Korean Job Discussion Forums

[tomwaits]

OK I've been prowling this forum thinking of maybe coming (back) to ROK. Trying to get a "feel" for things.

So I will just ask the question straight up. Dude where's my job?

For some background I came to Seoul in 2001 and it was a picnic. A phone call would get you a job. But I know it tightened up by 2003----by then it became a case of "send us your CV and we'll get back to you." As I say in 2001 it would have been ---"Get in here when can you start." So i"m wondering HOW difficult it is.

I know it will be a task to find a decent deal. And I know the hours have gone up and salaries are stagnant. I don't ask too much--no splits or Sats are my only demands really. And I like cental Seoul but I would be willing to work in the sticks since you are never too far away on a train. And small town life can be OK.

(To get this out of the way: I am 41 ---have a BA and Tesl and experience.) Cheers in advance!

[chronicpride]

[just because]

Honestly, in the city and surrounding areas(Changwon area) I live in they are having trouble filling jobs.

I've had 3 guys in the last week asking me if I know ANYBODY to take their place because the wonjang can't find anybody.

Don't despair

[Demophobe]

In a word, no.

[captain kirk]

I'm in Ulsan and the management has been looking for a second foreign teacher for what, three months now? I know because I've helped them. Put ads up on websites because the boss doesn't speak English as well as I do.
And the teachers they've got, had teach for awhile! I mean foreign teachers to make two of us. One saw the ad, lived in Ulsan anyway (had bought an apt.), taught for a couple of days. Went to Japan for the visa, came back. Worked for a month before he quit. It was over stupid stuff like expecting the kids to be more mature and less abusive. Well, hey, welcome to the monkey house! He'd taught for four years in Korea already? Something like that. All I can say is get used to it. Everybody, Korean teachers included, is going to be muttering disparaging words behind one's back because it's like shooting a fish in a barrel. Get with the program, buddy! He ought to have ditched the sensitivity and realized where he was. But off he went in a huff, a real primadonna.
Another teacher who worked for a couple of weeks. He wasn't sure whether he ought to go back and finish Uni in Canada, or slum it here working in a haggie. He was Mr. Casual. Everybody liked him because he's a social genius, majored in politcal science, super laid back, a people person, always joking. Never heard a serious word in the two weeks. But he went to another school offering fewer classes and more money.
To me a hundred thousand here or there, what's the difference? If the management is good, and they are here at this school. Kids are the same everywhere though good management can set the tone, surely.
Management wants a walk-in, someone already here. To avoid paying airfare over from Canada, wherever. And they don't want to pay airfare out at the end. At the core is the job and getting paid every month, I figure. Playing poker to get this and that perk from the start is no way to get a job.
And the story with applicants seems often 'what perks will you give me because the standard is this and that'. With both of these guys they didn't do a good job in class, weren't conscientious. Both figured they were 'too smart to be doing this kind of job'.
The first guy had a Phd in religious studies, the second almost a masters in political science. But they both just figured they could be half-present in class and put the accent on schmoozing the management. Figured the kids were 'too stupid' to notice whether they were on the ball being a teacherer, or not.
Maybe the mandatory qualification, a degree, is a handicap. Certainly seemed these guys were so 'smart' they had to take their swell heads elsewhere

[rapier]

When I first came here 2 years ago, a simple ad on daves landed me over 90 responses within 2 weeks, many of them with firm job offers before even laying eyes on a photo.
Now, that same little ad resulted in exactly a mere 1 response from a minor recruiter with bad English.
Its definitely changed- a lot more jobs are specifying North Americans straight off.
Now its a case of hunting down jobs, rather than them hunting you.
I also think the middlemen, the recruiters, have grown really slack for some reason. They don't even get back to you half the time.
It is like I said a year back: more unemployment in the west has led to an influx of teachers ready to accept any conditions here. At the same time, the worsening economy and wreckage of constant hagwon closures here means there are fewer jobs anyway.
I still think there are jobs out there, but for some reason, employers and jobseekers are not connecting easilly. Perhaps schools are avoiding recruiters more now to cut costs, but are unable to find a teacher by themselves.
If you're not North American, forget about 2.2.

[Alias]

The problem also is that most people want to be in Seoul or Busan. You'll have no problem finding work in a smaller city. If you can deal with the isolation.

[sadsac]

As Alias stated, there is plenty of work in the smaller more provincial areas.