Korean Job Discussion Forums

[chaz47]

I worked at the Busan branch and wasn't really too too disenheartened by the whole experience. My recent nightmares at a rural public school and a YES branch were much more soul crushing, although they did allow for sufficient sleep and no weekend work.

I have heard at the Seoul branches weekend work is not mandatory and the splits really do rotate... is this true?

I could deal with that noise standing on my head.

Any current Seoulite ECers want to share their tales?

[birdflower]

English Channel's Samsung Clinic is HELL!! Do not work there!! The staff are miserable and unhappy. So many employees have resigned and left in pursuit of happiness. They do not honor the rules and regulations in the company handbook which, by the way, is on the internet, and, most importantly, which they have encrypted, so that it is impossible to print or "cut and paste," and they can change that online employee handbook at anytime. Sneaky tactic indeed! Further, you will be kept on the split shift LONGER than the 6 months or 3 months that they say you will be kept on. You will be kept on the split shift for LONGER than 6 months. Guaranteed! Also, the owner/manager is a witch. She is evil! She will fire you on the spot, for any dumb unfair reason, and that will be your last day. No notice. None what-so-ever. Even though the contract says you must be given 45 days notice. Further, there is at least one case where an employee was cheated out of money by Samsung Clinic. An employee had finished his/her contract, then went back to his/her home country, and then Samsung Clinic did not pay her all the money that they owner her. At that point she was thousands of miles away. They had agreed to pay that employee his/her last paycheck at a time when he/she would be long gone and back in his/her home country. And when he/she got paid, he/she was missing a few hundred dollars! He/she e-mailed them but they did not reply. They stole money from him/her! I used to work there. It was hell! Given the info that I have just provided, under no circumstances, regardless of how hard Robert Webster or anyone at the corporate office may try to persuade you, should you ever accept a position at Samsung Clinic. This is good advice from a person who used to work there. There are also other posts criticizing Samsung Clinic on Dave's ESL Cafe. DO NOT WORK AT ENGLISH CHANNEL'S SAMSUNG CLINIC. IT IS HELL!! Avoid English Clinic's Samsung location like the PLAGUE!!!

[Bramble]

A couple of their ads said splits weren't required in some locations. Does anyone have any more information about this?

[birdflower]

To learn more about the evils of English Channel's Samsung Clinic go to:
http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/korea/viewtopic.php?t=57787&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=english+channel+learn&start=15 and then scroll down and look at the post by "lilla_fjaril."

Lilla_fjaril tells how: (1) they stole money from him/her after he/she had returned back to his/her home country by not paying him/her all that they owned him/her; (2) they often shortened him/her on pay checks; (3) some teachers were NEVER paid for training or given raises when it was owned to them; and other evils of Samsung Clinic.

Lilla_fjaril provides much feedback about his/her experience at Samsung Clinic.

[gangnamguy]

I happen to know of "Birdflower" and has a good sense of humor and he was a delight to have at the Samsung Branch. However, I need to respond to the exaggerated and very slanderous statements that he has made:

1) The staff is not miserable and unhappy. I have been at Samsung for over a year. I am very appreciative of the job that I have. I used to work with children and this is by far the easiest job I have had in Korea. Other coworkers seem to have a positive attitude and we hang out with each other once a week. The job can tiring if you are on the split shift but that is to be expected. There is practically no preparation and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to do the job or to follow the procedures of the Samsung Clinic.

2) There have been incidents where a person has worked longer than six months on the split shift. But if the teacher had serious problems with it, he/she could have easily contacted Bob Webster and the problem would have been solved.

3) Calling our manager a witch is just tactless and not professional. She lets go of people if there are grounds to do so. From the very beginning, it is WELL aware from the very first day of training that they HATE it when you are late. If there was anything you needed to know, that was the main thing to remember. DON'T BE LATE. So when a teacher that starts at 9am is late four times in the course of two months while other teachers who start at 7am and are on time, that is definitely pushing the envelope in my opinion. Here is another thing to keep in mind to stay on the manager's good side. If are if you ARE late, apologize. Don't try to act like a premadonna and feel that they need you. They don't. They can find many foreigners that want to teach in a very stress-free environment not teaching kids with little preparation. Also, when a manager asks you to do something such as organize your desk, the ideal thing would be to listen to that order.

4) With regards to responding to "Lilla", the biggest problem she had was that she was told by the manager that she didn't have to pay for her cell phone and that everything was taken care of. Then she was told to pay for it when she got back to the U.S. So she was asked pay W50,000 when she got home. Because of apparent miscommunication, she was upset and blew everything out of proportion. "Birdflower" uses that as hearsay because he did not know her personally.

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Overall, no job is perfect but this job is far from being a job from hell. If you do your best to have a good relationship with the staff, come to work on time, keep yourself groomed and follow the easy routine procedures, you should have no problem working at Samsung. But if don't do these simple tasks, you can also dig your own grave and should not be surprised if you are released from the job.

[SuperFly]

[recoba]