Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Clutch Cargo]

Saw this in K. H today:

Copy editors wanted for Korea Herald Business desk (Seoul)
Need: college degree; Native Eng speaker; Exp. in journalism -prefer exp in business news
Start end Nov
Sun-Fri
Send cover letter+resume to [email protected]

I've no vested interest in passing this on but it's a job in Korea and may be suited to some of us here who didn't catch the paper today.

[kimcheeking]

I've seen the ad before 6 days/week for a low salary and almost no vacation. I used to work at the KH hogwan in Myoung-dong and talked to one of the editors there, it's a crappy job. Probably the reason that it is advertised at least twice a year.

[UnJef]

What's a "low salary" and what's "almost no vacation"?

Relative to what? Typical hagwan job? Typical Korean job?

[Squid]

I applied for one at the K-Times a while ago and was beaten out by a guy with some mag-editing experience. I think he left about 2 months afterward.
I think now it was a blessing in disguise, as the salary, though seemingly attractive at around 2m per month was for a constant 6-day week.
Also vacations were described as at the discretion of the management, a big warning sign.
All in all as a career move it would probably be interesting to do if you're not happy teaching. But if you've been here a while and looked hard for better teaching positions it really doesn't stack up well against what's available.

Squid

[hellofaniceguy]

The first that should clue you in that the job is not that great is that it's a korean business. Period. We all know that the majority of korean business owners suck. Companies that treat their employees right DO NOT have to advertise for help. The best run businesses in the world do not advertise "help wanted ads." Friends, current workers, past workers will always recommend the place. I don't know of any korean business that employees recommend except maybe a few.

[Phoenix]

Pay is 1,800,000 with NO housing provided or no housing allowance.

6 days a week, is it worth it? NO.

[Squid]

Once you opt out of EFL here housing, or allowances for housing, are not the norm. These amounts are included in your base salary.
Yes, the pay is ungenerous. Caution to the OP.

I take exception to the "All Korean employers are no good" post, simply because they're not. Good, bad and ugly... just like everywhere- take your pick. But to say all bad?... nonsense.

[Mashimaro]

[katydid]

Have you seen their newspaper? The jumps are all wrong. (They say the story continues on page 2. More often than not, you have to go to page 5 for it.) Not only that, sometimes the part of the story jumped to another page is only a paragraph long. It looks bad.
I have seen picture captions 4 lines long.
I have seen articles taken from wire services that just seem to stop in the middle, or in the case of sports, not give a player's full name when he is mentioned.
These are just some small nit-picky things, but come on, you can not use the tired "But this is how things are done in Korea." It just looks like they are producing a paper that they know no one will read.
I really wanted to work with these guys too. Have had 3 or 4 years newspapering experience. Thought I could gain some experience and give these guys a hand. My resume went into a big black hole, never to be heard about again.
Yeah, consider the high turnpover rate and ask why. Also ask yourself, well, does anyone know or care about the Korea Herald in my home country? That might also play a key part in terms of future employment.

[Clutch Cargo]