Part 2: How to Find a Job Teaching English in South Korea
The most important thing to do when looking for a job in Korea is RESEARCH. I came to South Korea for the first time in 2001. I took my recruiter’s words at face value and did not do any research prior to signing the contract. What a mistake! The job I landed was a nightmare (you can read all about it here if you’re interested). Many people do like I did, and come to Korea without doing a lot of research. Please, do yourself a favor and don’t make that mistake!
First of all, where do you want to live? Some people find that even though they enjoy living in foreign countries, they really need regular contact with English speaking expatriates in order to maintain sanity. Others want to go for full immersion in a foreign culture, limiting contact to as few people from their homeland as possible. Many people are in the middle. Where do you fall on this spectrum? Large cities such as Seoul, Daegu and Busan have large expat populations. This means that these cities have plenty of “foreigner bars” and plenty of opportunities to meet people from home, if you so desire. Even in large cities, school components differ. Some schools have large foreign staffs, while other schools only employ one foreigner. Additionally, smaller cities have fewer foreigners. Keep in mind what sort of experience you’re looking for when you consider school size and location.
The majority of ESL/EFL jobs available to foreigners here in this country are at hogwans – private academies which students attend after public school. (That being said, there are certainly other ESL/EFL job opportunities available over here. I am going to discuss hogwans, as they make up the bulk of the jobs available, and as I have personal experience in the hogwan industry.) There are many, many hogwan franchises here in Korea. This means that many schools share the same name, even though they are owned and operated by different people. Some hogwan chains have bad reputations overall, while some chains have excellent reputations. That being said, the quality of the school will vary by school.
It is important to get the full name and location of any school you are considering. For example: the hogwan I work for is part of the Oedae Language Institute chain of schools. Googling Oedae Language Institute gets you a lot of information, but scrolling through the first few pages of search results gets you nothing on my particular branch. However, Googling Ansim Oedae Language Institute East Daegu gets you information about my school in particular.
If you are using a recruiting service to help you find a position, you should also Google the name of your recruiter and his/her organization. Recruiters get paid a finders fee for every person they place. While there are certainly many reputable recruiters, there are also those who will tell you whatever they think you want to hear in order to get you to sign with a school. There are plenty of blacklists out there, so if your recruiter has been up to no good, it’s probably been documented online.
In addition to simply using Google, there are several online forums, such as Dave’s ESL Café, which are great places to pose questions about a specific school, recruiter, city, etc.
Once you’ve found a school or schools for which you are interesting in working, and once you’ve vetted the school/s on Google and Dave’s ESL Café, it’s time to get actual live references. Ask the school to provide contact information for both current and former teachers. If you are replacing someone, try to get in contact with that person. Find out why he/she is leaving. Is it because his/her contract is over, or is it because he/she is unhappy? Ask as many questions as you can think of. Here are some examples:
How many classes do you teach per day?
How many hours are you at school per day?
How many students are in each class? What are their ages?
How does the school deal with disciplinary problems?
What teaching materials/supplementals are available?
How much time do you spend preparing for classes?
Do you work on weekends?
What administrative/non-teaching duties are you expected to perform? How much time do they take?
Do you receive your pay on time?
Do you have health insurance and a health card?
What is your apartment like?
The last step before agreeing to work for a school is signing the contract. Read the contract carefully. Make sure that you understand everything in the contract. If you have ANY questions about the contract, ask to have them clarified before signing. If there are any segments of your contract which seem vague, rewrite those sections in specific language and ask that you be allowed to sign the amended contract. If you think anything about the contract seems suspicious, check with others on Dave’s ESL Café. (Also, one thing to remember – contracts are based on teaching hours. Teaching hours and working hours are different. I teach approximately 24 hours a week, but I’m at work about 37 or so hours a week. That gives me perfect time to plan lessons, take lunch/dinner breaks, etc. Take a close look at required duties other than teaching as listed in your contract – some schools will require many hours of administrative duties. As these are not “teaching hours” they are unpaid and do not count towards overtime!)
Stay tuned for Part 3: Getting to Korea
Current/former English teachers in Korea – do you have any other suggestions for how to go about finding a reputable school?
The most important thing to do when looking for a job in Korea is RESEARCH. I came to South Korea for the first time in 2001. I took my recruiter’s words at face value and did not do any research prior to signing the contract. What a mistake! The job I landed was a nightmare (you can read all about it here if you’re interested). Many people do like I did, and come to Korea without doing a lot of research. Please, do yourself a favor and don’t make that mistake!
First of all, where do you want to live? Some people find that even though they enjoy living in foreign countries, they really need regular contact with English speaking expatriates in order to maintain sanity. Others want to go for full immersion in a foreign culture, limiting contact to as few people from their homeland as possible. Many people are in the middle. Where do you fall on this spectrum? Large cities such as Seoul, Daegu and Busan have large expat populations. This means that these cities have plenty of “foreigner bars” and plenty of opportunities to meet people from home, if you so desire. Even in large cities, school components differ. Some schools have large foreign staffs, while other schools only employ one foreigner. Additionally, smaller cities have fewer foreigners. Keep in mind what sort of experience you’re looking for when you consider school size and location.
The majority of ESL/EFL jobs available to foreigners here in this country are at hogwans – private academies which students attend after public school. (That being said, there are certainly other ESL/EFL job opportunities available over here. I am going to discuss hogwans, as they make up the bulk of the jobs available, and as I have personal experience in the hogwan industry.) There are many, many hogwan franchises here in Korea. This means that many schools share the same name, even though they are owned and operated by different people. Some hogwan chains have bad reputations overall, while some chains have excellent reputations. That being said, the quality of the school will vary by school.
It is important to get the full name and location of any school you are considering. For example: the hogwan I work for is part of the Oedae Language Institute chain of schools. Googling Oedae Language Institute gets you a lot of information, but scrolling through the first few pages of search results gets you nothing on my particular branch. However, Googling Ansim Oedae Language Institute East Daegu gets you information about my school in particular.
If you are using a recruiting service to help you find a position, you should also Google the name of your recruiter and his/her organization. Recruiters get paid a finders fee for every person they place. While there are certainly many reputable recruiters, there are also those who will tell you whatever they think you want to hear in order to get you to sign with a school. There are plenty of blacklists out there, so if your recruiter has been up to no good, it’s probably been documented online.
In addition to simply using Google, there are several online forums, such as Dave’s ESL Café, which are great places to pose questions about a specific school, recruiter, city, etc.
Once you’ve found a school or schools for which you are interesting in working, and once you’ve vetted the school/s on Google and Dave’s ESL Café, it’s time to get actual live references. Ask the school to provide contact information for both current and former teachers. If you are replacing someone, try to get in contact with that person. Find out why he/she is leaving. Is it because his/her contract is over, or is it because he/she is unhappy? Ask as many questions as you can think of. Here are some examples:
How many classes do you teach per day?
How many hours are you at school per day?
How many students are in each class? What are their ages?
How does the school deal with disciplinary problems?
What teaching materials/supplementals are available?
How much time do you spend preparing for classes?
Do you work on weekends?
What administrative/non-teaching duties are you expected to perform? How much time do they take?
Do you receive your pay on time?
Do you have health insurance and a health card?
What is your apartment like?
The last step before agreeing to work for a school is signing the contract. Read the contract carefully. Make sure that you understand everything in the contract. If you have ANY questions about the contract, ask to have them clarified before signing. If there are any segments of your contract which seem vague, rewrite those sections in specific language and ask that you be allowed to sign the amended contract. If you think anything about the contract seems suspicious, check with others on Dave’s ESL Café. (Also, one thing to remember – contracts are based on teaching hours. Teaching hours and working hours are different. I teach approximately 24 hours a week, but I’m at work about 37 or so hours a week. That gives me perfect time to plan lessons, take lunch/dinner breaks, etc. Take a close look at required duties other than teaching as listed in your contract – some schools will require many hours of administrative duties. As these are not “teaching hours” they are unpaid and do not count towards overtime!)
Stay tuned for Part 3: Getting to Korea
Current/former English teachers in Korea – do you have any other suggestions for how to go about finding a reputable school?
6 comments:
Also, prospective teachers, you need to realize that teaching in a private hagwon is more entertainer than teacher. Many navtive English teachers are here only as a marketing tool and not to actually teach. I do teach the more advanced students with real texts, but I am to play games and just introduce basic English words to the not so advanced and help them with pronunciation.
My main job is to keep the kids involved and happy, so they don't take their tuition money elsewhere. I quickly learned the ropes after upsetting a couple of students, and today was the first day in over eight months that I actually had to complain about a student to my boss.
A new student who started today was just too disruptive, bullying, and all-out nasty to me and the others in an already tough class. But I shouldn't have worried even though I did lose my temper for a minute or two. Some of my students went directly to my boss to toss the offender out because they were so worried about losing me. I am quite touched becuase these are not the best of students, but they understand that the student in question might say something about me and they wanted to protect me and keep me from leaving. So, it's hard to stay upset when these kids understand fairness and are willing to stand up this bully. My boss will talk to the student, and he will have one more chance to settle down or he will be dropped.
I've had a few of these types over my time here. They usually only last a month or two and may have mental problems. They wear out their welcomes and bounce between public schools and private hagwons with their parents at wits ends. It's hard not to feel for these kids when they really aren't kids in the Western sense. Here education is more than intense with high school kids usually in school from 8am to 10pm. Even younger kids attend numerous private hagwons for extra classes of math, English, science, art, music, etc. until late each evening.
I agree that in many, many hogwans, the job of the foreign teacher is to be the entertainer/marketing-tool. At the hogwan where I worked in 2001, I was definitely the Big White Clown. Additionally, at that school, the kids were allowed to get away with murder, and teachers were not allowed to discipline them whatsoever.
HOWEVER: the hogwan where I currently work is run like a school, and my job is to teach. I try to be entertaining, but my job first and foremost is to teach. Also, the management at my school does not tolerate misbehavior among the students.
I'm beginning to think that the school/hogwon you get is a total crapshoot. My first hogwon was new, but the umbrella organization is VERY WELL KNOWN for having private-public schools, boarding schools, etc. It has an AMAZING REPUTATION. Yet the person who was supposed to be my boss wasn't. His older brother's wife was. She lied about having any educational experience. The coteacher I wasn't supposed to have was hell. The working hours (9 to 5:30) were changed on me, the definition of teaching hours was changed from the contract so that we never got planning time. Our personal lunch time was taken away and the other FT and I were forced to eat with our kids in different rooms so that we couldn't speak English with each other because "we don't want you to be friends." And so on.
In short, based on the reputation of the school's family/founders, it should have been great. It wasn't.
The second hogwon I worked at had been open for two years, the foreigners I talked to said the boss was easy-going, paid in full, everything was on the up-and-up, one of the FTs had even worked for her before, then come back to her because he liked the school so much. She had a good reputation in the area, low turnover of students, a core group of students that'd been with her since she opened, she had a solid curriculum (sp?). Yet five months later everything had gone to hell. She owed the other two FTs over 15 million won, she owed more people even more money, and my butt was frickin' evicted without any warning whatsoever (and she still owes me over two mill).
I think the most important piece of advice is to have money saved up at home to be able to get yourself out of here and to realize that no matter how much research you do, it can all go to hell through no fault of your own.
I myself have, in the past, described getting a hogwan job in korea as a crapshoot. You definitely make a good point about having enough money to get yourself out "just in case"!
i love daves esl cafe, place of dreams.
i am teaching newcomers next year, i am mortified.
i am afraid i won't be any good at it.
i think i will learn alot about teaching though, i would prefer to come in and already know alot.
HI Jane! I just happened to stumble onto your website through a google search about hagwan contracts. I made the exact same mistake, and now i'm in korea wondering how i can get out of my contract so that i can get another job. How did you deal with it? I have to agree, never just take a recruiter's word at face value....research research research! Recruiters make so much money for getting people out here, and they don't really care about you once you get here.
thanks for your help!
Maria
mariakatharinenelson@gmail.com
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