Korean Job Discussion Forums

SirFink · Joined: 05 Mar 2006

I've been offered a contract by a hagwon for a public school job. Is this kosher? To make matters worse, the hagwon is Oxford Foreign Language Institute and I see Oxford all over the Black Lists, or at least various permutations of hagwons with "Oxford" in their name. Is this the bad hagwon or just an innocent little hagwon that happens to use the name Oxford?

Is anyone else working in Korea under a contract like this? It seems I'd be losing out on one of the major positives about working at a public school, i.e. getting paid in a reliable manner.

Another oddity is the hours: 12:30pm to 6:30pm. These seem more like hagwon hours, not public school hours. Is anyone else working these kinds of hours at a public school?

Ya-ta Boy · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: Established in 1994

If I understand your situation, you are being hired by a hakwon that is renting you out to a public school. Is that right?

First, be sure that you have permission from Immigration to do this. They are VERY strict that you work at only one place. You will need a stamp on your Alien Registration Card (which you get after you arrive and has the address of your workplace printed on it). There have been posts from people who do work under arrangements like what you are talking about, so it is probably kosher--if they follow Immi regulations about it.

Second, how much are you promised? Public school teachers typically get W2.2 million. With that extra employer in the mix, they may be expecting a cut of your salary.

The schedule is interesting. I wish I had it. The reason it looks odd is that you will be teaching (mainly) 'after school' classes. That means you won't be spending as much time in 'regular' classes of up to 40 students.

Sorry, I don't know anything about Oxford.

peppermint · Posted: Thu Mar 30, 2006 2:26 pm Post subject:

The OP won't be a public school teacher in the EPIK sense, so the pay scale is irrelevant.

There's been a big push to make hagwon style classes affordable for the average Kim in recent years. The way they're doing that is by teaching the classes at the public schools ( no overhead) Expect slightly larger classes than at a regular hagwon, but similar everything else

Beware of the bank account scam- where the tuition for classes goes in your account and then the employer takes out their cut.

SirFink · Joined: 05 Mar 2006

That may be what's going on. The problem is neither the recruiter nor the school's director (or whoever it was I interviewed with) speaks very good English. It's in Gangnam (that's decent, right?) and the pay is 2.1. The contract has things in it like "the schedule can change at any time" and a 200,000 won housing deposit that I must pay. Huh?! I've got about 8 recruiters calling me nightly, so something better is bound to turn up.

ilovebdt · Joined: 03 Jun 2005 Location: Nr Seoul

Yu_Bum_suk · Joined: 25 Dec 2004

My guess is that you're being farmed out to teach after-school English lessons at an elementary school. Do you have to teach hogwan classes on top of this? If so, it sounds like a bit much unless you're getting paid a lot extra.

As others said, if you don't have specific approval from immigration, you're putting yourself at risk.