Korean Job Discussion Forums

rapier · Joined: 16 Feb 2003

Huck: snap! i'm currently looking for work in seoul as we speak. The response has been weak to say the least. I'm determined not to use recruiters this time- in any case they mess you around or never even get back to you anyway.
There are very few offers from individual schools coming through. When they do, they're often crap.
I honestly think there's been a turnaround here. When i first came to korea 15months back, it took a single brief ad on Daves, and I was literally besieged with offers that did'nt die down for 3 weeks.
Now I post, and I get a trickle of the same handful of recruiters and maybe 2/3 from schools. If you don't get onto them Immediately, like call them within minutes, they're snapped up- and it genuinely seems theres no shortage of takers for jobs out there.
As I said before, Hakwons are shutting down left and right. there are fewer jobs, and more competition for them. And there's plenty of the prefferred Americans out there, unemployed and willing to do them.
The best offer I have at the mo is a 1.7 job in the middle of nowhere- they can go to hell!!

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

About 4 weeks ago, I posted a note on the resume list thingo, and got 25 emails in one day, and a trickle thereafter.

(None of them were much damn good, but that's beside the point.)

I did it again last week, and got a total of like 5, from recruiters, some of which had hit me up the first time as well.

It's a cyclical thing, both seasonally, and during any given month. Don't panic, keep trying, and wait until later in the month before it picks up. Nobody's hiring during the first week of the month, and besides, Koreans invariably wait until the last possible minute.

The new academic season has just begun, and I'd expect a bit of a lull for a month or two at least, relatively speaking.

Tiger Beer · Joined: 07 Feb 2003

I'm also thinking that September 5th.. (the emergency no-show fill-ins happened the week before. Plus we're coming on a fairly large Holiday next week.. probably very bad timing in general.

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

I still say it's because they prefer to hire newbies over experienced teachers.

I had the same experience. Hogwans claim to care about experience and qualifications but 99% don't.

They can hire a 22 year-old from the states for 2.0 who will accept the working conditions without complaint.

Why pay someone else 2.3?

It's not like they care enough about quality teaching to pay the extra 300,000 for an experienced teacher who is more likely to complain about stuff.

Skarp · Joined: 22 Aug 2003

Makes sense what eamo says....

The same thing happens everywhere though.

British state schools have started getting rid of experienced older teachers because they are nearly twice as expensive as a new guy... the new teacher will also be more compliant.

It happens in other industries too. We sometimes think education is special but it isn't. Even state schools have an agenda that has little to do with students education.

In some ways, private education should be better, because there is more direct feedback as students leave bad institutions....

Hmn.

In my post elsewhere about long stay strategies I'm particularly interested in ways of avoiding this pitfall. Are the 1% of schools that care about education enough for us to keep working for 10+ years?

Skarp

Tiger Beer · Joined: 07 Feb 2003

I pretty much ONLY know TONS and TONS of foreigners who've signed MULTIPLE contracts.. and everyone of them ALWAYS ALWAYS finds a significantly better contract than any newbie every single time and finds it quickly!!

If you've been here a long time and have all newbies at your current job.. then you definetely are doing something seriously wrong and you signed the contract.

Newbies get stuck 75% of the time with the stuff than anyone who knows better (and gets the experience) wouldn't do under any circumstances. Newbies also never seem to get their hands on stuff that those of us who have been around awhile seem to grasp onto.

If a whole bunch of ESL posters are getting beat out by newbies and/or working with a bunch of newbies and can't seem to get any kind of 'been-in-korea' for even a short time deals like the rest of us.. then you guys are definetely signing the wrong contracts.. or have a seriously lower value to yourself than you give yourself credit to.

As to why the original poster can't find a job now compared to other times.. its September 6th.. a week or so after when you should have been applying.. combined with the fact that Korea's most important Holiday is next week. Just hang tight until after the Holiday and things should be significantly better.

EDIT: (a few spelling errors)

Squid · Joined: 25 Jul 2003 Location: Sunny Anyang

Try applying to places of work you select, not those which are selected for you, if they advertise a vacancy or not.
Chances are most have a couple of agencies in tow just for convenience, so get in and short-circuit the process. Most employers are happy to accept a resume after a phone-call (Or visit, if you're superkeen).

I just started a new job, second contract, far better than the first and by applying the above method.

Happy hunting.

Squid

Butterfly · Joined: 02 Mar 2003 Location: Kuwait

These are hard times in Korea remember, lots of people are going out of business in this industry. I think we've got a very lean period coming up on the peninsula . . . . .

bucheon bum · Joined: 16 Jan 2003

August and September are the worst months to look for a job in my opinion. Why? Because all those recent college grads have had their nice little summer break and finally need to get a job. I've searched for jobs twice, one of which was a year ago. It was a pain in the butt to get a job I must say. Much harder than the 1st time around.

Furthermore, the economy in most of the world is in the dumps so plenty of us English-speaking people are looking for jobs. Korea's economy isn't so hot right now either, so hogwons are cutting back on staff too.

Lastly, Seoul is the most popular area to work in. I'm sure if you want a job outside the Seoul area, you'll have plenty of offers.

gang ah jee · Joined: 14 Jan 2003 Location: city of paper

Things do seem different now. They just don't seem as desperate for teachers as they did even a year ago.

It was actually starting to seem like I was going to have to put some effort into getting a job.

ugh.

rapier · Joined: 16 Feb 2003

I'm sure there are some decent jobs out there- but it takes time and persistence to get them now. Definietely not so easy as before. I've had 2 contracts and yes my second was better pay than the first, I'm always moving up the pay scale at least. Which is why I'm not about to revert to 1.7,8 jobs..
Additionally, the whole pent up feelings of "I hate korea" are starting to kick in now, instinct is telling me I need a change perhaps- I'm thinking of Taiwan at the mo. Plentiful jobs and better money right off.

Derrek · Joined: 15 Jan 2003

Well, I used a recruiter this time because I was in a desperate situation and needed something fast. It worked out very well for me! I'm very happy, although I can't seem to get ahold of my recruiter to get my degree back! I think he is currently on vacation.

Anyway, the recruiter was snip.
Interesting point: I helped a korean friend look for a hagwon teaching job. She said the best way to do it is to find a rich area, drive around (on my scooter) and just randomly call every school you see. Sounds like a good idea. The places are so hit-and-miss here.

I would also like to add that the schools that only hire "newbie" teachers are schools you want to avoid anyway. Besides, in general, I think that statement is false. I have a year experience and interviewed at 9 different hagwons, and every one of them offered me a job. Most schools seemed like crap though. I accepted jobs at 2 of them that wasted my time (and one got me in trouble with immigration). Both of those schools are now out of business. But finally, I am happy.

Edited once by Harpeau, 157pm Sat. Sept. 6th, 2003.

Derrek · Joined: 15 Jan 2003

chronicpride · Joined: 16 Jan 2003

The market is a tad more drier right now for those doing the online job hunt. We recruit out of Daegu and we've noticed job hires began to taper off over the last few months. Of what is available, schools preference is for who is in-country right now. That's still the preference for all times, though.

It's not cyclical or due to any timing. Jobs are here always. It's just that ESLCafe reflects only a small portion of the overall market. Only 20%, at best, of all Korean recruiters use ESLCafe for online recruiting. You can't really use this place as a barometer for Korea's ESL job market as a whole. Maybe just as a gauge for job advertiser patronage, if anything.