Korean Job Discussion Forums

[jurassic5]

i just gotta add something....for some of the places that want gyopos...they want you to be able to speak both fluent English and Korean. I am not billingual, so that makes some of the jobs hard to apply for since they want you to speak Korean. But right now, I am actually applying for civilian jobs with the military and using teaching at hagwons as a backup job.

[girl]

i'm an gyopo as well.

and what i've been doing is instead of just looking at what i want, i have been applying to everything that i think is up to my experience standards, meaning job descriptions fit to my experiences. i've been throwing my resume out there to even recruiters and have had tons of replies and the ones that are still interested, they tell me so, regardless if i am a gyopo or not. i'm waiting on an answer for one of now, and lucky me, i just so happen to apply to a job that hires on experience rather than nationality.

so my advice to all the gyopos out there is just apply to as many jobs as you can, and if you get offers, only you know what your own credentials are like, so research the school and stuff and expect the worst and hope for the best.

good luck to all my fellow gyopos out there.

[Tiger Beer]

..and one sep further.. its a kind of a myth that if you are white you don't have to look for jobs in Korea.. you still have to look for them.. i looked around for an entire month from the States.. i defintely saw them.. but nothing I wanted.. eventually I came over here to Korea on my own with the illusion that I was going to get this one particular job I had negoitated about.. and then somehow didn't get it.. they had just hired the person they needed a few days before.. although before I was coming over on my own they'd all but promised they'd hire me..

Anyhow, I looked around alot once again while in Korea.. for another 10 days.. and found one that I decided would be alright for me.. and so now all is good..

Anyhow.. regardless if you are white or gyopo or whatever.. it still is an extensive job search process.. so I wouldn't too quickly write if off as racism just because you did 3 walk-ins in jongno..

[girl]

just wanted to let you know...

i am a gyopo and i just accepted a great job offer. not through a recruiter, on my own. they didn't care that i am a gyopo, i just took a chance and sent my resume to them. i'm in north america right now. amazing pay rate, amazing contract etc etc etc. it too about a month to find this job.

so if i can find a great job so can you...don't expect it to happen overnight.

[Tiger Beer]

[girl]

i'll be working in seoul in the kangnam area...party anyone???

[Tiger Beer]

[homer521]

Yo Tiger Beer,

I appreciate the offer but I don't want to work you like you're my recruiter or anything..haha. Can you just tell me how you're finding these sites? I mean, I searched for ESL Teachers Korea in yahoo and got some hits, but different ones. I also have no clue where Jongno is (it's not in any of my maps.. hehe) but I'm leaning towards Busan or Changwon.. keep hearing nothing but good about them.


Girl,

Congrats. Sounds like Kangnam's gonna be crazy when you guys meet up. Hope everything works out great.


Sounds like everyone's been in Korea before/awhile. I've never been there and can't even decide what city I want to call home yet. I'd like to narrow it down soon so I can really start my search. You guys are pretty cool, so can I get your opinions on the best cities to settle, and why?


Jurassic5,

I'm not bilingual by any means either, so we're in the same boat. I'll send you a pm cuz i'm curious about the military jobs..

[Tiger Beer]

[leej00]

hey
Tiger beer thanks for all ure help man but
i am selective of my jobs and i know most of u are too.
maybe there are many jobs for gyopos that u see (btw which i dont)
, but some of them dont mee t to my criteria.
i mean u do have to find a place where its possible to commute to
as in time and also the salary.
cuz i live in Seoul around Gangnam id prefer the place to be nearby.
Like Homer asked a few sites would be fine adn would appreciate it alot.
didnt mean for u to get me hook ups man.

oh and it wasnt jongro where i went it was gangnam and joonggae dong.
plus phone calls iv tried and when i go for the interview "oh are u Korean?" or the famous "We dont hire Korean Americans and Korean Canadians becuz the students dont like it and the students parents(mothers)dont like it."

THANK YOU!!

[girl]

what you need to do is not be picky...i'm telling you. it's not like as a gyopo we've got a whole lot of choice out there. you need to apply to everything on the net, dave's esl cafe, english spectrum, pagoda/english direct, whatever you see that's in your general area. then when it starts to flow in, send your photo and all that stuff. then start to pick and choose. and it's gonna take at least, maybe longer than a month to get a job. you can't expect it to happen in a week, or even two. it took me two months and a whole lot of emailing and hearing a whole lot of "you're korean american, we don't hire we only want white faces." to get the job that i got. trust me i was just as frustrated too, but it eventually happened where i got a great job, so keep your head up and fight for your position. and try to stay away from the kiddie hagwons because you will not be hired as easily as the adult ones. the parents have a big influence on the owners of the kiddie schools.

[girl]

for my fellow gyopos, this is an email for a school that is looking to hire gyopos. teaching kids, somewhere just outside of seoul, i think it's still on the subway line, and i think it pays 2mil a month. this is what was offered to me, give it a try.

[email protected]

i got her info from english spectrum......hint hint hint.....told you to try the site out...hint hint hint