Korean Job Discussion Forums

[plato's republic]

i've noticed something about this particular forum in that most people seem very reluctant to give out info about good schools(hagwons) in korea but only too keen to slag them off when they get fired or when they don't like their jobs. why is that?
i've come up with some suggestions...
1)most people who work at a good school don't want every tom, dick and harry in korea rushing to their school because it has a good reputation, so maybe they tend to guard their school jelously....or
2)there are no good hagwons in korea.....or
3)they might not be allowed to post reports about specific schools on this forum..or
4)they don't know of and have never heard of a good hagwon worth working at....or
5)it is much easier and a helluva lot more fun to slag off and complain about a school than it is to write something positive about it...or
6) they just don't care....
the reason why i ask is because the usual answer to a question about recommending a school to work at, is it's better to come over yourself and find a school rather than be hired by someone who you've never met before whilst in your own country. i completely concur with this line of thinking but then again, if you fly over without a job you are gonna have to factor in the cost of hotels, flight, food, transport during the time you spend looking around for a school. whereas if you already land yourself a job before leaving for korea, you usually get a free flight, accommodation and perhaps someone to meet you at the airport and take you to your new place. that's why most people tend to take the second rather than the first option.

[Tiger Beer]

I am not entirely sure.

BUT.. I know that most everywhere I worked, I more or less liked, or was at least happy with it (even if there were minor annoyances).

But always felt extremely reluctant to recommend to anyone else.. because I dont want to be held responsible or accountable if they dont like it. Plus everywhere I have ever worked (in or out of Korea), I have known many working the exact same job doing the exact same thing.. yet have drastically different takes on the place.

[Daechidong Waygookin]

Geez, there are like a million hagwons in Korea. You want us to give you a list? If I was working at a hagwon, why would I reccomend it to anyone unless there is an opening? What is the point? If Im not leaving then theres no opening so why do you need to know about it?

[Zed]

[plato's republic]

yep, i thought reluctance might have been a main reason, but personally if i worked at a good reputable, reliable school with good management then i know that i wouldn't hesitate to let people know. because if people know which are the good schools, then hopefully they would all flock there and thereby perhaps leave the bad ones to sink into ignominy like they deserve.

[Daechidong Waygookin]

Have you been here before? Do you know how many foreign teachers there are in Seoul? Who wants all of them rushing to your school? Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.....not. And no matter what, the bad hagwons aint going anywhere. There will always be bad hagwons simply because there are so many foreigners here. People have to work somewhere.

The best advice would be to not work for a hagwon. But then again, I aint giving you the name of my elementary school.

[plato's republic]

daechidong,
no i don't want a super long list of good schools, but if there is a blacklist then surely there should also be an adequate green/whitelist of good schools so people know which ones have a good reputation as well as which ones stink

[Tiger Beer]

[Daechidong Waygookin]

Ive never seen a white list. Anyway, just take a chance.

[Tiger Beer]

I think the problem with recommending or even denouncing.. is everyone feels different about a place.

I worked at Pagoda for awhile.. and I quite liked it. Its a top-notch place with a lot of plusses. But when I surf the net looking at blacklists.. there is always some teacher complaining that their microwave didnt work for a week and it was really hard for them to use the stove during that time. Always some goofy ass reason to blacklist a place and throw it on the list on unreputable schools.

Also, it gets blacklisted because of split shifts in the smaller branch offices. Just goofy stuff. But the management and fairness to teachers, getting paid on time, getting your own apartment, and all the rest.. was pretty top-notch to me. Plus the brances were always in the most desireable parts of each city. Great all the way around.

But not everyone sees it like that.

[Daechidong Waygookin]

People hate Korea, people love Korea. Ona micro scale, people can hate and love the same school. I have very positive memories of my 2nd hagwon. My friend who worked there with me for a year, doesnt shut up about how much he hated it. Its all relative. It depends on your character and personality.

[Derrek]

Fact #1: Schools usually only hire a few foreigners, so there are rarely multiple positions open worth posting about. Often, the school owner has already gone about finding someone in your last few weeks of work (whether you know this or not). Often, Korean owners won't ask you for help. Some will -- others won't.

Fact #2: When people are at a good school, they often stay until they are ready for something new, OR something goes bad.

Fact #3: When people do leave from a good place, they usually have friends they might recommend for the job. They usually don't need to post a message for every stranger in the ESL industry to see. The job gets filled before the need arises.

Fact #4: The rare people who do come on here and praise their school often get ripped apart by other posters for doing so. People think they're the hagwon owner trying to advertise or something.

[plato's republic]

derrek, i can understand what your saying. and i also agree that some people can like one school whereas someone else might hate it, that's human nature. but there are SO many negative reports about schools in korea, rightly or wrongly, compared to other forums on this site. i don't see so many poeple slagging off schools in japan and taiwan or china like they do here. that's not to say that there aren't bad schools in those countries cos i'm sure there are. and i lived and worked in japan for three years so i know that there are bad schools in japan too.
and it's not a question of people trying to steal other people's jobs, just simply, it would be nice to hear people commenting positively about their school and about teaching in korea from time to time rather than bashing the b******s out of it.
of course it's about what you make of your experience and taking a chance but it seems that too many people are taking a chance and coming off the worse for it. it's just pretty sad.

[Derrek]