Korean Job Discussion Forums

[misoman]

Hey all,

I'm in a bit of a predicament. I have applied to eslplanet, reachtoteach, and park english and every recruiter has just stopped contacting me. I feel like I have the plague! I am looking for a respectable hogwon and would be able to start early march. I was wondering if you guys had any tips or leads you could pass on to a noobie?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Miso

[Insidejohnmalkovich]

The private English schools for which you are seeking to teach all begin their new semester in March, so there should be no shortage of positions for which to apply.

You can also post your resume on Dave's ESL as well as respond directly to job postings in the appropriate forums. Worked very quickly for me.

But is there any reason why you might not be an ideal applicant? Is English not your first language (or does your real name make people think that, for example Harry Lee)? Are you over forty? Do you have many piercings or are you obese? There are many reasons to choose one candidate over another.

Of course once you get an interview, there is one sure-fire way to overcome all objections: I promise to work hard and never complain about working hard. Work ethic trumps everything for any employer.

[Mdvl_lady50]

Hi Miso,

I contacted four recruiters and one uni. I was offered jobs out of the three recruiters within two days after going through the telephone job interviews. The one I accepted I actually went through two interviews, and I saw that as a sign of professionalism. Two different people interviewed me, basically asking me the same questions (could be Korean paranoia as well, but I looked on the bright side:)

I am the poster girl I think of this site who is well over the age of 40. Actually, am in my later 50's (sob). I was incredibly nervous at first thinking no one would ever hire me. Because I do teach ESL (even though it's just long term sub assignments in Arizona), and have a valid state teaching credential (like how good is that in Korea -- not very). I did get my B.A. at a very well accredited California university, UC Berkeley, majoring in Asian Studies - but that was when the dinosaurs roamed:) I also have a rudimentary speaking level in Mandarin Chinese - again how useful is that in Korea?

What I did stress in my phone interviews was my willingness to be open to new cultures, etc. I also did (actually my younger daughter set it up for me) a personal web page, including the best photo I could dig up, resume, teaching philosophy and "Why I want to teach in Korea?" paragraph.

I think if you do the latter, you might be surprised with good results. Also stress any volunteer work you've done with kids, etc.

And as one poster mentioned, IMHO appearance does pay off. I'm relative lucky in that obesity is not my problem, but I will have to start wearing make-up. I hate it, but whatever. I also have the blonde haired/blue eye thing working. Again, it's incredibly superficial.

Good luck.

[moosehead]

[dimnd]

Hi all to those in the same age and the "willingness" to adapt to their culture in the interviews.

[VanIslander]

[moosehead]

[Draz]

[misoman]

Hey! Thank you all for the tips!

I don't know why I would be a bad candidate:

I am 26, brown hair blue eyes, I am overweight (actual medical reason/problem) I have a BS in Sociology, have been in Korea for the last 3 months, I have been studying the language, I like to work hard at what I love, I do have some medical problems and am legally blind but I learned to not mention my eyes!

I do have little to no work experience, but I don't see that as much of a strike against me.

I just don't know!!!

Thx!

Miso

[VanIslander]

[Draz]

[ontheway]

[misoman]

[CPJ]

I think you're setting yourself up for trouble in the future.

If some school does hire you and then finds out these things about you after you arrive in Korea, they're going to hate you. They're going to feel like you've lied to them and will probably fire you without pay within the first month. It would be like if your school didn't mention anything about the apartment you were going to be living in, and then when you arrived, you find out that there are 2 other people living there as well. I'm sure you'd be leaving pretty soon.

I've taught in Korea for many years and worked as a head teacher as well. Maybe it wasn't politically correct but I hired teachers based on looks to a certain degree. Obviously, I wanted to hire good teachers first but when you have 10 or 20 people applying and they all have similar qualifications, then I'm going to be basing some of my decision on looks. The same goes for being overweight. It's a business and the foreign teachers are very important in getting students to enroll. No school wants to hire ugly or fat teachers.

And why do you want to go through that trouble? And I'm even not sure you would pass the medical exam to get your alien registration card.

[misoman]