Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mmace1]

I posted my resume in the Korean jobs section and received may responses, including quite a few job offers after phone interviews.

Now I've learned I need my physical degree, which is still in processing, so I'm left with a few months to further decide, pursue offers. So my question: Offhand, how good of a job do you think I could get? The offers I received were all something like:

Free board + tickets
Pay:2.0-2.3/month range
3 from hagwons, 2 from public elementary schools
Vacation: 2-3 weeks range + national holidays
Hours: 26-40 a week total (teaching + prep)

I have 7 months elementary teaching experience (work-study job, 20 hours/week), 3.69 GPA with a double major in finance/economics, plus a little university tutoring experience.

Is a much better job reasonable in my position? Are there better opportunities I should actively pursue (instead of passively posting in the resume section)? Any more vacation time a possibility? Any more pay?

[sojourner1]

Wow, 3.69 GPA in finance/economics. Very impressive, you must be very good at calculus. Finance is one the hardest majors, especially if it is in an AACSB business school like the one I graduated from.

English teaching jobs in Korea typically pay about $26,000 to $28,000 US per year at only 3.5% tax with apartment and flight included on top of salary. These figures are what I found for 1st year teachers such as myself.

* Hagwon: 2 to 2.1 million Won a month for 30 teaching hours a week with 10 days paid vacation, small furnished apartment, and airfare, but a high risk of the school not following through with the contract which is very stressful all the way up to the last day. It's a busy grind that goes 50 weeks a year which presents a pressing challenge due to sleep deprived over schooled students that require allot of patience and an open mind. These are not bad kids, but they sure make classroom management a big head ache as they are hyper fast paced and compete fiercely for your attention constantly. It's an exhausting full time job in a hagwon to say the least. You also get lots of extra work such as making homework sheets, doing evaluations, writing formal lesson plans, editing, and other things which require about 10 hours more a week of unpaid work on a computer and this doesn't count necessary lesson preparations. Hagwon doesn't place a value or emphasis on lesson preparation as they just want you to be there and to make it fun for students as to try to keep them happy to prevent drop outs. Because hogwans are for-profit businesses, they present unnecessary stresses on teachers on top of a heavy teaching load. I am speaking from experience of a 10:00AM to 6:00 or 7:00PM schedule that includes a mix of kindy, preschool, middle school, and elementary classes.

* Public School: 2 to 2.2 million Won per month for 24 or less teaching hours a week at public schools with the same sort of benefits hagwans pay, but often more vacation is typical at public schools which make them a better deal, but they lack co-foreign teachers to work with. If you were to teach 28 or 30 actual classroom hours a week, your pay would probably be 2.5 to 2.8 million Won a month. At times classes are canceled which gives you a break, but I hear many public school teachers complain they are bored having to be in the office from 9 to 5, even while students are on vacation and taking semester exams. I understand SMOE public schools give you like 21 paid days of vacation per year while most other province schools give you 14 days off which still 4 more than hagwons offer. Public school students don't go to class constantly non-stop like in a hagwon, but many go to hagwons after school each day which they often despise. In public schools, you don't have much to worry about on getting paid money and benefits as long you follow through with the contract. No hagwon director beating around the bush when it comes to money matters, but communication can be tough due to low English levels in students and staff. I hear lots of complaints that foreign teachers get frustrated over communication issues and lack of understanding what is expected.

If I take on another teaching contract, it will be in a public school, preferably in Seoul.

[mmace1]

Thanks for all the info.

[Zark]

Go for a public school. Significantly reduces the risk of a crazy hogwan situation.

[Soccerstar]

Public schools are the way to go. My wife and I make a combined $72,000 USD/year + paid airfare, housing, starting and completing bonuses, medical, pension, 35 days holiday, 25hrs/week and great job situations.
Skip the recruiter though. Contact us one of teachers directly and ask if our areas are hiring. That's how we go our jobs.

[mmace1]

[atomic42]

Don't bother.

http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewtopic.php?t=92970