Korean Job Discussion Forums

[trachys]

What do you make sure that friends are aware of BEFORE they decide to live/work in Korea?

What do you wish someone had told you before YOU came?

[ciccone_youth]

That the school was always going to be full of last-minute "surprises".

[eamo]

If you pick a hagwon with a 30 hours teaching requirement per week, then you'll be in for a long drudge of working for 50 weeks of the year. ECC Seongnam. 8 Years ago. They worked my ass off!!

[RACETRAITOR]

What I tell other people:
-expect that everything you eat or drink has at least trace quantities of meat or some kind of animal byproduct
-Christianity is the dominant religion and you will get a lot of people trying to convert you
-alcohol is cheap and you can drink anywhere you want

[marlow]

There is a good chance the apartment will be small and crappy.

[Korussian]

Frankly, the following is quite negative, but I wish I'd really known and assimilated it before I came to Korea the first time. It might've kept me from leaving and returning only later, so I'm really writing this to my past self:

1) "Professionalism" often has a different meaning in Korea... one that, like all things in Asia, has more to do with appearing professional rather than being professional.

Offices full of adults can function much like high school yearbook offices, except that the editor of the yearbook has a calcified mindset, whether he has been entrenched for 20 years or 4 months. He will only go along with a good idea if it:

a) Makes him look good
[and]
b) There is no possible hint of a sliver of a chance that anyone related or not to the project will complain in any minor, including a snippy email or web page comment
[and]
c) He can take credit if it works and blame it on you if it doesn't

Don't be surprised if, when you call a business meeting, no one bothers to show up, they reschedule on you 3 times, they realize that you are asking for 30 minutes of their time but they offer you 8, and they eat sweet potato and braid each other's hair while you present. They also laugh at you between sentences for trying to communicate.

2) You are not a professional. No, stop right there telling me about how good your are at assimilating different office cultures and how much you've been reading about how to get things done in Asian office environments. You are not a professional.

You are just an English talking machine. No matter what you know, what qualifications you have, how many languages you can speak or program in, etc. You are an English talking machine, and try to be something other than that at your own peril.

[Straphanger]

[Straphanger]

[VanIslander]

[ciccone_youth]

Korussian explains perfectly what goes on in the Korean workplace.

[Straphanger]

[VanIslander]

[KYC]

[BS.Dos.]

That your pay check might be worth around 25% less than you thought it would when you factor in currency fluctuations.

[ciccone_youth]