Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mrsquirrel]

I've been browsing englishkong examining peoples resumes and tailoring mine towards what recruiters and schools want to see.

I keep seeing two different styles of photos.

One is standard passport photo with a shirt and tie. Which I would see as a traditional application photo.

The other is of the teacher in some sort of teaching position or act of tomfoolery with the students.

Which one makes the better impression?

[Yu_Bum_suk]

For a hogwan the latter; for anything else the former. But more important than anything is to look as Aryan as possible, and, for a hogwan, as young as possible.

[zappadelta]

I would say the first is always better.

[mrsquirrel]

Smiling or not smiling?

I always think passport style photos look cheesy when people smile in them.

[ella]

I hear smiling is best. I'm sort of smirking in mine, since I do not have a nice smile.

Recruiters request that you smile, although why is anybody's guess...

[mrsquirrel]

I would say that I'm sort of smirking. Problem is I look like a right sod when i smirk.

[spliff]

Koreans, when doing these sort of photos do not smile...they try to look serious. I think the reasoning is that if you smile you look like a clown or retarded...

[Milwaukiedave]

Just give the camera a really crazy look, like your an ax murder. You'll be hired in no time at all.

[Son Deureo!]

I think it's better to smile. Koreans seem to want their foreign teachers to be happy, friendly people, especially in hogwons. Unsmiling, stern and strict is what they seem to expect from their Korean teachers.

[Qinella]

I've seen a lot of applications from Koreans, and they always look like mug shots, but with nice clothes.

Don't think it matters if you are smiling or whatever. Like others said, just try to look white.

[J.B. Clamence]

If you are Korean, you are expected to not smile because in Korean culture, people who smile too much are often seen as silly and foolish. However, if you are a foreigner, you are expected to look like a silly smiling doofus who's going to be a big hit with the kids. Foreigners are simply not taken very seriously here, and if you try too hard to be taken seriously, you will have problems.