Korean Job Discussion Forums

[lucid]

Does anyone have information about Ansan College? Especially interested in anyone working there now (or previously).

Is it a regular occurence for a college to not offer housing (or allowance) in a contract?

[PRagic]

It is becoming more and more common for universities and colleges to NOT offer housing or an allowance. Some offer lower salaries, but do provide 300-400 for housing. The funny ones offer a housing allowance, and then offer an option to take a place at a university apartment...for more than the housing allowance! Classic.

[Hotpants]

I'd like to underline PRagics answer.

No housing for me, either - unbeknownst to me until a couple of weeks before I was due to start my job - hence I tried to endure a goshiwon to keep within the housing allowance.

[kfred]

Is your pay higher?

[PRagic]

Nope. For example, take Yonsei (the department job, NOT the loser institute). They do pay well, but no better than some other top places, and they offer no housing or housing allowance. The upside is that they don't impose term limits, and they do provide annual increases and a salary differential for degrees and experience.

Now take SNU (again, NOT the institute). They offer a base salary, impose term limits, and offer no annual raises; one set salary for three years. They do offer some for housing, but an apartment on campus there (away from the rest of Seoul) costs more than the allowance they provide!

Ewha offers a bit higher of a salary, but no housing. Then again, they do NOT offer severance. When considering a job with them, therefore, you have to subtract a couple hundred thousand won a month in lost income at the end of your employment term with them.

HUFS does provide housing, but it is really not very good. Perhaps OK for a short timer, but I would never live there. They have positions ranging in terms of pay from 'you must be kidding me' to 'wow, this is great,' so you just have to look for the right one. No housing allowance, but some of their jobs pay competitively.

Hongdae, on the other hand, does not offer housing, and the pay is not higher than other decent places to work. I do believe that they provide differential for degrees and experience, though, and they may provide annual pay increases (don't hold me to that one). They DO however, provide a significant amount of key money, enough so that you would not have to pay any rent on a very nice place. In their system, you just pay the school the interest. Ok, so you could rent a place and your rent would be effectively cut in half.