should I come to Korea?

[gava]

Hello.

I'm a guy from Illinois thinking about coming to Korea to teach English after my retirement next year.
A lot of the horror stories I'm reading has me a little worried.
I would like to get a better picture of both the 'good and the bad' in Korea.

Is it possible to avoid the pitfalls of capricious employers?

Is there a particular process or agency which would increase my chances of finding a dependable position? Or is it always a kind of roll of the dice???

I'm also a little worried about my age - 53. I wonder if that would make me less desirable as a teacher. Medical insurance claims is something employers worry about with people of older age. Also, I suspect many schools look for the younger people who might be predictably more energetic, flexible, and perhaps also easier to manipulate. I don't know.

Are all the horror stories about private schools or does this include university positions?

Any advice you can offer will be deeply appreciated.

[Margy]

Actually I would expect more horror stories with private schools rather than with universities.

You may have read quite a few horror stories, but for every horror story, I'm sure there are 95 success stories. Don't let the horror stories put you off.

Just concerned about your age. You're right that employers and recruiters do prefer younger teachers. Not because of insurance claims, but because of energy and flexibility.

If applying a teaching job, I would suggest putting in your application letter and resume that you are a keen sportsman or something along these lines. Say that you play tennis once a week or whatever sport you like and do.

[george]

Try contacting http://www.teachkoreanz.com/

They wont screw you and send you to a bogus school.

You can tell a lot by a school or agency by:

• their website
• how often they advertise for teachers
• prompt reply of emails
• doing a search on their name with "scam" next to it in google

[kmossman]

Originally Posted by gava

Is there a particular process or agency which would
increase my chances of finding a dependable position?
Or is it always a kind of roll of the dice???

99% of agents are in it for the money.
do NOT expect them to help you or give fair advice. Check the contract carefully and TALK with the teacherS (plural) already there.

Originally Posted by gava

I'm also a little worried about my age - 53. I wonder if that would make me less desirable as a teacher.

age is a problem in Korea - in most positions male employees are edged out before they are 50. Teaching is different though - it will take more time to find a job, but certainly not a major hurdle.

Originally Posted by gava

Are all the horror stories about private schools or does this include university positions?

UNI jobs used to be sweet, though the salaries were rarely high. This is changing though - more and more are requiring you teach at 'their' hagwon (private school), so you get the worse of both worlds. Check the contract very carefully. NEVER assume.

[Invictus]

absolutely desperate. The horror stories are real, don't waste the last year of your life in a dump hole like Korea, also known as the Sewer Pit in Asia. In addition most of the foreigners here are alchoholic gits, some are worse (severely disturbed or worse). The only reason o come to Korea is if you are desperate and broke and you seem neither. I was, you are not. An example of my work situation:

As far as work goes it is basically what people had told me it would be, looking after kids, essentially glorifed babysitting. In the industry here it is alternatively called 'edutainment'. The kids range from 7 to 14 in age so there is some variation in entertaining them. All in all the work is bullshit and I can already feel my mental faculties withering away. The children can be really annoying and draining but part of the package I guess, still they know how to test one's patience.

I work with 5 other anglophones, 2 Canadians, 2 Kiwis and an American girl. The rest of the teachers are almost all Korean women with the exception of 2 men. I can't say all too much that's positive about my boss. He is a cheat and a liar. For starters the tax on the base salary is 3% and he says its 5% but he is actually pocketing the remaining 2% for himself. The contract clearly states that he is supposed to cover half of insurance costs but in reality he doesn't pay for anything thus none of my co-workers has health insurance. The first 3 months about 300 euros are deducted from my salary as an insurance policy to keep me from bolting (with what money could I bolt?). Supposedly I'll get it paid back. I checked in with some people who are legally in the know and he is violating a whole bunch of laws but I have been adviced not to butt heads with him lest he make my life miserable. The best part of it all is that I am actually receiving 200 euros less than is explicitly stated in the contract. According to most longtimers here and my fellow anglophone teachers I should be happy that he pays us at all. Different standards here, Korea is the land of thieves and cheats. Gotta adapt, that's all, when in Rome and all.

Don't waste your time in Korea go someplace nice like Europe or Japan.. ok?