Job Discussion Forums

[JZer]

[Llamalicious]

They're not hooked on monkey phonics?

[Saiops]

Korea is tough now! They want sealed transcripts. Heck it is such a pain to go get your transcripts that I wont even apply for a korean job. I have been traveling around for years. Sheesh most my stuff is in storage and I really don't carry anything that isn't digitized.

China is getting a tiny bit tougher, but you can still find places. In China if you look white, your in some places. Some Chinese schools just rip their own people off, and will throw anyone into a class as long as they can speak English - in the rural areas, its the best they can get. I don't knock it because it is better than nothing for some of those kids. Most self respecting teachers won't go into some of these areas unless they are the missionary, UN, or AID worker volunteer type.

As for drinking issue, try to avoid coming to class with alcohol on your breath. As for smoking weed/hash, do it on your off time. If you got pedophile issues, AVOID China. They will execute you there, and most foreign embassies won't lift a finger to help you either. Last case they had they executed him. 26 year old Chinese teacher who was innappropriately touching his female students. Actually, he got involved into internet porn and it went down hill from that.

If you got appearance issues. well take a bath once in a while and do your laundry.

If your butt assed lazy then take only conversation classes because all you have to do is talk with them.

If you are truly messed up, find some rich person who needs your passport LOL

My advice as mentioned in another reply get TEFL/ and have good personal relationship skills and network. There are always some school that are desperate for teachers at the last minute and will take anyone as long as they can speak English. Heck teaching 12-15 hours a week isn't exactly hard. China with its messed up visa situation is a perfect opportunity because teachers market in China right now. I am looking at the hourly rates in Beijing and they all are going up 40% during this time because schools can't get teachers.

Good luck to ya

I make about 25k RMB a month but I got to work about 150-170 hours 6 days a week to get it.

[sidjameson]

Well, going by the replies it still seems that even some one as low down the totem pole as myself can still find a place in the sun. Thats very good to know. Saiops must get a special mention for his post. Its great to know that teaching in China is always there if any one gets bored stacking shelves in K mart.

[bulgogiboy]

The last refuge of the incompetent is definitely China, although to be honest there are lots of countries where the intellectually challenged could find work, it just depends on how keen you are on working illegally. I knew quite a few teachers who made half-decent money(relatively speaking) in Turkey while on residence permits but with no permission to work.

China is something else though. Quite a few of my Western co-workers at the school I worked in had zero qualifications, but still got a permit to teach there. I mean they had ZILCH in terms of formal qualifications to distinguish them as teachers, not even a crappy online TEFL course!

I would say about China however, that some of those un-qualified teachers were bloody good at their jobs, and were very popular with students. So you never know, you might go to somewhere like China with low self-esteem and discover you have a great talent for teaching, who knows?

If you feel a bit incompetent, but have a university degree, you might want to try Korea. The application process has become a bit of a pain in the neck admittedly in the past few years (I remember the good old days) but the money is still decent enough to be able to save at least US$ 5000 in a year as long as you live fairly sensibly.

[gaijinalways]

Japan surprisingly has some winners, especially people on working holiday visas. But generally speaking, you need a 4 year degree. I'm not sure what the other requirements are depending on your spouse, whether you have a student visa, etc.

Basket cases can hold out longer here as Japanese society in general seems to show more latitude to people that do their jobs even if in most other places they might qualify as social misfits. Especially for some aspects of teaching, where we work relatively independently, it would be easy to stay below the radar as long as you don't overtly break the law.

[jdl]

The last bastion of incompetence? Wherever you find an employee referring to his/her job as a gig.

[PattyFlipper]

[Justin Trullinger]

Another thought- most countries have their own refuge for incompetence.

There are a lot of qualified teachers with good resumes in Ecuador, but there are some institutes that apply the "blond, blue-eyed, and nice physical assets don't hurt" standard, even when dealing with idiots and insane asylum rejects.

I'm moving to Korea soon- again, there are plenty of "gigs" available for the terminally weird. But there are some really nicely paid positions available for the competent and qualified.


Best,
Justin

[johnslat]

Dear Justin,

"I'm moving to Korea soon- again, there are plenty of "gigs" available for the terminally weird. But there are some really nicely paid positions available for the competent and qualified"

Hmm - now this is tough: which category does Justin fit into?

A: Terminally Weird

B: Competent and Qualified

(and the ever popular)

C: Both of the Above

Vote early and often.

Regards,
John

[bulgogiboy]

[Justin Trullinger]

If I vote "C," who's going to say otherwise?

I'll admit to being odd. Terminal? Probably.

Definitely not incompetent, though. At least not as a teacher. I dedicate my incompetent energy to my guitar playing.




Justin

[basiltherat]

nearly all my efl teaching positions could be regarded as gigs . i see nothing wrong with describing something as what it actually is.

what's more, i'd guess that most of the people on these forums would propbably regard efl teaching itself as 'gig'. i mean, how many of us actually regard it as a long-term career choice.

i have done, but i wouldn't be confident in assiuming that i'm in any way a part of the majority here.

best
basil

[Evanzinho]

It sounds like, in the past at least, the place to go for the truly strange was here in Korea. But to be honest with you, lately I've been meeting some real normal teachers. Not sure if it's because of the new regulations (criminal check, sealed transcripts) or what but I haven't run into as many odd teachers as I was expecting.

[bulgogiboy]

About Korea and the application procedure: I think the criminal record check probably helps a bit. They didnt have that when I was there, and I remember thinking that It would be an attractive option for paedos if they wanted to get near to children. I dont have a problem with any criminal check.

They didnt have the transcripts requirement when I first started working there either, and after it was introduced I realised how much of a pain it was going to be. I remember after taking a break of about 6 months or so, applying for a new job in Kimchiland and being told by my prospective employer that the transcripts had to be just so, with a university stamp over the back of the envelope, so went over and explained all that to the university registry staff, got it all sorted.

Then came the joy of finding a courier who wouldnt insist on opening the envelope to check it. As I recall Fedex and DHL insisted they would have to open the envelope to check what was inside(rendering them void). In the end UPS came for them, and the driver said he would have preferred to open them to check, but understood my dilemma so said it would be ok to leave them unopened seeing as it was just a thin envelope. I cant remember exactly why, but there turned out to be some problem with the transcripts, they werent precisely as the immigration clerk had thought they should be (university stamp 2 mm too far to the left/right who knows) so I had to re-submit them.

I hear they also do a credit check on people now, is that true? It wouldnt affect me negatively, but It seems quite invasive...

Do you also need to undergo a medical/drug test?

I remember when I first worked in Korea I was fingerprinted as a matter of course, being a waeguk there. This was never repeated in subsequent years. Was this because they dropped the practice or because they kept my fingerprints on record and didnt need them again?

In any case, I feel sorry for teachers in Korea who constantly have to re-submit their documents, despite living there for a number of years. I would assume if you extend your term of employment with the same employer you wouldnt have to do this, but assumptions of common sense are rather foolhardy when dealing with immigration and education ministries(all over the world) as an ESL teacher

I think if they are trying to professionalise the industry in Korea then the salaries should reflect this, but what's rather disconcerting is that as the hoops you have to jump through grow and grow, the salaries seem to either remain stagnant or go down! I wouldnt put myself through that BS again, especially considering a lot of places are offering 2.1-2.2 for an MA holder, which is less than the wage I was getting almost 5 years ago!

As far as I could see when I was there, the majority of ESL teachers in Korea were fresh university graduates with no recognised TEFL/TESOL qualifications, who spoke English as their first language and wanted to stay 1-2 years to have an experience and save a little money. For the most part, with Koreans often knowing the terms/rules of English grammar sufficiently well (often better than the teachers ), and just needing practice speaking with a 'real waeguk' this situation worked out for the most part. Now, as more and more hurdles are put in place for prospective teachers, for less money, it's going to become a much less attractive location to work in for the typical(i.e. underqualified) Korean ESL teacher. Places in Korea might find themselves having to fork out more cash for more qualified teachers. It'll be interesting to see if they do or not...