Finding the Job Through a Process of Elimination

Something I realized while thinking back on my difficult Yes Youndo experience was the fact that a job with them wasn't my first choice. After finishing a contract at one hagwon, I had several options. I could go to work somewhere else in Korea, return to my former hagwon or work in Taiwan. For a time I looked for jobs in Taiwan. I don't want to go into the whole story, but some things such as knowing I'd lose 20% of my income in tax and having to pay$1200 for airfare got me to go back to Korea. I was like most teachers I knew then repaying student loans. I knew if I had to pay for my airfare then I'd have to repay it with my first paycheck and then return to paying off my student loan.

As far as returning to my former hagwon, it was the number of problems there that kept me from signing a second contract. The biggest problems were long work days and not being able to trust the boss. It's good that I didn't go back because the situation became much worse. The first thing I looked for when looking for new jobs was shorter working hours. I was satisfied with what Yes Youngdo offered. Free mornings. Classes in a six hour block straight through 4-10pm. My previous hagwon had classes going from morning 'til night so this sounded like heaven.

I ruled out other options and made the decision to accept a contract with Yes Youngdo. It definitely wasn't my first choice or my idea of a perfect job. I chose it because I thought the conditions were all reasonable or as good as could be expected and it seemed logical to take that job. My biggest priorities then: pay off student loans and do some travelling in Asia.

Bending the Rules

During the time I worked at this hagwon, there was a period when they were short of teachers. One of the hagwons teachers happened to be in a bar one night where he ran into a teacher who was willing to teach there for a time. While we worked together, I got to know this person a little and found out they didn't have a degree, and were living in Korea on a tourist visa. Hiring a teacher living in Korea on a tourist visa was illegal.

On another occasion one teacher returned home for a while due to a family emergency. The hagwon had one of their former teachers who was working elsewhere cover for this teacher. Working at more than one job on a teaching visa was illegal, at least it was then. Neither of these fill-in teachers were of Korean descent. At that time teachers born in Korea could get a different visa which allowed employment at any number of jobs.

In addition to this, during my period of employment I worked with some young Korean-American and Korean-Canadian teachers. None of them had yet finished their degrees. There was even one, maybe two teachers who had never enrolled in college. And another had dropped out as I recall. One of them couldn't speak English fluently.

Advertising for Teachers

What happens when you go to Google and do a search using the words "teaching in Korea" or go to a great blog called "The Daily Kimchi" http://thedailykimchi.blogspot.com? There will be a link for Yes Youngdo. And as it has been for years at Dave's Esl Cafe at the Korea Job Board www.eslcafe.com/jobs/korea there's the post for Yes Youngdo which is put up to recruit teachers. Lately when I'm online I see their ad all over. I can do a search for anything related to Korea and find the link the their site.

When I was working for Yes Youngdo at one weekly meeting the manager let us know that he'd gotten 50 or 100 resumes in the last 1-2 days from prospective teachers. I think this was a scare tactic, don't think he wanted to scare teachers out of their wits, but I think he wanted to put a little fear and respect into them.

With advertising like this, and considering the number of teachers in Korea, as well as guessing how many there may be who want to come, Yes Youngdo is receiving at least 1,000 resumes per week, every week of the year. At least. That's my estimate. Their advertisement and their website make them look great. Who wouldn't apply? And it's funny to think that teacher's take special care looking for a job in Korea and are more likely to choose a school with a great site, many pictures of teachers who look happy, and language such as "reputable" or "established" or "since 1987."

I've looked at their advertisements. At one point they were saying in their ad that they never paid a teacher late or had a teacher do a midnight run. Consider this:

• They may or may not be telling the truth.
• They have enough money so can avoid paying a teacher late.
• Maybe no teacher pulled a midnight run, but how many didn't finish their contracts?

It would make sense if hagwons such as Yes Youngdo would add a bit of info to their ad or site:

• Percentage of teachers who complete their contracts.
• Percentage who would give their experience a high rating.
• Percentage who would sign a contract for a second year.
• Percentage who would allow their best friend, sister or mother to accept a one-year contract.

Another thing I also read in their job advertisements was that any teacher thinking to work there could call or email any of the teachers to ask questions. Anyone with a little experience could guess that they will take care which phone numbers or email addresses to give out! They obviously don't want a prospective teacher to talk to someone who's unhappy, feeling cheated or not a good teacher by their standards.

A Few Things I'd Say to the Owners

As I recall this institute, Yes Youngdo, was owned by a couple who only occasionally talked to the teachers. I can remember talking to each one just a few times. This was a change for me because at my previous hagwwon teachers having a serious issue to discuss would bypass the manager or other staff and go straight to the owner. I did this several times. I remember once I went to one of the owners to talk about something and they were nice but asked me to go to the manager. This reminds me that while working for Yes I was given very little, almost no explanation of how things were run, who I could go to for help and even how to teach. Unbelievable!

Here are some things I would say to the owners of Yes Youngdo if I had a chance:

1. I think you made a mistake allowing managers to have full authority to hire, train, guide and fire teachers working for you.
2. If you had been more involved it would have been much better I think.
3. I would have loved to be able to talk to you more, ask for advice or explain to you how I felt I was mistreated.
4. I guess you eventually realized that the managers had mistreated some of the teachers after seeing all the bad posts on the ESL websites.
5. The teachers who were mistreated or fired unfairly are going to remember their experiences, and the name of Yes Youngdo for the rest of their lives.
6. There's also a good chance that their negative experiences at Yes Youngdo will affect the way they see Korea and Korean people.
7. When they return to their countries they may influence the way others see Korea by telling their personal stories.
8. Most likely some potential teachers decided not to work for Yes Youngdo after talking to teachers who had been treated unfairly or reading stories on the internet.

A Little of My Experience

It was nice to get a call from the manager at Yes Youngdo to find out I had been hired. However after that, from the time I travelled to Korea to the short period before I started working, to the start of work, the first few weeks and through the end and then after - I felt mostly these things: feeling I was in the wrong place, not feeling comfortable with the managers, (there were two) regretting my choice, wondering if I'd make it through to the end, telling myself that I'd work until the end even though I wasn't happy...the list could go on. It wasn't all hell, I had some very good classes in fact one of my favorite classes of all time was there - a grammar class which was three hours long no less. I also had some good times with the other teachers, some privates, and a few good times in the area where I lived. So it wasn't all bad! However, I'd say it was mostly bad and had it gone on for a whole year it would mean a lot more bad memories I guess.

I left Yes Youngdo after a period which wasn't very long. It was less than six months. The manager that I worked for thinks he fired me, but if he were honest he would say that I also wanted to quit. About a week before "being fired" I told him I wanted to quit. Because of this and because I told him I wasn't happy there and I didn't like the teaching program, I don't consider this a firing. (Though he may.)

Also, I want to add that due to all the bad posts I read about Yes Youngdo at some websites, I think that a lot of teachers were "fired" in some cases actually fired, some may have been goaded into quitting, some who quit may have been considered fired. One post I saw in the past had one teacher getting on and asking about a certain branch. One respondent wrote this branch had fired five teachers over the past several months. I will try to locate this post.