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Coming over on your own money vs taking a position blind

 
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richardIII



Joined: 03 Jun 2003
Location: Auckland NZ

PostPosted: Tue Aug 26, 2003 2:37 am    Post subject: Coming over on your own money vs taking a position blind Reply with quote

I know this has been done to death, but I thought I'd play around with some of that economics stuff that I learned at university before I realised I didn't really want to wear a suit.

So, it would be good if people added their 2 cents worth to my funky calculations.


Taking a blind position provides airfare. Worth somewhere in the region of 780,000 Won = 60,000 per month (over a 13month pay year) - what are the odds of a school springing for return airfare after you getting a job on the spot with them?

Taking a blind position provides accomodation from the start. Worth ????? for now, 1,400,000 Won = 110,000 per month (Over a 13 month pay year)

So, at the moment, it seems that arranging a position from Korea must provide more than 170,000 Won per month in benefits than simply trusting the internet, "foreign teachers" (one advert recently had a not very plausible foriegn teacher), and dumb luck.

However, we must factor in other things like the increased likelyhood of not recieving your pay / bonus in an unseen job (probability of them screwing you * amount of pay they would screw you for). Also the possible lower standard of housing (the average difference between what you get blind and what you would accept if you saw it).

This is leaving out important, less tangible items such as quality of management. Working hours could most easily be valued by a straight "how much would you pay to avoid a split shift / kindy job" (multiplied by the hopefully reduced probability of getting screwed from in country). Working conditions (psycho bosses etc) are harder to value and this is where my idea really falls through (that and me knowing nothing.



Summary:

Finding a job from in country is basically better if:

The pay + the appartment are more than 170,000 won per month better than a job you could have got from home. Plus a whole lot of intangible stuff.
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chronicpride



Joined: 16 Jan 2003

PostPosted: Tue Aug 26, 2003 3:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Actually, this hasn't been done to death. Not the way that you're looking at it, anyway.

What has been done to death is the knee-jerk advice that follows questions like this:

Pay your own airfare over(if you can afford it)+Have enough cash to live on for the first month or so of job-hunting+Do your own due diligence in qualifying schools, directors, accommodations, current and former teachers+Get reimbursed for airfare (Yes, you will get reimbursed. Especially given the amount of qualifying one should expect to do in a job hunt over here.)= A far less complicated process than most make it out to be.

If you're financially tight and in dire straits, well, then take a prepaid deal. But that should be the only reason. Getting reimbursed is very common. Almost standard. It's just that if/when there is a bad reimbursement story out of the hundreds of good ones, you're not going to be seeing a plethora of posts saying 'I got reimbursed today!', if you catch my meaning.

Finding a job in country is basically better on all counts, if one can afford to fly themselves over and conduct a thorough job hunt.
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VanIslander



Joined: 18 Aug 2003
Location: Geoje, Hadong, Tongyeong,... now in a small coastal island town outside Gyeongsangnamdo!

PostPosted: Tue Aug 26, 2003 3:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

That's the reason economics is an art rather than a science: the intangibles. Most of my eleven economics courses were too theoretical and ideological. Did you take meso-economics, institutional economics or risk analysis? Cost-benefit won't help you this time. You need decision-making under conditions of uncertainty. In other words, collect all the info you can on the intangibles, then go with your gut.
I crossed my fingers and came over blind, with some contingency planning. Ask yourself: If the position turned sour, what would you do? The easy plan is to run to Taiwan, though none of us would suggest it because such behaviour hurts our reputation in the long run.
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richardIII



Joined: 03 Jun 2003
Location: Auckland NZ

PostPosted: Wed Aug 27, 2003 3:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I did all the compulsory core papers (mid level micro, macro, metrics) and a mix of advanced stuff (game theory, behavioural eco, eco history, financial eco, trade).

Ideally, the model would look something like:

Advantage of coming over to a blind job =
pro-rated airfare + pro-rated 1st month's living (both modified by the cost of capital for this investment) - appartment quality differential - rip off potential - hagwon hell penalty, etc.

all multiplied by the appropriate probability. Each variable of course takes a sub-model of its own (or a bit of hueristic analysis) to properly determine. Plus the inaccuracy of trying to value not living with a particular fruitcake until you've tried it (having lived with a medium level non-lifethreatening weirdo in a bit of a dump, I know I don't have a very high living conditions value).

But yeah, I know what the result of the model will be without running it - it's going to suggest that I fly over myself in May or so and find a job that doesn't suck somewhere in seoul and aim for reimbursement.

I'm not financially tight (a bit of creative thinking has given me investments of $5000 or so to counter balance a loan of $30,000. So, I certainly plan on coming over and proving I'm not a drongo (and that the position is acceptable).

I guess I was trying to prove with a pile of high-falutin stuff BS what all the old-hands know anyway and I've adopted as my plan - Don't take a job over the internet if you can avoid it.
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