Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ericminneapolis]

What is the job market like for a teacher, close to an MA in TEFL, for getting Univeristy Jobs?

[ABC KID]

[Ruraljuror]

Here's the deal...I know I am going to get slammed for this. The OP is going to make some snide remark about how he/she was "typing in a hurry" and imply he/she has far too important things to do to worry about how he/she communicates on a message board. Then a bunch of other people are going to post talking about how I'm a big *beep* for picking on him/her.

I know all of this, and yet I still have to point out:

That the funniest post thing I have read all day is someone looking for a job in higher education, who is close to a MA in TEFL, writing "Univeristy" in the subject of his/her post.

[butlerian]

Simple answer:

Get an MA (in something), get some experience teaching in Korea, and make a good CV/resume and cover letter. You will get a lot of interviews, guaranteed.

[ericminneapolis]

Lol! Um, was your comment not a snide remark? Of course I will respond:


All that babble to correct a spelling mistake? Good thing my experience is not connected to my spelling. But thanks for taking the time to point that out.

Hey, it's a good thing Second Language Acquisition and Instruction are minimally connected to spelling competency. In fact, the field is much more connected to Anthropology and Educational Psychology than it is to those who were "good in English" insofar as being decent spellers, or perhaps those who "majored in English."


Insofar as a university job, thank you to butlerian for the last advice. I am near completion of my MA in ESL and will have degree in hand when I finish my contract. By that time, I will have taught adults in Korea for a full year, plus some teaching experience in the US.


What I have found in my few weeks here is that there are some very decent teachers here . . . and many more not so good ones. What I have also found are many teachers without training in education, or TEFL training . . . and few with an advanced degree in any field.


So, when it is time to interview for a job, and I find myself being compared with the person who has a hard time handling a misspelled word . . . well, I like my odds and qualifications more. And seeing that I have actual qualifications to teach in the U.S. in multiple settings . . . well, perhaps I should be more careful when posting things on this website in that someone might "find out" who I am and end my career in education or something. Oh, and what is "post thing?" Is that like "Googling" something?


Thanks again for the feedback.

[rationality]

[iggyb]

I just finished my MA-Teaching (English) program yesterday here in the US.

I'll be certified to teach secondary school in the state, and I'll be certified in TESOL too due to previous course work as an undergraduate.

My BA is in English from a college ranked in the top 120 in the nation for undergraduate liberal arts -- and I have nice links to US News & World Report rankings for the school. I also took double the amount of lit. courses needed to graduate.

Plus, I did 1 year of a 2 year MA program in Eng. lit. where I co-taught freshman writing and tutored in the writing center.

And I taught in hakwons in Korea for over 4 years.

..........and I've applied for about 5 university teaching positions in Korea in the last two months....

and have only been contacted by one of them, and since they asked to set up an interview and I explained I am not in Korea, I haven't heard back from them.

.....When I first started looking for jobs in the Seoul area for adult hakwons or college gigs, I figured I'd have a fairly easy shot...

.....but then when applications didn't get any response ------ I started to think along the lines of the last comment above:

Maybe the managers aren't so keen to hire someone who has years of experience in Korea's ESL industry, because those people will no more about the labor law and job market and release letters and labor boards and other things related to being an expat in Korea in an industry notorious for its poor treatment of workers....???....

[rationality]

[Demophobe]