CCFS was willing to negotiate.

Thanks in advance for the advice/thoughts everybody.