Job Discussion Forums

[cck3000]

Hello All,

I am a 30 year old Black American male. I have a BA in communications plus a TESOL cert. I have been living and working in South Korea as an English Teacher in a public elementary school for two years now. My contract will expire in two months and I am contemplating what my next move will be. I've been sending my resume out to language schools like EF and Wall Street and have gotten no response. I actually got more response when I was a newbie with absolutley no experience.

I am seeking advice as to what may be the problem. Should I just show up in Indonesia knocking on doors? Should I try to get a job before I come? Should I not attach my photo? As usual any good advice would be helpful. Any leads to language schools which maybe off the radar would be helpful also.

Best,

CCK

[Mr. Sauce]

Hey man, I have found that some Indonesians are quite racist with regard to black people. Definitely not aggressively or violently so... but they just have some screwed up ideas about black folks. I hope this isn't the reason that you haven't had any responses, but I suppose it could be. You might try submitting without your photo (terrible, I know).

[basiltherat]

Hi
Re the race problem. To be upfront about this.

IMHO, owners / directors of many EFL schools (especially in Jakarta) are reluctant to employ black Native speaker instructors because of the general ignorance of the public who cannot possibly conceive of the fact that someone black might be as much a native speaker or effective instructor as someone white. Thus, low enrolments. This could be the reason for your lack of responses. It is possible to find somewhere but .... it will require additional effort and determination.

It may not be because one is black per se but because this sort of attitude is deeply rooted amongst the population; either through parental upbringing or social influence.

While black people may more likely be accosted in somewhere like Germany or Russia ... just for being black, ..... in developing countries, such as Indonesia or Arab nations such as Libya, silent racial prejudice is probably more prominent but incidents of physical abuse is less.

Try contacting the British Council (they used to employ US citizens from time to time) or a US/Canadian (if you are not particularly anti-Canadian) government-backed institute where nowadays such discrimination is less prominent.

My tuppenceworth.

Best
Basil

[aku_tonpa]

Which EF did you contact? My DOS at EF was a black American guy, so it is possible to get work. Did you try The British Institute , EEC, Direct English or International House? Suggestions, not recommendations.

[Bule_Gila]

My advice to you is remove the photo from your CV. I know its wrong but that is the unfortunate situation here.

I am half black myself, and I know that this stereotype prevails in most Asian countires.

My only advice to you would be to seek employment in other parts of Indonesia. Smaller cities are a good start. You are more likely to get a response from a smaller city, than Jakarta.

I've worked in Samarinda since 2004 and found no such problems. he school I currently working for even hired a black woman from Sounth Africa to teach ESL.

Stay away from large epicenters and focus on smaller communities.

[Madame J]

The EF group I worked for certainly did seem far less racist than tonnes of other employers here. There were some Indonesian looking native speakers who got hired no problem-probably the ethnic group least likely to find work here in general.