Korean Job Discussion Forums

[WinglessG]

Hey folks, since I know they've got a recruiter looking for them, a word of warning.

Actively avoid the English Reading Club (based mostly in Suwon).

You'll be the only foreigner working for the school, you'll often have to spend different days being shipped to different campuses. In many cases, the kids won't even have books to work from.

In the 7 months I've been working for them:

-- When I got here, literally, there were no books to work from. They gave me a copy of the Teen Times and expected that to be enough. Not what was written in the contract.

-- Since then, I've developed a curriculum, where I had to go find almost all the books myself, some of which I have not been reimbursed for.

-- There's no real english-speaking support. Most questions go unanswered. You have new students show up with no warning and no books for class. The school also has "taken care" of paying all my utilities for me, and deducting the charge from my pay. This "taking care" has resulted in the gas and internet being cut off a combined 5 times in the 7 months I've been here. It usually takes a couple days of complaining to them to get it paid. Mistake partially mine -- I should have insisted on paying my own utilities.

-- School has nearly constantly tried to renegotiate my contract to reduce my salary (from a starting 2.4 million won/ month). I did agree to pay half my rent after literally 2 months of nagging. My mistake. Do not renegotiate the contract.

-- For the school, I produced a professional-quality journal publishing student work. It was not included in the contract, and I did not recieve any increased pay. The only reason I did it without complaining is I didn't have a "full" load of classes, so I found myself sitting at the school with nothing to do for several hours a day. I also tried (on their request) to redesign their webpage, with limited success (they were unable to get me the most simple information needed -- like access to the page's FTP server).

-- After 7 months of getting no answers to questions or concerns that I repeatedly wanted answered, I put in my resignation for March 1st (given to them January 12th). First, they attempted to intimidate me, saying that I wasn't ALLOWED to leave without finishing the contract. When that didn't work, they went to plan B, waiting until this week (January 22nd) to tell me that they were canceling my contract at the end of this month, despite the fact that my contract clearly states:

Notification Requirement: Employer or Employee may annul the contract by giving a minimum of one (1) month advance notice in writing.

Avoid this school. Keep looking for something else.