Korean Job Discussion Forums

lemadre · Joined: 18 Oct 2006 Location: USA

I just got notice of a job opening at Union College in Namcheon-Dong. Does anyone know about this school's reputation, pros and cons?

Any info or advice is welcome.

ttompatz · Joined: 05 Sep 2005 Location: Kwangju, South Korea

Tobacco Dreams · Joined: 05 Dec 2006

I'm the guy who's been blacklisting Unium (not "Union") College--that last bit belongs in quotation marks too, since it's a kiddie hakwon, not a "college."

As it happens, Unium finally made good on their promises (so often broken in the past) and paid me the remaining 1.6 million won which they owed me. This happened just yesterday (December 22nd). I was pleasantly surprised, to say the least!

But before I retract any of my adverse criticism, it should be noted that:

1) This money was more than FIVE MONTHS LATE! (I should have had it mid-July.)

2) Unium will force you to work as many as nine hours a day (as they did me), over the course of a nearly 13-hour shift, and think nothing of it. Forget the contract (it IS Korea, after all, remember?): that's what they'll do if they have nine classes to cover.

3) Texts may not be provided. Texts which ARE provided are typically bad. For instance, entire pages will be predicated on your students' having read something in another text, one which they have NOT been provided with. Consequently, that entire hour's text in UNUSABLE. You now have to teach yet another class with--no text. TRUST ME: THIS IS SERIOUSLY BAD!

4) You will be required to attend teachers' meetings which will be conducted ENTIRELY IN KOREAN. Believe me, I sat through many, MANY hours of these at Unium. (And by the way, my Korean is at an intermediate level, and so I could make a fair bit of sense out of what was being said, and presented in the all-Korean handouts--but still! Newbies right off the plane went through the same drill.)

5) If your students complain, you'll be lectured. My students would complain about really pointless things: the worst example being when I was trying to teach current events to some high school seniors--again, without a text!--none of them knew anything at all about the Middle East--OR CARED, more importantly--had nothing to say on the topic, complained that my class was "boring," and then I was in trouble. Trust me, the problem was not mine . . .

6) A single anecdote should scare you off: Mr. P.R., the "CEO" of Unium, once called me into his office at just past 10 PM on a Friday night (after the last class of the evening). He had a small pile of essays which he wanted me to edit. They were FROM HIS CHURCH! (English-language club, or something.) No, he wouldn't pay me, but really hoped I could edit them by . . . tomorrow morning. By 7:00 am tomorrow morning. He'd drop by my place to pick them up. (AS HE DID, IN FACT! TRUE STORY!)

Forget Unium. There's much, much better out there.