Korean Job Discussion Forums

[skeeterses]

For those who are here in Korea temporarily, what plans to you have when you return to Canada or America or your original country? I personally am not planning to make a career out of ESL. When I go back to America, I hope to go to trade school and have a financially stable job in America afterwards. If possible, I plan to live near a big city so I can get in touch with the Korean community over there and work towards getting fluent in Korean.

[VanIslander]

On days like this I don't believe in the afterlife.

[twg]

[Easter Clark]

[mindmetoo]

Said it before I'll say it again:

- teaching ability
- ability to write lessons
- technical savvy

This is great stuff for an entry level job as a technical trainer. Check out monster.com or monster.ca. Basically, work for a hardware/software company. You visit client sites. You teach them how to use your company's voice mail or photocopier or whatever.

You make connections. You get promotions and better job offers. You're good as gold.

[Bibbitybop]

You keep teaching, possibly different subjects. Or you run a pyramid scheme and get out quick.

[lastat06513]

crack dealer can be an option to some.....who knows.......

Here some others you can look into:

- pimp
- Thug
- Bagger at a grocery store
- data entry specialist
- human trafficker
- drug trafficker
- panhandler
- security guard
- ESL teacher in your homeland
- Bouncer
- Dishwasher
- office worker
- telemarketer
- phone sex operator
- receptionist
- secretary
- Stripper*
- nanny
- cameraman for adult films
- adult film star
- animal handler for a zoo
- Health club trainer
- jizzmopper
- Playboy bunny (for the ladies)
- Chipendale dancer (for the men)
- Government or civil service employee


The options are limitless, it all depend on your imagination.



*= One of the students in my Oxford Seminar TESOL certificate class was a stripper at a local bar. She finished her studies with a BA in English Lit. and wanted to see the world with her boyfriend........

[sojourner1]

Your last listing of government worker is probably the best job offering good pay, security, and benefits, but these jobs take a long time to land and are very difficult to come by.

[lastat06513]

I think it depands on where you live that determines if a certain job (either on my list or not....... ) is difficult to get or not.......but I think "some" of the jobs on my list are alittle easier to get than others.........

[skeeterses]

The reason that I posted the question was partly because I have to be honest about my own teaching abilities. I do like teaching on a part time basis because it allows me to get by while I have time to study Korean intensively. The problem is that it's not going to allow me to get ahead financially, and I have reasons to believe that the ESL Hagwon Industry is not going to last indefinately at the present scale that it is. I've already decided not to pursue full-time teaching.

Right now, I believe that the Korean system is pushing way too many students to learn English, which is why they're bringing in a lot of unqualified teachers who don't quite have the people skills for teaching. Based on my own teaching experience, I could teach some other subjects like my own knowledge of Korean and my own knowledge of Computers (I do have a Computer Science Degree). When I'm seeing young kids go to hagwons at 8 or 9 in the Evening several times a week to study English, I'm seeing part of their childhood get squandered on something that they no love for. We didn't have to make those kinds of sacrifices as children but we still got our college degrees and our jobs in Korea.

I know that the Korean public schools are not perfect, but having kids spend more time in the classroom is not the answer. And many of the kids who don't have a love for English, they could be using that time more productively learning other useful things like Chinese or fixing cars. With the Hagwon market being saturated as it is, I believe it would be more economical for me to have skills besides teaching English. Yes I do have a Computer Science Degree, but to make any money in Computers, you either have to keep your credentials current, or go to Rent-A-Coder.com and do other people's C++ homework at $2/hr. At trade school back in America, I'm not sure if I'll try to upgrade my Computer credentials or learn something different like plumbing or auto repair.

[boatofcar]

I'm going to go to grad school and major in Library and Information Science.

[blaseblasphemener]

I heard bus drivers are hiring in Calgary. Starting pay is over $20/hour, union job.

Or you could work at Tim Horton's for $15/hour.

The options are truly limitless.