Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Louie]

Right now, things don't seem very well economically.
Yet, I think alot of people who remember the "IMF" days will tell you that you would be better off sticking it out rather than jumping ship.

If the KW rises, more and more teachers leave, that would leave you with more opportunities to make more money. And the more you put in the bank, once the exchange rate goes up, you would reap the rewards.


So, I would say, stick it out, keep everything in Won and have a nice day

[Ramen]

[Louie]

No, just someone who was there in '97-98

[Louie]

The concept of this post is to tell people that when the economy faulters, Koreans tend to invest more in their qualifications to make themselves even more marketable.

Itaewonguy made a point in another post that Korean wages far outstrip those of foreigners who have worked in Korea for 4-5 years. He mentioned that with them getting raises every year or so, they are able to afford 500 million won homes and nice cars......even in tough economic times like these.....

So, if they can afford luxury items, they should be able to afford your services as a teacher....and you would have no problem making money, even in a global recession......

I remember back 2001, there was a recession in the US, but I was socking away 5 million won, on average.....

And many teachers that weathered the IMF crisis remember the days when people were so hard up to learn English that they were willing to pay 100,000 Won an hour per private lesson (don't lecture me about the illegality of it, because I know many of you out there ARE doing it)......the key is to keep it in KW until the currency exchange market picks up again and watch your savings skyrocket........

[broken76]

The currency is going to fluctuate for the near future as everyone tries to play the market. Eventually it'll go back to a standard rate. If you can delay sending money home at times then it's not too bad of a time to come to Korea.
Education is something that doesn't really see a hit in recessions. The jobs will still be here while jobs back home are pretty much going down the drain. If you have a good job back home then you most likely wouldn't be considering Korea anyways.
As for raises if you stay at the same school chances are you will see a raise of 100,000 won per year. This actually matches up pretty well to raises back in the US. Now if you change jobs then chances are you won't see all of your years of experience matter too much unless you're a good job hunter.
In the long run if you're thinking about ESL teaching as a career then you shouldn't be planning about having a high income. It's a position that is fairly comfortable for what it is and compared to what an average Korean grad would be making you are making more then them by a pretty fair margin.

[withnail]

Should be ok as long as your day to day living costs don't go up as well. In that event it would be time to worry. That said my students offered my several examples of commonly bought foodstuffs that have gone up from 200-300 won in the last few months and these are Korean goods...