Korean Job Discussion Forums

[plato's republic]

There seem to be a ton of crappy job offers around at the moment. I have seen so many jobs offers where a school is looking for teachers with experience and/or a BEd or a similar qualification yet they are only offering around 1.9/2.0 million Won a month. Where are all the good jobs? Why don't schools pay more for more experienced and better qualified teachers?

[spliff]

An overabundance of teachers

[ben the saint]

That's cause too many teachers will accept this. And no, " overabundance of teachers". Stand your ground. If your a good teacher don't accept crap pay.

[aisainmind]

[flint]

The derth of similar "crappy" offers could be because the Hagwon owners get together and try to agree on what they will and won't offer, and often succeed. I know this was the case in Cheongju.

Our director's husband at Ivy School actual told some of us that a couple of times. He would sometimes try and use them as someone to blame when he tried to change our contracts arbitrarily. He once tood us: "I have to give you 3 days off for vacation not 5 because the Hagwon association agreed we all will do that." .

Of course if the teachers try to get together and agree on what they will accept that is called a Union and you get deported.

[Yu_Bum_suk]

It might be that crap hogwans are just getting more desperate and aggressive. Last spring when I was looking for a new job I had heaps of fairly decent offers from public schools and adult academies, and a few offers for interviews from unis for jobs that were starting too late. Only one hogwan offered 2.2 and most wouldn't go that high, presumably because they could get fresh meat from uni for 1.9 to play with the kids.

[Big Mac]

[some waygug-in]

The sad reality of this place is that employers usually care very little about professional qualifications and care a lot about whether or not a teacher is attractive.
Of course there are exceptions, but by and large they just want a foreign face in the classroom.

When you see how a lot of these places are operated, you can see why they actually prefer people with little or no qualifications. It means they can push/jerk you around more and you have to be 'grateful' for the chance they are giving you.

Best of luck to you.

[Yu_Bum_suk]

[Grotto]

As long as there are people who dont know better and are willing to accept anything there will be no improvement in basic jobs.

As some waygug-in wrote:

[Col.Brandon]

Big Mac, could you please make your avatar bigger? It's not annoying enough yet.

[Faron]

[hellofaniceguy]

Crappy jobs....it's the fault of no one but us teachers. Can't make it no plainer than that.
If teachers and wanna be teachers and those who think they are teachers as well as those who are just doing it just for the experience of living in a foreign country..would stop signing contracts. Conditions would improve.

[UncleAlex]

An overabundance of teachers with the qualification of being willing to
accept a "crappy" job. With the low pay scales in the public school sector
the quality of teaching will decline what with the experienced and trained
teachers abandoning the scene. Most positions will be filled by young
adults who wish to travel and explore a new land for a year or two or who
wish to escape from the hogwan where one has to teach 6 to 8 classes a
day for 2 mil. a month. But really, who needs a certified or practiced vet
to teach in a public school where you see a group of 35 to 40 pupils only
once a week. The most one can do is simply feed their curiosity and amuse
them with an activity or a game. Also, provincial and local Ed Offices are
hiring hundreds of teachers this year, so for budgetary reasons salaries
cannot be stretched too far. I guess we must play the game 'Share the
Wealth'