SMOE Reviews
81% would recommend to a friend
(85 total reviews)
Top Review Highlights by Sentiment
Excerpts from user reviews, not authored by Glassdoor
- "~ Decent Vacation breaks (21 days) and on top of that, you get the Korean holiday breaks as well." (in 3 reviews)
- "great hub to get out and see a/several different country/ies with excellent vacation time given as well as accomodations" (in 3 reviews)
- "Note that the Korean teachers must all go through rigorous training and graduated from the top universities in Korea, and so are very well educated and in general great and welcoming people." (in 3 reviews)
- "Low salary compared to your ability if you recently passed the test to become public school teacher in Seoul" (in 3 reviews)
Found 85 of over 95 reviews
Updated 21 Nov 2023
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- 3.01 Jun 2011Anonymous EmployeeFormer EmployeeSingapore
Pros
Exciting jobs, friendly and helpful colleagues.
Cons
Poor recognition when the entire team did a good job
- 4.021 Nov 2023Native English TeacherCurrent Employee, more than 1 yearSeoul
Pros
Great experience for teaching and living abroad, housing and medical insurance provided. Job is not too demanding.
Cons
Pay is low, basically starting at minimum wage if you have no teaching experience. If you have experience it does not improve your wages much. It's okay for short term, but not sustainable.
- 3.014 Jun 2023Elementary English TeacherFormer Employee
Pros
Stable, Work life balance, maternity leaves are well-provided
Cons
Very limited possibility of promotion
- 4.028 May 2023English TeacherCurrent Employee
Pros
Good experience and I got placed at a good school in gangnam
Cons
Not consistent across schools so my friends had bad experiences.
- 5.04 Aug 2022English TeacherCurrent Employee
Pros
The experience is very much dependent on your school. I was lucky and got a school with great colleagues who genuinely cared about me - I had freedom to lead classes as I wanted, and I wasn't micro managed/asked to produce lessons plans etc. The school helped me to move houses to better accommodation, too. (This is not technically their responsibility as teachers who wish to move are responsible for finding their new housing).
Cons
In general there isn't much opportunity for growth career/salary wise as a public school ESL teacher. My school was very small so I while the umber of classes I teach a week is the same as other public school teachers, the number of unique lessons I have to prepare was up to double the amount of other teachers. For example: in a big school there might be 6 classes of just 5th grade, so each 5th grade class only sees the foreign English teacher once a week. The English teacher may teach the same 5th grade lesson 6 times during one week, but the content only needs to be prepared once. At a small school where there is only one or two classes of 5th grade, the foreign teacher will end up meeting those classes up to 3 times a week, and as a result 3 unique lessons must be prepared.
- 4.04 Mar 2023Native English TeacherFormer EmployeeSeoul
Pros
It's secure, in that you know whare you are getting. I had the pleasure of loving my students and my coworkers. It's a great experience to immerse yourself in someone else's culture, if you are willing to adapt and be open minded.
Cons
They pay scale hasn't really changed, as the cost of living goes up. It's just the nature of the beast. They are upfront about it, so it's up to you as the individual to take responsibility for your own choices.
- 4.027 Apr 2023TeacherCurrent Employee, more than 5 yearsSeoul
Pros
Summer and Winter Vacation, paid!
Cons
A lot of work other than teaching
- 3.019 Apr 2023Native Speaking English TeacherFormer Employee, more than 10 yearsSeoul
Pros
Work can be predictable and stable.
Cons
Low wages, stagnant growth, no room for promotion.
- 5.018 Apr 2023Public ServantCurrent Employee
Pros
Satisfy with overall for now
Cons
Don't have any cons for now
- 5.02 Feb 2023English TeacherCurrent Employee, more than 5 yearsSeoul
Pros
- At my particular school, the fellow Korean teachers were excellent. - Great school lunch!
Cons
- Have to enjoy teachings kids to be able to do it longterm. - After 6 years or so, the teaching salary will cap.
SMOE Reviews FAQs
SMOE has an overall rating of 4.2 out of 5, based on over 95 reviews left anonymously by employees. 81% of employees would recommend working at SMOE to a friend and 51% have a positive outlook for the business. This rating has decreased by -3% over the last 12 months.
81% of SMOE employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews. Employees also rated SMOE 4.3 out of 5 for work life balance, 3.9 for culture and values and 2.8 for career opportunities.