Job Discussion Forums

[teacherglen]

I'm Filipino. I'm an experienced ESL teacher to Korean nationals in the Philippines. I taught in hagwon for 7 years. I 've got my bachelor's degree, tesl/tefl certification and I am pursuing my master's degree in language education. I have good command of English and my accent has never been a problem. I've been here in the USA for more than a year now. I want to teach in Korea but I wonder if I am qualified despite my not being a native english speaker.

I appreciate your reply.

Thanks.

Glen

[prosodic]

Hi Glen,

I'm assuming that your passport is from the Phillipines. If so, that could be a problem. It's not really an issue of being qualified. It seems apparent that you are fully qualified to do the work in terms of training and language ability.

The problem is market forces. A number of Koreans are fluent enough to teach English, so they don't see a need to bring over more non-natives.

Beyond that, there is quite a bit of racism in Korea. You can get a job if you're not white, but it's more difficult. You may want to read the following thread:
http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/korea/viewtopic.php?t=5

That being said, it is not impossible for you to get a job in Korea. It's just going to be difficult. The important thing is being persistent. Keep applying and eventually you'll get a job, but you can't expect to be inundated with offers.

You may not want the first job you're offered, though. Some disreputable hagwons employ filipinos and pay them half the going rate for a native speaker.