Some Info on Hagwons

So much to say. There is one thing that came to mind and which I should probably write about towards the beginning. In Korea just about anyone can open a hagwon. In the US or in other Western countries it's not so easy. First of all in the US at least most businesses are larger. That means more money is needed making it harder to start up. Second, getting a license to run a business is I believe harder in the US than in Korea.

Another thing is that many Koreans can't find a good job so they start a business instead. In the US I've never heard of this. Most people who start businesses do it after working some time, planning and saving money for it. Starting a business is considered better than having a job. In Korea it's the opposite. Stable jobs are considered best in Korea. Businesses open and close. A stable job gives you salary and benefits continuously. Working for a large company is considered best, and I think the main reason is....the job is more stable. The company has less chance of going bankrupt. If you work for a company which goes under that means no job. AND it's hard to find a job in Korea! If you lose one you may not get another. And so many Koreans, including young people, can't get even one good job. 

I digress, my main point was in the first paragraph. I need to elaborate. If you work for a hagwon owner who has experience and know-how and business sense you are more likely to have a good experience. Unfortunately, many hagwons owners, and I would guess many other business owners in Korea don't have these necessary abilities. If you find yourself working for someone who doesn't know what they're doing or wasn't prepared for how difficult it would be - you're in for it!

Some hagwon owners have experience in either business or education. Some have neither. One hagwon I knew of was run by someone who didn't seem to have any experience in any area related to running a hagwon meaning business, education or management. Another hagwon I knew was run by a former teacher who I think had no business or management experience. Of course she knew a lot about education, and she taught some classes herself which I'm sure she did well enough, but I think she wasn't prepared for how hard running a business would be, especially this type of business. Neither of those places lasted for very long.

Many hagwons don't last  more than a few years. If I found a hagwon which had been in existence more than that, run by the same people, I would take that as a good sign.

I don't believe I saw, but I've heard about hagwons which were kind of fly by night operations. The owners opened them only to make money. They didn't pay the teachers well, sometimes not at all. They likely tried to put on a good show to attract students. Some of them may have had a plan to run the place for a while and then close when things got tough or after having made a certain amount of money. Actually now that I think about it I did know a place like this. Luckily I didn't work there. The owner made it seem as if they had no problems. Later I met some former teachers who said they were owed a lot of money in unpaid salary or bonuses and that the hagwon didn't even pay for some books they ordered. Later a bank employee told me complaints had been filed because some students seeking refunds couldn't receive them.