Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ChrisHannah]

So we have an issue. My girlfriend and I have been desperately trying to find couple positions over in Korea. Well, to put it shortly, it's been hell. Recruiters drop out never to be heard from again right after saying that a school is interested in us. Directors change their minds. After 3 months of searching we've come away with basically nothing. And now we finally have a contract offered to us, which we think is alright, but have some reservations.

You see the recruiter won't even send the negotiating points I made in the contract because she says the school will immediately move on. Basically we were hoping to close some of the gaps that K-directors try to use to take advantage of teachers. She's been quite rude and pushy, but after much deliberation we decided to go with the job, mainly because the current couple said some descent things about it. You can see our post on the contract thread pg 139. We told her this past Thursday evening and said we would send the contract out Friday.

Well sometime between Thursday and Friday (Korea day time) a school director emailed and said he would be interested in speaking with us. This director is a native-English speaker who got fed up with Korean management and started his own school. He said he typically doesn't hire couples but he liked us and our background and wanted to talk to us over the weekend. So to give this a shot, we put off mailing our docs by one day, giving us the weekend. Well I gave all the possible times to telephone us but I haven't heard back since. It's now Monday morning in K-time, making this our last chance, so to speak.

This creates a conundrum for us.

I know that by putting off sending the docs even one more day, the recruiter will drop us. But if we send them off, we will 100% certainly miss this other opportunity (that may or may not exist). Of course the parable is a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, but if we are still debating when the second option offers truly no guarantee, doesn't that say something about our true feelings toward the contract we do have? Our main concern is that because we are a couple, the jobs are scarce...

So the real question is: is a pigeon in the hand worth a sparrow in the bush?

[blonde researcher]

To add another saying ." decent jobs for couples are a bit like 'hens' teeth' in Korea right now, especially since EPIK and SMOE and GEPIK have set tighter non housing guidelines for couples
.
There are however always a good number of hagwons who will hire couples mainly so that they don't have to provide 2 apartments or have double the cost.

Everything will depend on how over cautious you both are on the things you are wanting to fit, and how flexible you may have to be.