Korean Job Discussion Forums

Skarp · Joined: 22 Aug 2003

How do you go about getting a job when you've just arrived in Seoul on a tourist visa?

Any general advice is appreciated but it would also be interesting to have specific accounts of what people did and how it worked out.

One thing I'm curious about is how to get the addresses of schools. Is at as simple as looking in the phone book?

Sorry if this has been done to death before - no FAQ on it and my searches all failed.

Skarp

eamo · Joined: 08 Mar 2003 Location: Shepherd's Bush, 1964.

I've been through the arrived without a job situation but I don't think I'm the best authority on it.

All I did really was post my resume on Dave's and follow up the replies. It's cool to be able to check out the schools and apartments in person. You should get a good job with this route.

Word your job wanted ad correctly. I mean the title of the ad. Let them know you are in Seoul and available immediately. The offers should come flooding in!!!

Tancred · Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2003 4:27 pm Post subject:

being the greedy money-grabber that i am, i've always wondered if one could obtain cash in lieu of your new employer not shelling out money for a plane ticket since you are in the country anyway. is this something that one would bring up in contract negotiations or is that really just bad form?

BTM · Joined: 20 Jan 2003 Location: Back in the saddle.

Toby · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Location: Wedded Bliss

Daves is about the best place to look. There are other related sites, but none that I have seen are as comprehensive as Dave's.

If there is a job that you like the look of:

a) Call them and find out exactly where they are. Ads can be misleading and you will find that 10 mins from Seoul is actually an hour or more. Don't necessarily give them your name, not that they will remember it anyway.

b) If it is in what you think is a suitable place send them your resume. Call after you have sent it. Check they hace received it.

c) Tell them that you would like to come and see them as you are avaialble for work now, but always make sure that they know you 'have other options available to you'.

d) Speak with other foreigners at the school. If they do not allow you to do this then there is a BAD REASON for that. They are hiding something if they don't let you speak to others there.

e) Make sure that they are going to reimburse you for your flight. GET IT IN WRITING. Try and get everything in writing. There are always so many postings on here about people getting screwed over money. If you have it in writing and signed by the school, then at least you have something to present to the Labour Board if you needed to.

f) The right job will appear for you, so if you have the time and the financial resources, take your time. Don't jump at the first thing that is offered to you.

I think, personally, that the most important thing once you have found a suitable job, is to talk to the foreigners at the school. Unless they are being paid to lie, which won't happen, then they won't try and sell you someting that they are not happy with. We all have our complaints, but some are so minor that they aren't worth worrying about. However. Some complaints are significantly more imporatnt and those are the ones you need to hear about.

Be wary about being the only foreigner at a school. This can be a lonely and awkward position to be in. Especially if there is limited English in the teacher's room.

Good luck. There are good jobs there.

TheUrbanMyth · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Location: Retired

BTM · Joined: 20 Jan 2003 Location: Back in the saddle.

A fair comment, but I'd say there's a difference between perfectly reasonable wariness or caution, and outright distrust.

I'm not saying that the hawkon shouldn't distrust you if they've had bad experiences with waeguk-in before, I'm just saying that it's important to be aware that it might be a factor, unfortunately.

I tend to distrust everyone to one degree or another until they prove that I should do otherwise, but that goes double in a place and an industry where the sort of underhandedness we see reported here every day is common currency. And, to be fair, where there are so many people being hired sight-unseen because of their race and/or their native language, who are sometimes totally unsuited to the job for which they're being hired. That's the hogwans' fault, sure, but it's no less a problem, for everyone concerned, for all that.

In business relationships, I reckon you lay your cards on the table, expect the other side to do likewise (understanding that nobody's dumb enough to lay all their cards on the table, necessarily), negotiate an agreement that is amenable to all parties, then stick to it, be a good employee, give respect where it's due, alla that, and expect to be treated as well, and with respect, in return. I've expected that sort of thing in Korea, too, and maybe I've been lucky (probably I've been lucky), but I've had positive relationships with the two bosses I've had, ones with flexibility, mutual respect and professionalism.

Er, what was I talking about again?

Right - everyone should be held to that higher standard, but it's foolish to go into any kind of business relationship with rosecoloured glasses, especially in Korea, double-especially in the EFL business, so wariness and caution is called for.