Korean Job Discussion Forums

[macadamian]

I have previous teaching experience in Korea, 8 months to be exact. During the 7th month my hagwon was sold and I went from a school with 5 teachers that focused on teaching english(myself being the only foreigner). To a school that employed around 40 teachers, and focused on teaching everything with myself still be the only foreigner.

The end result was that I was asked to teach around 10 more hours per week for no increase in pay. Plus the classes jumped from around 5-8 kids per class to around 15. I was not happy with the recent changes and so I told my manager that she neeed to either rework my contract or find a new teacher. She was obviously under lots of stress as well moving from a director that was fairly nice to one who was only concerned about the bottom line. The whole thing ended with an arguement between myself and her, in which I expressed my opinions of her managing skills which wasn't the polite thing to do. Anyways my last month in Korea was spent in silence while at work. I realize that things are done differently in Korea than back home, and I probably should have respectfully told her that I wanted to quit instead of expressing my opinions on her abilities as a manager but I didn't.

Now it is 2 years later and I am thinking of returning, but I would like some advice on what I should put on my resume. Should I tell the schools that I have been to Korea before, but not list whom I worked for? Should I leave it off the resume entirely so it won't give me a bad rep, or should I just be upfront and let them know I have been to Korea previously but it did not work out? Thanks for the advice.

[ChuckECheese]

In my opinion, it's always good to be honest and list more teaching experience in your resume.

With that said, however, the potential employer in Korea will scrutinize any teaching experience in Korea with the hagwon that you just discussed and most likely ask questions why you left the job before completing one year. Therefore, what I recommend is this:

1. On your resume, list the hagwon's name and dates.

2. You should also include explaination as to why you left before the end of contract, 'The school was sold to a new owner'.

3. During the interview, employer may ask questions about above experience. So at that time, you may tell him/her about the problem you had, but never tell them about any personal conflict with your boss. It's best to just tell them that when the school was sold, the new owner decided to increase the working hours and etc. without increase in pay or over-time so you decided to leave the job.

Good luck!