Teaching schedules may tend to vary, but for the most part, they fall into some main categories. Please read this section fully, as there is a glut of confusion that you will hear from recruiters and schools, but also sloppy job-seeking advice from fellow teachers.
[edit] About the confusion with hours and shifts in job ads
In 90% of the ads that you will see posted by schools and recruiters, you will note a discrepancy in how many hours the teacher will be contracted to work (In hagwons, that's usually 25-30 classroom hours/week). Yet, you'll often see reference to a schedule in the ad like "Monday-Friday, 9-5pm". Well, that's 40 hrs/week?! At this point, the unaware job-seeker puts up the wall of distrust and starts getting cynical. But rather than falling into that mindset, let's look at the realities. 99% of the time, you will see that the 25-30 hours a week that your salary is based on, is actually classroom time and does not cover breaks or prep time. Many schools require you to be at school, 30 minutes-1 hour prior to your shift, or sometimes you have a lunch break between classes.
However, the unpaid prep and breaks are not usually the things that make the difference when comparing the discrepancy between classroom hours and the quoted schedule. The quoted schedule, whether its 9am-5pm, 3-9pm, or even 9am-9pm, reflects the framework of school operating hours and that your schedule will fall within that period. Once talking to a foreign teacher at the school, they'll be able to explain in more detail like 'Ok, on Mondays, I work from 10am-3pm. Then, on Tuesdays, I work 1pm-5pm, Then, on Wednesdays, I work from 10am-1pm, then I have a break for 2 hours, then I work from 3-5pm, etc...' In the end, things tend to work out within your classroom hours and within the framework of schedule. The reason why recruiters post ads that don't make such distinctions, is that they really don't know that level of detail about the schedules. In fact, school schedules are notorious for changing often, but are usually still within the overall framework that you are originally quoted.
