Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Cognorati]

I'm another poster who deeply regrets coming here -- I made good money in Texas as a teacher, but I came here to pay off debts and save (supposedly).

If you are thinking of coming to Korea, here are all the little things you should be thinking of but wouldn't have thought of until you got here:

Korea is a setup.

If you have a substantial amount of debt, and are trying to eradicate most of it, you will probably wind up paying a very large percentage of your income to the creditors back home -- lots of people are paying about half of their money to creditors.

The plan wouldn't be so bad, except for how precarious the job situation is here: once you land a job, you're put into the position where you have to hold on to get your one month's severeance pay, a larger pension payout, and half your flight (for some of us, the flight is like $1500, especially if you just wanted to pick up and make a midnight run), which affects how much you actually wind up saving.

If you do leave, you need to make sure you have enough money to take care of yourself as you look for a job in your home country, and since what you set out to do was pay bills, you want to keep up with them, so you have to shell out money for that...

So, you're shelling out half you income to pay off your debt, you spend 25% of it to live here, and you save the other 25% -- but how will you be able to get home and support yourself, with that little bit of savings?

Until you're towards the end of your contract, you probably can't.

Other sh*t we should have thought of:
The industry is completely unregulated! All you have to do is have a passport from one of 6 countries, which means, literally, they will hire anyone off the street. No one is patrolling hokwon owners, fellow teachers, and even the public schools (and GEPIK has gotten an "F" rating for it's program). There are rampant labor violations, and Koreans love "verbal agreements" so that they can screw you over, if you ever ask for your rights to be protected. Your coworkers have wildly varied levels of experience and competency; your boss may be somone who has never graduated from college, telling you how to teach.

There is no union. The labor board is only there to help you AFTER you've already been screwed.

Add to it the lack of culture, the racism, and the pollution, and you realize that you shouldn't have come to Korea -- only it's too late.

[OneWayTraffic]

That's nice. Been here six years, paid off my rather large debt in 4, now twice as much in the black as I was in the red before. Plenty of good businesses here to work for, and plenty of decent opportunities for those that have paid their dues.

[saw6436]

My guess is you probably couldn't "make-it" back home either.

[cwaddell]

I send home half my pay to cover debts. I like my job, and it is very stable. Seems pretty simple. As for the lack of culture, the racism and pollution, I think all three points could be eradicated by possibly getting out more and exploring.

And, yes, I know all about Korea "borrowing" it's culture from China and Japan etc. It may have a melting pot of Asian culture, but it's still it's own culture nonetheless, and it can be extremely interesting.

There is no pollution on the top of Seorak-san. You could be up there every weekend, no problem.

The majority of Korean people are kind and generous. If the extent of racism means I get "Hello-ed" to death by kids, or given some service Kiwi fruit for being foreign, I'm not going to crawl underneath my covers and sob.

I'm sorry if you have had a poor experience here, but it's undoubtedly a good move to save money, and that was one of my lowest priorities. Even the hardest weekend boozer can easily send 1mil home, and if your job gets unbearable, tough it out for a while, take your bonus, and search for a better one.

[Mix1]

It's fairly easy to save money here if you are careful. Plus, your apartment is usually paid for! Financially speaking, Korea ain't all that bad!

[jinju]

Been here 5. Have 170,000 grand US in cash without any debt. Id say it has been a rather good move for me.

[whatever]

For the love of god, how many more times will someone portray the rent part of our compensation as though it was a gift?

[daz1979]

Quite a rant. There's always two sides to every coin though.

In my experience.My boss is an English graduate and certainly more qualified to teach than I am, yet he never tells me what to teach, he just leaves me to do as I please. As long as I don't play games all day he's happy.

I am also managing to save quite nicely and by the end of my contract this year I will have paid off �3000/$6000 of debt and socked away approximately a further �5500/$11,000, which I'm quite happy with. Next year I will aim for �9,000 - 10,000/ $18,000 - $20,000 in the bank.

I appreciate that if you do a runner within the first month or two, then you will pay for it out of your own pocket; however, you don't have to run home you could get another job very easily providing you get a release letter.

I also agree that the industry should be regulated; however, I think everyone would agree on that point, besides those with fake degrees.

Sory to hear your not a happy chap, but, some of us do quite nicely out here.

[twg]

[indytrucks]

Normally, I'd have something to say, but I just can't be bothered anymore.

OP, sorry your experience here has been so sour. Best of luck in the future.

[Treefarmer]

i can see where the OP is coming from, you think you are getting a good deal, but it's not really that good. Some people seem to come here and make a shitload, but most people i've met save a few thousand and live in crappy one room apartments for a year with the choice of living in one of the most polluted cities on the planet, or living somewhere where there are no concerts or decent club nights, ever

[Yu_Bum_suk]

Korea was a real set-up for me, too. It set me up with a job I like, a lifestyle I can handle, and lots of opportunities to take cool holidays to cool places.

[indytrucks]

[jinju]

[jinju]