Korean Job Discussion Forums

[sparticus]

In the last couple of months my school has lost quite a few students and there is practically zero money in the budget for advertising. Do you have any creative ideas on how to attract more students? I'm really worried about the school shutting down.

[Big Mac]

If you have good teachers and a good curriculum, word of mouth is the best form of advertising.

I would say your school has run into a reputation problem with the parents. Not sure how to correct that, other than to change your ways and hope that the good word spreads.

I know at my school, parents would take a look at the foreign teachers wearing a shirt and tie and automatically assume we were good teachers by the way we looked. By the time I left (it was a brand new school) we had too many students for the size of the building. How do you guys dress?

[sadsac]

I would agree with Big Mac's assessment of the problem. Something has happened of which you may not be aware that has people saying negative things about the school within the community. Reality is, to change that perception is the most difficult thing to do. We also do not advertise, we get plenty of new students from parents talking to each other and recommending us. We have doubled our student numbers in the past year and been forced to move because the space we had couldn't accomodate any further increase. I'm not a shirt and tie kinda guy, so my teaching has to speak for me. One way that you can help indirectly and get some goodwill happening is to get involved in the community. In Ulsan this worked a treat and was fun as well.

[Big Mac]

I'm not a shirt and tie guy either. It was sort of forced on us. But it worked, and was actually one of our most powerful marketing tools. It's crazy but a lot of Koreans really do judge a book by its cover.