Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Missihippi]

After reading these forums all day for about 3 weeks (i work in a cubicle in the states, yes i have a lot of free time -- anyone seen Office Space?) I decided to register and post. I'm looking into jobs for March of 08' at a public school in the Seoul area. That being said, I'm looking forward to the posts directing me to the FAQ section and mindless argueing over ambiguous topics.

I can't wait to move into my tiny apartment, work for my crazy boss, get ignored by other foreigners, fall victem to racism and prejudice, and drink less-than-mediocre beer. But hey, it's gotta be better than what i'm doing now.

Cheers

[whatever]

Ooo! Can I be the first to point out your spelling, syntax and grammatical mistakes?

Welcome to the Korea.

[Missihippi]

[whatever]

Oh, I can...and I did.

Good luck.

[kingplaya4]

You're probably laughing real hard to all of that, but most of us who last here more than two contracts can tell you, you do have to watch out for yourself, especially financially here.

Please shoot yourself now if you're coming to Korea "to escape" a 40+k a year job, just because its in a cubicle. Teaching here isnt a picnic.

Some of the little kiddies can be nice and all (everyone once in a while a class of them is hell though). But when you get the middle schoolers, half at least don't want to talk at all, of course that doesn't they wont disrupt what you want to by talking to others punching them etc.

I try to engage them in group topics that their english level and their age should make at least for a short term interesting. I've tired a number of over group, two partner, anyway, they shoot them all down. I can see that their number one priority is to not attend the school, and number two when they cant have that is that they'll allow me to lecture them without bothering me too much, but if I go outside of that routein at all, they revolte.

Everyone's experiences with teaching is different, but most people seem to unanimously agree that Korean kids are a lot more energetic compared with other Asians.

Hard to compare with teaching back home, some things are better some things are worse. All in all I'd say If I had my druthers Id take my chances with a school shooting back home working in the public schools. Personally I just like a little respect if I can, but thats just me.

Anyway, I highly argue against leaving a higher paid paying job for a lower to go to a country that is known as so dull that I can't get my grandparents to visit, and they do like to travel.

[IncognitoHFX]

You have your university's logo as your avatar and you immediately begin sparring with other forumers over grammar and syntax. You look forward to participating in the ego debauchery that is Dave's and have already become superficially embittered by the country... despite not having arrived here yet.

I'll take this as a sign of things to come.

[braedn]

Good luck,

I'm pretty much in the same boat as you. I plan on beginning work in February, but decided to apply for a few positions about ten days ago. To my suprise, I received contract offers on every position I applied for within 5 days. Naturally, because the process was so easy, I went from excitement to nervousness and now I'm feeling a bit skeptical (oh sh!t is more accurate).

So I guess the good news is that finding a job appears to be easy as pie. Whether or not any of them are worth taking is the issue I'm having now

As an aside, is it common for the contract details to differ from the job advertisement? This happened with two contracts which listed different starting dates and work hours than the job posting listed.

*green*

[Missihippi]

@kingplaya4

It's only 35k/year which is only slightly more than a typical newbie job in Korea, except here i have car payment/insurance/apartment to pay for.

The challenge of teaching english in a foreign country has got to be more interesting than pushing paper in a cubicle.

@braedn

Where are you looking at going? PS or Hagwon? I'm sure the ad was a general posting that is more detailed by the contract, but as i've seen on here, some really really good folks are happy to review your contract. I plan on posting mine as soon as i lock down one (which i wouldn't expect till at least January for a March public school listing...am i wrong?)

Good luck to you

[Ya-ta Boy]

Welcome to the board...and to the exciting and fulfilling world of ESL teaching in Korea.

I think Missihippi has the right attitude: the value of a sense of humor cannot be overestimated. If you can't laugh at some oddness and inconveniences in life, you'll end up here among the whiners at Dave's when you're not drinking yourself senseless--and from the sounds of the Posting While Drunk thread, the two are not mutually exclusive.

I was only half joking when I said 'exciting and fulfilling'. A lot of the time it really is true. It can be a kick in the pants to live in a foreign culture, although like almost anything, it can have its downside from time to time. If you have any idea that teaching is something you might enjoy, then give it a chance. It can be very fulfilling. If it turns out teaching is not for you, well, none of us can do everything in life.

@braedn:
It's not uncommon for ads to hype a job. Look carefully at the contract, think about what you want in the contract, decide what is reasonable and ask for it. It is wise to have all agreements in writing. As you may have gathered, contracts are much more flexible here than at home which can be unnerving. It's a cultural difference that you have to deal with.

@Missihippi:
Today is the last day of October. Many contracts expire December 31. Schools will be discovering that a teacher will not be re-signing for 2008. November to March is a peak hiring time here (for public schools and universities). It's also a peak time for hogwons because school vacation time is their peak season. Some jobs actually do think ahead. Emphasis on 'some'.

PS: Be ready for a few schools to doubt your ability to teach because of a Southern accent. It happens.

Good luck to both of you.

[lastat06513]

If you go to Korea with the motivation to actually teach and learn to improve your skills along the way as well as be flexible with change (believe me, your prospective boss will make changes to you at a moment's notice- unlike the advance notice we get in the states when something changes), you will do very well in Korea.

What you will notice is that people here somehow want Koreans to notice them as being "different", yet they don't want them to point out these differences to them directly. Alot of men go to Korea because they are seen (or so they think) as being "exotic" (though that word can be used fairly loosely in terms).

As for your location, you come from Mississippi (I astound myself to be able to spell that correctly ), so you are used to seeing subtle signs of racism since you're from the south. I hope your experience will prepare you for some of the xenophobia you might experience in Korea. And if you don't experience it right away as some people do, some time down the line it will poke it's ugly head at you. If I am wrong- more power to you.

Also, always ask for a pay statement, as some employers don't do that and carefully examine each and every deduction- if you see something that seems wrong, there is a good chance that it is. Ask them about it (but not too much in a confrontational way), sometimes they will (and they will) try to cheat you.

If possible, when applying for a public school job, try to get the contract written bilingually and somehow make sure what is written in English matches what is written in Korean. Based on my experience with SMOE, they always provided a bilingual contract, as it was easy to interpret between the foreign teacher and the Korean boss. Also, no matter where you go, try to get the number to the nearest labor board so if any disputes arise, you can contact them right away if you find it difficult to negotiate with your boss.

Also, while in Korea- get out and enjoy life...
I met alot of teachers that just stayed in their rooms and didn't go anywhere or did anything in their sparetime except drink. If you are going to Seoul or any other one of the big cities, get on the subway and randomly pick a district and go there. If there is a bus stop, hop on a bus and take it to a place that catches your eye.

And learn the name of your district so if you get stuck someplace you can catch a taxi and take it home.

Also, learn the language- alot of the people here hate it or at least get frustrated because of the language barriers they encounter in Korea. Learn some simple phrases at first and then try to learn more- the longer you stay, the more necessary it will become to speak the language.

As for getting info about private teaching or tutoring jobs, I won't explain that here, you would have to PM me for more info on that.

I am not trying to scare you with what I wrote here, I just hope you are more prepared for what would be in store for you if you chose to go to Korea.

As with the rest of the people here, I also would like to wish you good luck if you choose to take the next step

[Missihippi]

[lastat06513]

[Ya-ta Boy]

[Missihippi]

[Ya-ta Boy]