Korean Job Discussion Forums

Captain Courageous · Joined: 16 Jul 2006 Location: Bundang and loving it

Anyone hear of these cats? Searched with no luck.

Captain Courageous · Joined: 16 Jul 2006 Location: Bundang and loving it

No one? I have a phone interview tomorrow morning with them. At least I can't find them on any blacklists.

JAZZYJJJ · Joined: 18 Jul 2006

They offered me a job (Mokdong branch) last week but I knocked it back.

The 2 guys I dealt with (Mark and Charlie) were both really nice. The school itself seemed extremely professional and organised,and looked to be doing very well (several hundred kids I was told). The FTs I spoke too seemed pretty cool and they had good things to say about the school (paid on time, good kids, etc).

On the flipside, a lot did seem to be expected out of teaching time (amount of prep and meetings) for a pretty average salary. And there is CCTV in each classroom with 2 HUGE monitors in reception.

Overall, my opinion was a professional school expecting their teachers to put in the effort. You could do a lot worse.

And don't be afraid to negotiate salary with them. Worked for me. Wink

formerflautist · Joined: 30 May 2006

I know Kermo has an opinion about the school. I do too. But I just sent the OP a PM. You might want to try KNC Hyun Jae in the search function. And the pay day isn't until the tenth of the month. That's a big red flag to any contract reviewer. It says they've had a lot of problems with teachers running.

Captain Courageous · Joined: 16 Jul 2006 Location: Bundang and loving it

I'm incredibly anal about contract language (liability, pension amounts, work hours, etc), and I'm 6'3", 245 lbs with a deep voice, and I'm intimidating when I need to. If they don't offer me a contract I edit to make perfectly clear everything, I have every intention of rejecting it.

formerflautist · Joined: 30 May 2006

Then you should take the job. Not because I think they'll make the changes, they won't, but because I have a pen I want you to throw at someone.

Captain Courageous · Joined: 16 Jul 2006 Location: Bundang and loving it

Hah. I won't take the job, but while in Korea, I assure you I will take a pen and enthusiastically fling it at the building, as a symbol of solidarity between all the been-hads and almost-been-hads.

kermo · Posted: Thu Jan 25, 2007 6:20 pm Post subject:

JAZZYJJJ · Joined: 18 Jul 2006

paquebot · Joined: 20 Jun 2007 Location: Northern Gyeonggi-do

Figured I'd add a little to this thread, and get it bumped up in case anyone else is considering KnC schools.

My recruiter keeps throwing KnC schools at me (particularly the ones in Mokdong and Seocho), and out of curiosity I agreed to an interview with the KnC branch in Mokdong.

The sample contract states that the school can ask you to come in and work Saturdays to make up for national holidays. Payment is on the 10th of each month. Return airfare cannot be exchanged for cash. Vacation days are listed as five in summer + five in winter "but the schedule can be changed and followed by school's schedule". The contract states that the school will provide accident insurance -- but who is to say they won't try to take it out of the teacher's salary?

The real kicker? During the phone interview I asked for the email address of at least one current teacher. The answer I was given was that they couldn't give out an email address but would set up a phone appointment -- limited to one or two questions, and while the teacher was at the school.

This makes me doubt the school(s) has (have) changed considerably since the incident at Kermo's location.

kermo · Posted: Wed Jul 04, 2007 8:57 pm Post subject:

I have a good friend still working at the Banpo location, and it's the same staff, the same shady policies, the same chilly work atmosphere. Give this place a miss.

cwaddell · Joined: 23 Jan 2006

It's about time someone who actually works there posted something useful......

The school is fine. I've only been there for a month, but there are very few complaints from the twelve other foreign teachers, some of which are in their third year, and most of which intend to renew.

Of course I took the necessary precautions before accepting the job, including speaking to 3 different foreign teachers. Once on the phone, I asked them for their email addresses. Easy enough isn't it!

The only bad press online all seems to stem from the notorious house fire incident. Even the girl who had all her belongings reduced to ashes renewed her contract. The negative posts neglect to mention that.

I admit that a lot of the contract is stupid, and they claimed they couldn't change things. But, after a lot of checking, it looks like the usual case of Koreans writing bad contracts, rather than an attempt to screw you. Regarding the Saturdays, it only happens in extreme circumstances involving holidays, tue/thurs classes.....I'll not bore you with the details.......and will likely happen once this year. Big deal.

It's true that there is a lot of extra work such as marking, phone tests, syllabus making etc etc.......Suck it up and get on with it you know, it's not impossible.

Other than that, I'm totally happy. It's a fairly professional and organised school.

wylies99 · Joined: 13 May 2006 Location: I'm one cool cat!

wylies99 · Joined: 13 May 2006 Location: I'm one cool cat!

kermo · Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 3:21 pm Post subject: