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Black Males Wanting to Teach in South Korea Beware

If you are a black male and you want to work for CDI � also known as Chungdahm Institute, Chungdahm Learning, and various other aliases � in South Korea, please beware. I had been offered an English teaching position in Seoul. The application process had gone fairly well, and the recruiting company � Aclipse, out of Boston � knew exactly what I looked like, as you have to submit a picture with the application. Once I arrived in Seoul for training, things changed.

During the mock teaching process, I was not the best, but I was not the worst either. Nevertheless, I was the one asked to leave. According to them, �I was not mock teaching the way they wanted me to.� When I shared what happened with the other trainees, I was surprised of their response. And I quote, �It is not the way you teach...clearly you were not the worst...It is the color of your skin.� Did I mention I was the only black male in the class? Oh yeah! I was!

Shortly thereafter, I learned from speaking with my roommate that the only black male in his training class was asked to leave as well. Coincidence? I don't really know. I do know I have spent five months preparing for this job, only to be told �thanks, but no thanks� in the end. Not only time has been spent, but a great deal of money as well. Being refunded for the money spent in this process would be great, but my ultimate goal; however, is to warn future Black Male applicants � especially if you are of a darker hue � that South Korea may be a waste of your time and money.

[Murakano]

sorry to hear of your experiences but don`t tarnish everyone with the same brush.

I work for SMOE/public school and there were quite a number of African Americans at orientation and have been working here on their 2nd and even 3rd contracts. But hagwons I know can be a different matter.In the last 2-3 years I have certainly seen more African American teachers here compared to before.

CDI discriminatory? They actually prefer F4 gyopos as much as/more than whiteys from what I have seen and heard.

My advice is go for public school. You have people from all races/shapes/colors there and not much/if any discriminatory policy.

[andrewchon]

How was this 'mock' teaching done? Do the other trainees get watch/participate and so on?

[i_teach_esl]

i agree with Murakano. dont dismiss soko altogether, lots of us are here. im sorry cdi didnt work out, but it's not the only gig in town, if youre still interested, please dont give up^^

facebook group for black folks in korea:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=25747883752&ref=ts

[entity]

That's f**k*d up. Hopefully you won't have that trouble further down the line, if, indeed, you decide to stay.

[cdninkorea]

There are jobs available for black people in Korea; Wall Street Institute (WSI) is one example. As someone else said, public school jobs are another.

[earthbound14]

you should be able to find another job, but being black isn't what many schools are looking for. But things are changing. When I first came here there were 0 people of ethnicity other than Korean or Euro.

Koreans openly called South East Asians dark skinned barbarians, which doesn't make sense considering how dark some Korean farmers are (but explains why Koreans cover every patch of skin while being out doors - the older generation anyway).

They wouldn't even hire over seas Koreans for teaching jobs.

Now more and more schools are doing this and with all the public school jobs (and less worry about losing students - cause they aren't paying) there is more of a mix.

Recently an anti racism law was written. Perhaps you can find other teachers treated unfairly and look for some kind of legal action.

If not, head to a public school or smaller academy.

[halfmanhalfbiscuit]

OTOH they're often not that keen on non-North Americans either.

It helps if you don't interview (training is an extended interview) with fekking idiots. This however is an occupational hazard in Korea.

[lifeinkorea]

It's the token black approach. Probably the ratio is 1 black per group of white folks, so notice how you said one black in each class instead of 2 in one and maybe the other no black person?

That's so they can "train" you and then disqualify you both without it seeming racist. Imgaine if they had 50/50 and didn't hire any blacks. That would be too blatent, so this is how they handle it.

I am sorry for this and wish you were being treated more fairly. I suggest anyone who is coming to Asia for the first time to get a job secured without training, without a chance to be disqualified. It's not to do with race. It could be because you are right out of college, and they don't know if they have people with more degrees or experience.

Try to work your way up with a few years of experience, then when you go to these CDI like places (seedy? ) it will be even harder for them to say no. That would be a nice smack in their face wouldn't it?

[byrddogs]

Sorry to hear about that as well OP.

[mcviking]

OP I think it has less to do with your skin color and more to do with CDI is a bunch of MOD EDITs. Be very wary of this company as a former employee I will say that CDI definately does some snakey things.

[Goon-Yang]

White or black, the OP is better off not working at CDI or any other chain school. Hopefully he can get a public school gig and avoid hakwons all together.

[Trevor]

Are you still in South Korea? Can you interview now, while you are here?

I interviewed in person for my first year contract and it was a very wise decision. I found a fantastic school that would not have hired me over the internet. I hope you can turn things around and find another job soon. Lots and lots of people say CDI is not so hot, anyway. Shrug it off and find something better.

[Ilsanman]

Last time I mentioned something like this, I was told I didn't know anything, and I wasn't black, so I had no right to talk about it.

[backhand]