Korean Job Discussion Forums

[CheeseSandwich]

I'm rather curious about this place, as they have offered me a job and I need to decide between this place and a traditional hagwon.

Heard of it, or ever worked there?

[cosmo]

From some who have worked at this Kiddy City, reports include:

Claustrophobic living and working conditions
Micro management scientifically designed to produce stress
Multiple meetings in addition to paid hours
Inferior food, no cooking, too far to dine out

Surely ask for contact info for several satisfied employees, only one or two would likely be propaganda from a spokesperson.

If you request contacts for several employees and the info is not forthcoming, you can guess why. Let us know how it goes.

[heeckan]

My buddy's girlfriend worked there for a year and half.
One of my biggest beefs with hogwans is that I hate having to shove books down the kids throats and do it according to a schedule that doesn't take their level into consideration. That's what's neat about S.E.V... it's not your typical teaching environment. It's designed to emerse kids in English and place them in simulations of real-life situations. For example, they have a "bank", a "restaurant" and a "TV studio". In these areas, they get to role-play and experience English conversations that would occur in such places. That being said, some of the instructors there feel like they're not real teachers, but rather "edutainers" or "fun, English speaking monkeys" (their words, not mine).
Pros:
-total working hours aren't that bad
-you can save big on food bills and utilities
-pretty fun work environment, if you're fun, enthusiastic and lacking "too-cool-itis"
-dependable in terms of paying salary, airfare, severance
-some of the members of upper management are pretty nice
-living on campus means you can hang out in your room during breaks, rather than vegging in an office pretending to look busy

Cons:
-dorm living (could be good or bad) but you have to share a bathroom with another person.
-rotating shifts... part of the year, you get to work day shift; part of it you have to work night shift; part of it, you've gotta work WEEKEND shift.
-some tools in management (especially this American idiot in upper management... nobody knows how he/she got his/her job).
-often operated in a very "Korean" manner.
-no overnight visitors... this sucked for my buddy, cause he lived across town, so it wasn't even worth going to visit his girl on a weekday.
-if you plan on re-signing after your first year, there is an "evaluation" system in place that determines how much of a raise you'll get... this evaluation is an absolute JOKE! So, if you plan on staying more than a year, don't set your expectations too high as far as your raise goes.

It's all about perspective... if you've been working in a high-stress, time consuming hogwan, it might be a nice change. If you're super picky, you'll probably go nuts. If, on the off-chance, you're leaving a university job for SEV... probably not a great idea.
Basically, if you set your standards too high you'll probably be disappointed. If you've got an open mind it could be a nice place for you.