Has anyone worked for Avalon English?

[Mlatte]

Hello,

   I was curious to know if anyone has worked or known anyone that has worked for Avalon English?  Any advice would be greatly appreciated.  Thank You Very Much in advance. 

[jackdaniels]

You should ask for specific branch reviews.
Can be hit and miss as is with most chains.

[Mlatte]

Hello,

   I was curious to know if anyone has worked or known anyone that has worked for Avalon English?  Any advice would be greatly appreciated.  Thank You Very Much in advance.

The specific Avalon in question is the Avalon in Yeosu, Jeolla Province?

[i_am_a_toaster]

Have you checked any of the English Education Institute blacklist websites?  (Hagwon)?   

Reliable Teacher is a good site that is based out of Canada, so the site cannot be forced by Korean law to remove any  comments that hagwon owners would find controversial and be accurate.

Facebook is a good reference to. Start with checking the local Yeosu English teachers group page and post a question.  Chances are one of the teachers in the group either knows about that Avalon chain somehow directly or indirectly.

[bekaneri]

What Avalon branch are you asking about? I used to work for the one in Changwon. If you have any specific questions about it you can pm me.

[toddc06]

I worked at Avalon in gyeyang-gu and I really liked it.  That was my first job teaching in Korea, so I didn't have much to compare it against.

One of the korean teachers that I worked with just transferred to "Yeonsu Avalon".  It's probably the same one that you are talking about.  I can ask her what she thinks of the school and the foreign teachers ^^

[raziel]

I once saw an Avalon English bus run over a woman in Seoul last year. Who ended up being my student's piano teacher. That's my only impression of the hagwon, it was horrifying!

[swissmiss]

I have a friend working there now.  She likes it well enough- the chain is large enough that they are quite organized and tend to have several foreign teachers at once. 

[Koenji]

I know it's common sense but you would really have to speak to a current teacher at whatever branch you apply to ....

The main company owned branches are pretty solid (they work you to the bone mind) but any franchise is very hit and miss. Like I said, speak to a current teacher to get the scoop.

[joshua_clark79]

I recommend you contact a current teacher at the specific branch you are interested in.  If your recruiter or teh the refuses this, that should speak volumes.
 Like all franchises (McDonalds, Wal-Mart, etc), the experience at one might not be the same as another.  Contracts specifics such as board, salary, holidays and working hours will probably vary greatly from campus to campus. 
I have never worked from Avalon but I have friends who have and many of my private school students attend Avalon.  The teachers are generally pleased (as far as hogwan workers can be) and the students progress quickly. 
Avalon is big in testing and test based achievement. 

[gilbert.a.h]

I applied and interviewed at one last August. It was the one just north of Hyehwa in Seoul, near Nowon station. The building was impressive, but man, they hated me a lot, because I didn't have hagwon experience. They kept telling me that they didn't like me, so I was curious why I stayed there.

Also, they only hire christian teachers. They asked me directly about religion and they said that their branch is a "christian only zone." As soon as I said that I was not affiliated with any religion, they frowned big time and that was basically the end, even though I came all the way from Busan to meet them and walked over 2km in the rain with no umbrella. I think the big branches are stable financially, but I wouldn't want to work somewhere that forces ideology on others.

[Mozza3322]

I worked at an Avalon in Yong-in for 18 months.  The pay was on time, communication was excellent (our director insisted on daily staff meetings, where even Korean teacher business was discussed in English), and the curriculum was laid out for the teachers.

The downsides were that I had to do phone English once a month, which meant I would often be up past 11 trying to reach my students, and the occasional Saturday to do English level tests.

It's really luck of the draw with Avalons - the other branch near us had a dragon lady of a director who only allowed one PC in the office to be split between foreigner and Korean teachers.  Your best bet is to contact a teacher at the specific branch that you are applying for.

Good luck.

[Brian]

I recommend you contact a current teacher at the specific branch you are interested in.  If your recruiter or teh the refuses this, that should speak volumes.
 Like all franchises (McDonalds, Wal-Mart, etc), the experience at one might not be the same as another.  Contracts specifics such as board, salary, holidays and working hours will probably vary greatly from campus to campus. 
I have never worked from Avalon but I have friends who have and many of my private school students attend Avalon.  The teachers are generally pleased (as far as hogwan workers can be) and the students progress quickly. 
Avalon is big in testing and test based achievement.

This is what you should do, for Avalon and for any other chain.

The OP is asking about Yeosu, Jeollanam-do, not Yeonsu, or Seoul, or Suwon, or Yongin, and the best way to get a feel for the school is to talk to teachers at that particular campus at that particular time. 

This thread takes me back . . . I worked at Avalon in 2005, back when it consisted of about six locations entirely in Bundang.  Not a bad school for a first-time teacher, and it was nice to have other foreign English teachers around. 

[jsher9]

I have just finished a year working for Avalon near Yongin, Gyenonggi-do. I was teaching middle-school students and for the most part it was enjoyable and worthwhile.  At times, the students lacked motivation and the biggest challenge was trying to find ways to make the material engaging. Avalon lessons tend to involve working straight from the coursebooks and I found the students (and the teachers!) found the format a little repetitive. I understand they have recently reworked all the course materials and are syncing the speaking and writing topics to make the lessons more relevant to each other. I agree that you should check whether the branch is a direct Avalon campus, or a franchise site.

[smilesformiles]

I agree about emailing current or previous teachers before signing a contract for any hagwon jobs.

I worked at 2 branches of Avalon in Gwangju (Bongsun-dong and Kuhmo-Dong), so I thought I'd add my 2 cents in case anyone looking for it finds this thread.

It is a reliable school where you'll always get paid, be provided with a nice apt, pension,and have support of lots of great teachers around you. Like any situation, you'll want to stay on the good side of the head teachers and management, but they are good people. I had a couple hiccups with health insurance, because they buy their own rather than use the national - just get double receipts and paperwork for everything! You will work long hours (1:30 to 10:10) and teach 1st graders who don't know anything through middle schoolers preparing for the TOEFL. The curriculum isn't awful, but don't expect to be able to play games or develop your own activities. Parents have high expectations, and you will be expected to bend over backwards to make them happy. There are lots of special events that you'll be expected to attend on your own time without compensation, -maybe once or twice every couple months- some of it is fun though! Not a lot of vacation, but you get a week of flex-time plus all the regular holidays. There are summer and winter intensives with different hours and even LONGER days, but you do get paid extra. There are sometimes opportunities for tutoring 1-1 with students for about 20,000 per hour, I believe. Usually there are 4 to 6 foreign teachers at Avalon, so it is a nice place for a first timer. I'm glad I had my introduction to Korea there.

TL,DR: The Avalons in Gwangju have excellent people and students, but be ready to work.

[travelista]

I have not personally worked at an Avalon, but two of my friends have (one in Mokpo and another friend worked closer to Seoul). They were both very stressed out and had a difficult time. That being said, even though it is a franchised school, each place will be different. It really just depends on the teachers and director. Ask to speak to the current foreign teachers at that school. That will give you the best idea of what to expect.

[EB&Ysroom]

Yes, I have worked for the Seosan branch.  It's a few years old but management is horrible and dispicable.  You have to work many hours due to the school not having many faculty members and they don't give you much break time.  If you want to suffer and work hard and have management screw you over with your contract and not pay you on time, then go here.  There aren't many students here due to mismanagement from the director (who is leaving soon due to his inability to manage correctly) and the new guy isn't much better either.  They make you do all the work and make unrealistic goals, which frustrates staff members.  Most of the staff is made up of family and you have to do extra work b/c there are no Teacher's assistants.  Many teachers have come and gone and none of them left on good terms (some even left the country w/o notice or didn't finish their contract and transferred).  Please heed my instructions and try a different school! 

[superjo2092]

Yeah, can't help out on the Yeosu front with Avalon.  But I recently interviewed with the Avalon in Bongseon-dong, Gwangju.  They said in the 8 years they've been open, I was their first face-to-face interview.  Yikes.  They flat out told me it would be a lot of work, too much work, and that I shouldn't work there.  Sure, I guess Avalon is a fine job if you're just starting out in Korea.  Doesn't seem like they want to hire anyone in-country that could rock the boat or can compare it to the other businesses around town.  Then at the end of the interview (once I decided to can the job possibility), they asked me their four most important questions of the interview...
1) Do you have tattoos?
   Yup, but I assured them they are all easily hidden.
2) Do you smoke?
   Yup, but never at work.
3) Do you drink?
   Yup, but just weekends.
and my favorite, as has already been pointed...
4) Do you have religion?
   Nope.

My interview quickly ended after that.  I walked out of the interview with a big smile on my face.

[nomad_kate]

I haven’t worked at an Avalon, but I’ve worked for two other ‘chain’ hagwons.  I agree that you should definitely talk to the foreigners at the school you’re considering, but EVERYONE I’ve met that works at an Avalon (several different branches) has had a rough time.  Examples include regularly being expected to work on weekends (after the contract says Monday to Friday) without overtime if the specified number of hours haven’t been exceeded, not being permitted to take more than 3 vacation days in a row because the school is never closed and the other teachers have to cover for teachers on vacation, and having to do extra activities (like the telephone teaching) that run late or on the weekend.  Consider very, very carefully if this is for you.  It may be possible to do better.