Most people have their eyes set on working as an EPIK teacher when they think of teaching in Korea, but the EPIK program has become more competitive as Hallyu gains more popularity around the world, and Education Offices make more budget cuts. That’s one reason why many English teachers here decide to work at hagwons. There are other reasons too, outlined in this post.
If you’ve done your research and you’ve decided that you’re going to work at a hagwon then you know things can go very badly. There are tons of hagwon horror stories all over the internet to support this claim. However, not all hagwons are bad and asking the right questions may just help you avoid an undesirable situation.
Here are the 10 most important questions to ask during a hagwon interview. You don’t have to ask them all in one go but it would be useful to have answers to all these questions before signing a contract.
Table of Contents
1. What are the teaching hours?
Working hours and teaching hours are very different. If you get tired after teaching many classes then a 9-5 hagwon job that has 4 teaching hours would be a better choice for you compared to one that has 6 teaching hours, for example.
Offshoot questions to ask from this one are: how many classes a day will I teach? And how long are these classes? Teaching 6 forty-minute classes a day is better than teaching 5 one-hour-long classes.
You should also ask how long a teaching hour is at the hagwon. A teaching hour is 40 minutes at elementary schools, 45 minutes at middle schools and 50 minutes at high schools. However, most hagwons classify a teaching hour as 60 minutes even if classes are shorter than this, and they could trick you into teaching a lot of classes.
For instance, they could tell you that you’ll only be teaching 24 hours a week, and at public schools, this would mean only 24 classes a week. However, at hagwon where each class is 45 minutes but where a teaching hour is one hour, 24 hours of teaching would be 32 classes a week.
2. Do you have a set curriculum?
I think it’s best to work at hagwons with a set curriculum because teaching around 6 lessons a day that you have to complete full lesson plans will drain you. A substantial amount of lesson planning is possible at most public schools because you get more downtime in most cases, but it’s really not possible at a hagwon as you generally teach more classes.
If a hagwon says you have to develop your own materials, you may want to reject their offer unless you teach very few classes a day and have more than the minimum required vacation time.
3. Do you provide all 4 types of insurance?
Employees in Korea get four types of insurance (대보험):
- National pension (국민연금)
- Health insurance (건강보험)
- Employment insurance (고용보험)
- And workers’ compensation insurance (실업보험)
It’s mandatory for foreigners to be signed up for 3 out of these 4 insurances (1, 2 and 4), so you should make sure the hagwon you’re interviewing with offers these. If they don’t then you shouldn’t sign with them.
*Note, South Africans don’t have to pay into the national pension. British people, however, do have to even though they can never get their contributions back.
4. How much will I get taxed?
This is actually information you can find out in your contract. If you see a tax rate of 3.3% then the hagwon would try to register you as an independent contractor if you signed with them, which is illegal on an E2 visa.
5. How much break time do I get in a day?
Korean Labour Law states that you must get 30 minutes of break time per 4 hours worked. So if you work 8 hours a day (this would be really 8 hours of time worked and a 1-hour break, so something like 9-6) then you should get an hour break.
There is some contention as to whether these 30-minute or hour breaks can be taken consecutively or split into smaller chunks throughout the day (e.g several 5 or 10-minute breaks). I have heard that the latter is illegal but also have heard people report their bosses for it and not winning their case.
Just make sure you either get 5-10 minute breaks in between classes or a 30-minute or hour break in the day, that’s not part of your prep time. In fact, asking for an example of a daily schedule would be an efficient eat to find out all this information in one go.
6. How much time off do I get?
When you start at a new hagwon you’re legally owed 11 days of vacation, and you should get Red Days (Public Holidays like Hangul Day, Chuseok, Seollal etc.) off too. However, some hagwons stay open on some of the more “minor” Red Days and may ask you to work. You should be paid 1.5 times your usual pay for this day if you have to work on a public holiday.
7. Can I speak to a current teacher?
Speaking to a current teacher can be quite useful when it comes to finding out whether working with a certain hagwon is a good idea or not. You should make sure that you speak to any current teachers when they’re not around a supervisor or the director of the hagwon, so that they can speak honestly.
Their review of the school can be swayed even if you phone or video call a current teacher, as supervisors or the director of the hagwon can sit in the same room as the teacher without you realising. You may be able to spot this happening through a video call though, but it’s impossible with only just a phone call.
Sending a message to a current teacher via personal messengers such as Kakaotalk may also help, because they may be able to answer questions in private that way.
Sometimes you can even contact a current teacher without any higher-ups even knowing by joining certain Kakaotalk Group chat or Facebook groups dedicated to hagwon teachers. You can ask if anyone has heard about a school you’re interested in.
You can also search for current teachers at your prospective hagwon on this site: https://hakwon.goe.go.kr/ (In Korean)
When you enter the site, select your area/province (E.g. Seoul, Jeju, Gyeonggi-do, Jeollabuk-do) from the drop down box on the right.
After this, press the blue button on the left and then you’ll see a search box on the left. You can then select your exact neighbourhood or city in this section. You can also add a search term into the search box (e.g. the name of the school you’re looking for).
After you’ve completed all the information, press search then you should be presented with a list of hagwons. If you click on the hagwons, their address should pop up, so you should double check the hagwon’s address on maps services like Naver Map and Kakao Map, to ensure you’ve found the right hagwon.
Then click on the number of next to the school’s name to see a list of employees and their names.
Once you’ve found the names of the teachers who work at the hagwon, you can try and search for them in Facebook Groups like Every Expat in Korea. Unfortunately, this isn’t a foolproof way to find current teachers at a hagwon because not everyone uses Facebook and not everyone uses their real name on social media.
8. Can I see pictures of the provided housing?
If you’re taking housing provided by the school, it’s best to try and see pictures of it before signing anything.
Where you live is an important part of the teaching in Korea package as it’s where you’ll relax outside of work. If you get pictures of a shoebox flat (apartment) then you may consider taking another opportunity or negotiating different housing if you really like everything else about the job.
Keep in mind that some hagwons may show you fake pictures (i.e pictures of a place where you’re not actually going to live) to convince you to sign a contract. On the flip side, some hagwons may not be able to get pictures of the housing before you move in because the current tenant may be messy.
9. Do you withhold a housing/security deposit?
Many people say this is technically illegal but a lot of places do this, including public schools. You usually get money deducted from your first couple of paychecks which is put towards a security deposit. This is used in case you have unpaid bills after you leave or if you damage the provided housing or school property during your contract.
Security/housing deposits range from 600-900,000 won, but some may be cheaper and others more expensive.
10. Are there any extra duties I need to do outside teaching?
Some hagwons will just have you teaching pre-planned lessons, whereas others will expect you to also write monthly comments about students or grade homework. In kindy hagwons, some teachers are also expected to eat with the kids or do other duties, too.
There are sometimes special events during the school year, as well, such as themed holiday events or winter or summer intensive classes, so you should also ask about those.
Conclusion
Choosing to work at a hagwon can be risky, but hopefully less so if you ask these 10 questions. Are there any other questions you can think of?
