Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Yu_Bum_suk]

I saw this ad posted by ECC:

[I_Am_Wrong]

A couple of months ago I met a couple illegal American teachers on the subway to Suwon from Seoul. It was Saturday, 9 pm, and they were just finishing work.

They're commuting from Suwon to Yeongdongpo, Monday-Saturday, and teaching for 1.7.

YBM is s-h-i-t

[Aussiekimchi]

There has been so much unfair bad press about YBM, ECC and Wonderland.
So what if they are famous for 11 month sackings?
So what if they have a habit of falling months behind on payments to teachers?
So what if they could not manage a choco vine over a Sh*thouse?
So what if ESL teaching has not been existent for 40 years in Korea?...they are just being creative!
So what if they are offering 2 or 3 hundred less than most other schools a month?
For mine, I think you cannot truly experience Korea unless you have experienced the thrills and delights of working for such an adventurous organisation.
Getting paid on time and being allowed to finish contracts in a professional environment can be so damn monotonous.
KUDOS TO YOU YBM!
KUDOS TO YOU ECC!
KUDOS TO YOU WONDERLAND!
for making the whole Korea experience that little bit more special for all of us!

I would imagine that if it wasn't for these three chains, Dave's forum wouldn't be as popular. There would be far less to complain about.

Any directors or supervisors from one of these schools would like to respond...here's the ball...run at me!

[Yu_Bum_suk]

ECC is a division of YBM. Apparently their adult schools aren't quite as horrendous.

[Lizara]

The part that gets me is that it's working. I used to work at an ECC and they've had two positions open recently and filled both of them with no problem. I do wish people would realize they can do so much better.

Then again, I wasn't very confident coming here my first time and I signed with that school because it was easy and seemed somewhat reliable. Going into my third year there's no way I'd accept conditions like that again, but when you've never been here and don't know, it's easy to make mistakes.

[Homer]

I think that ECC needs to be put in perspective here.

For anyone with more than one year of ESL experience ECC is not the best option.

For a compelte newbie with zero experience, ECC can be a good first job.

Also, before tossing the entire YBM group in the ocean, remember that there are many ECCs some excellent, some ok and some bad. The bad ones tend to be the franchise schools, i.e. not diretly affiliated to YBM.

[plato's republic]

I've heard from people in the know, i.e. teachers who used to work at adult YBM schools that the pay is fairly low and the company doesn't even provide free accommodation. So imagine having to fork out around 300-400 thousand won a month on rent off of a 2.0million won a month salary. No thanks!

[plato's republic]

Not forgetting the god-awful split shifts as well.

[swade]

My first year of teaching was with ECC. I enjoyed it immensely! I never had a problem with my boss, the hours were something I knew off before I left the States and I always got paid on time. Wish I could say that much about my current job. I came back to Korea based solely on my experience at ECC.

Maybe YBM/ECC isn�t for everyone but I think it�s a great starting place for most.

[crazykiwi]

[Yu_Bum_suk]

[Homer]

Yum,

Returning teachers get more than 2.0....

The pay scale you quoted is for newbies or new teachers with a bit of experience.

I will say it again, YBM ECC can be an excellent first job for someone learning the ropes. It is not an excellent job for an experienced teacher who has been here for a a while. Those are two different realities.

We have to be real careful about judging jobs from the perspective of experienced teachers. We do not have the same standards as newbies because we have experience here and judge a job on another scale. I would not work at an ECC now but as a newbie I could see the advantages of working there.

[Picotrain]

I started at a YBM-ECC in November. I had no prior experience and started at 2.0 million won. I'm making a little more than that now that I'm doing kindie (2.2 for 3 months, 2.0 for the following 3). I'm even kinda being ripped off there because I was told I'd make 2.15 for the 6 months with a W300,000 bonus at the end, but I went the current route after pressure and a concession of not having to work past 1:30 on Tuesday and Thursday.

[Aussiekimchi]

Any newbie, regardless of experience and quals, who starts on less than 1.9mil has been suckered.
There are too many jobs paying at least 2.0mil.
If you pay crap, you get crap. Sometimes they may get lucky, but any school not paying at least 2.0mil does not deserve a good teacher.

[Yu_Bum_suk]