Korean Job Discussion Forums

[endofthewor1d]

i know this has been brought up a lot recently, and part of why i know this is because i have been one of the ones to bring it up. but i'm going to bring it up again... finding a decent job right now is proving to be a hell of a challenge.

finally, i've gotten some phone calls, but even these haven't been very promising. my only requests (i hesitate to call them demands, as i'm starting to go soft on them) are that i want to be in seoul, and i don't want to share an apartment. i haven't raised the issue of money, i've pretty well surrendered to the fact that i'm probably going to have to work a split shift. i was told that seoul is a highly competitive area to find work in, but i've been putting more hours into writing to different recruiters and schools than i actually worked while i was teaching in uijeongbu for the past two years.

the two recruiters i've talked to on the phone already have been trying to sell me on other places, so i suppose that the problem really centers on location. but before i settle for somewhere other than where i want to be, i'm going to spend a few more weeks in high-density job hunting. does anyone know of any good sites to find recruiters and job ads outside of dave's? englishspectrum has been kind of a letdown lately. barring that, can anyone pm me the name of a good recruiter or school in seoul that you know of which is looking for an experienced american male teacher? or, barring that, does anyone have any advice for me at all?

i've actually started to get homesick for korea, if you can believe that... and i know that some of you can. thanks all. hope to see you soon.

[Derrek]

Don't "settle" for split shifts!

No way!

I seem to get by without that -- then again, I don't teach adults.

[endofthewor1d]

i'm not seeing a whole lot of options. i mean, if i wanted to settle for a job outside of seoul, i might get away without the split shifts. i need to start getting any offers at all before i decide which good and bad aspects of them i'm going to settle for. *sigh*

[Son Deureo!]

If you're having that hard of a time finding a job in Seoul, why don't you try for the burbs? Someplace that's still on the subway, like Incheon, Bundang, Ilsan, or Bucheon. There is life outside of Seoul...

I take it you're looking from home, maybe you'd have better luck if you were here and looking?

[endofthewor1d]

i've been in the burbs for the past two years. uijeongbu, more specifically. there are problems with living so far away from my favorite places in seoul though. i don't mind staying out until six or seven in the morning to wait for the subway, but that limits my nights out in seoul to the weekends, unless i'm willing to shell out heaps of money on a cab ride home. but it's not just the money. the hour of sitting on the subway takes away from the spontaneity of going to the bars i feel cozy and comfortable in. and let's not forget that during a thirty or forty minute cab ride home on the weekends, a girl that i've invested a lot of alcohol in might either fall asleep or sober up, or even worse, i might fall asleep or sober up. none of those scenerios make for a fun rest of the night.

anyway... maybe i'll end up trying out another burb. anyone have any great things to say about the burbs you're currently in? my mind is starting to open to what might be inevitable.
cheers.

[Joe Thanks]

I hear ya, companero. It�s been rough for me (I too would like to return). I have a load of experience and my demands are pretty simple: no weekend work. I�ve got a handful of places I�d like to teach (Daegu, Pusan, Ulsan, Ilsan, Seoul) and have no qualms teaching adults or kids or both, nor do I have a problem sharing an apartment. I�ve made it clear I could come in late November or anytime in December or January.

I get a lot of �we need somebody now� e-mails and calls and the phone interviews never feel cemented, and I�ve even considered jobs in Pohang. Nothing feels certain and it all feels rather uncomfortable because people wait until the last minute in Korea to make a decision. I haven't had such difficulty finding a (ANY) job (s) in over ten years: until now.

Something�s up. Lord knows what, though.

So, like you � I wait and listen and e-mail and occasionally call and have had to turn down one job because it had me working weekends (I REFUSE to do this � I did it for 9 months in Korea and it was slavery. No time to really travel and enjoy places. I will NEVER do it again, no matter how much it pays). Another was really keen on having me but it was ASAP � and I don�t know what goes through schools� minds. It�s like �drop everything for us but we took our sweet a s s time getting back to you so now bali bali for us.� No f�n way. They�d s@#t a loaf if the same was thrown at them, and chances are I was second fiddle and the one they wanted bailed.

So, I wait and look and keep trying. I WILL NOT fly over. Korea is not the most hospitable country to do cold search for work in and immigration puts the nails on anything and is unpredictable. It�s not Japan or Taiwan about this, so I will only get the job first before coming.

So, my demands aren�t that strict and even I�m having trouble. I must say, though, demanding your own pad is pretty unrealistic. Either the jobs have �em or they don�t. I hate roomies and in Korea had only one good one out of three, but I deal; and I realize that there are some good roomies out there and I could end up with one just as easily as I could with another loser. I also know that it�s a perk but not a practical reality for most employers to offer single housing (especially for guys). Some folks get it and some don�t.

Regardless � even I am having trouble and I�m not making any serious demands (save refusing to work Saturdays). Maybe it�s because I don�t have blonde hair or blue eyes. Never was a problem before.

Never surrender,

Joe

[endofthewor1d]

[scarneck]

Endoftheworld, you really didn't like the UJB area? I know it's not Seoul and that may be the reason you don't want to go back, probably small enough that once you've stayed for 2 yrs, you've seen it all. Personally, I like UJB..pretty cool place, I mean speaking as a GI...there are many places worse especially up north of the no smile zone...I"m working to go south when I return this summer....

[endofthewor1d]

no, i totally dig the bu. in fact, i'll probably spend the first couple of weekends that i'm back in the bu just for old times' sake. ironic, eh? but that nostailgia will wear off once i get a good dose of the greater nostailgia that is nights out in seoul. wish me luck!