Korean Job Discussion Forums

[dulouz]

Jeans? T shirts? Tie?

[IconsFanatic]

[Bulsajo]

Dress codes can vary widely from school to school, but you could use the following guidelines (keeping in mind that there are always going to be exceptions):

Adults- generally more formal. Business attire, often requiring a tie.

Children- less formal, think business-casual. (You may be allowed to wear jeans, t-shirts, shorts at some schools, but I wouldn't plan my wardrobe around it.)

Koreans 'dress-up' more than most westerners, and in Korea clothing is considered important in reflecting your occupation and status. If you hope to be taken seriously in Korea, you have to start with clothes.

[W.T.Carl]

Considering the high esteem Koreans hold teachers, I would go with nice slacks, white shirt and a tie in fall, winter and spring. Lose the tie during summer. If your school has a dress down day, jeans should be okay.

[half_pint]

I took up so much precious packing space with dress pants, skirts, nice blouses, etc. When I walked into my hogwan for the first time, all of the other teachers were wearing jeans. It really does vary from school to school; I would get in touch with some of the teachers you will be working with, if this is possible, and find out what they wear to work.

[The Great Wall of Whiner]

There is no dress code.

Just common sense.

Wearing a mini-skirt and now-cut blouse would not be in your best interest, however (maybe the older boy students, but not yours).

[bucheon bum]

First hogwon: Could wear whatever I wanted. Most teachers wore shorts from time to time in summer as well as t-shirts. Jeans were very common as well.

Second hogwon: Never wear jeans nor t-shirts. Don't plan to wear shorts in the summer. Wear a tie from time to time. My fellow teachers (all korean) wear a jacket and tie nearly every day. There is no dress code that I'm aware of but I figured it would be insulting to my co-workers if I showed up in a t-shirt and jeans.

In other words, there is a wide variety of dress. Just ask your future co-workers what they wear.

[slothrop]

edit.

[sillywilly]

[weatherman]

Clean, neat and stylish is all that counts, with the greatest emphasis on stylish. You are a foreigner in Korea, their perception of you is going to off anyways, so dressing up like them (the Korean teachers) isn't all it is made out to be. Get rid of the slacker college look if you think it is going to fly.

[captain kirk]

my current hagwon boss says dress for the mothers. the parents in this neighbourhood are highly educated and have been abroad and when they select a hagwon check out every aspect; the native teacher, the wonjonim, the curiculum, etc. periodically they come into the school to pay and they are looking for a foreign teacher who LOOKS like a teacher. casual sports wear is out. the boss said slacks, like wool dress pants. a dress shirt suitable for a tie but no tie.

[W.T.Carl]

If you have ever been in a regular Korean school, you would know what i'm talking about. I do realize that in some hogwans all the owner cares about is keeping the student numbers high, so discipline is lax, and the little monsters can get away with what would get them a beating in a regular school. They would never even think of doing such things to a Korean teacher.[/quote]

[VanIslander]

It's good old business advice to dress a smidge more formally than expected if you want to impress that you're a professional: for the men, if they ask for dress shirt, then wear a tie; they expect a tie, then wear a sports jacket. It's the concept of dressing up.

I am expected to wear a dress shirt and slacks, so I wear a tie every day. It works well in the classroom too as a signal to the students that I'm no afterschool babysitter, and that I expect them to behave accordingly. (The ties are typical Western fun, with more colour, pattern and images than the kids have ever seen. They especially like the Donald Duck tie. They're great conversation pieces to get a class going.)

However, many ESL teachers in Korea seem to dress down, whether because of a slacker mentality or a desire to feel free. In fact, my Korean colleagues say that foreign teachers have a rep for dressing like slobs. This applies also to women with their jeans or slacks with running shoes.

Of course, like any workplace, you can dress however you want if you don't give a, er, tailor's arch what others think of you.

[gypsyfish]

Are you just comparing? Is this for your own edification?

If you have a specific hogwan in mind, why not ask the director ... directly.

I'm not criticizing you or your question. It's just that I see many people posting questions that can be better answered by going to the source. I know sometimes that's not possible, but, believe me, some of the information put out on this board is such crap and, or, subjective that it's often not helpful. This question is a good example, every hogwan has different standards, so, unless you just asking out of curiosity, you'd be better served to write to the hogwan in question.

[BTM]

I have found that teaching naked is frowned upon.

*ba-dump tish!* Seriously, though, Koreans respect people who dress well. Smart casual would be your best bet at a hakwon, I'd say. I wore a tie every day at the uni, though I was never asked to. It just makes sense - you want respect, even a little, grudgingly, you need to dress the part.