Korean Job Discussion Forums

[brandonlk]

Just wanted to know if any one else was having problems finding a teaching position in Korea? I have been looking since the end of Aug and have had no luck. I am using numerous recruiters. Perhaps it is because I don't have teaching experience, but I still thought it would be a little easier than it has been. Any ideas or your thought are appreciated.

[winterfall]

Not hiring season. End of Aug was when the Public schools all got their new teachers. If you need a job now, you can apply for some of the open spots in the middle of the yr or sign up with a hagwon.

[brandonlk]

I knew of the Pub School issue but I have also been open to Hagwons and just not having luck. Thanks for your comments

[morrisonhotel]

End of August? Nothing. Come back in a couple of months. It's taken me 3.5 months to finally send my documents out to get a visa processed.

[Raeddie]

I have been searching for 2 months without finding a suitable job in Seoul that is not kindergarten.

[asmith]

[jiberish]

If you can't get a job in Seoul then just go out of seoul. Living in Seoul isn't everything. There are alot of crap places in Seoul that are on crappy train lines which don't make it any easier to get to the good places.

There are some ok satalite cities out of Seoul which are more than fine. Also alot of these places will have express busses to some Seoul hotspots. These busses are pretty damn good too. They come like every 15 minutes and it only takes about 30 minutes to get there.

HOWEVER one thing I would recommend is find out exactly where the school is. Because recruiters will often tell lies about this. Giving you a general area rather than a location. For example they will say the job is in Incheon. Incheon is a biiiiig area and there are plenty of good and bad places. Find out where it is, maybe google earth it and see how built up the area is.

Im just saying this because I fell for this on my job and I ended up in a tiny town. I could still get to seoul easily from the busses. But week days were boring.

[thekid99]

[classydame]

My husband and I are having trouble finding positions and we are open to anywhere in Gyeonggi-do and are even willing to do kindy. We are only getting offers for schools in small towns in the middle of nowhere. All you can do is keep trying, eh?

[English Matt]

[youtuber]

Don't spend too much effort finding a job in Korea. It should be easy. You should be spending the majority of your time deciding what life you will build in your home country.

Teaching in Korea is putting your life on hold and is basically a waste of time.

[son of coco]

Yeah I've found the same thing, but I am looking for a job specifically in Ulsan. I don't have an American accent though and have been here for a year (which I understand means I could be 'trouble'...as I understand what we're entitled to). Will probably just stay at my public school in Masan now for the next year, as long as they'll have me, as it's easier and guarantees me more money than a move to a potentially dodgy hagwon in Ulsan.

I also want an airfare paid, and that probably wouldn't happen if I am already in Korea looking for work.

If the public school job can be renewed now then I get two weeks of paid vacation thrown in the mix and the pension. Add a guaranteed airfare and extra lessons in the summer and winter vacation and that's about $5000 more.

At this end of this contract I'm going home and won't be teaching in Korea again so I don't want to spend ages looking for a job that might end up being dodgy.

[Saskatoongirl]

I think word of mouth is the easiest way if you can find someone you konw whose worked in Korea or still working there, many people have a lead hear or there to jobs that might not even be advertized. I got mine totaly out of the blue.

[Whitey Otez]

After all the time I've been here, there is still a lot of pain in the process. I figured I could just sort of float my name out there and get hired by any of the "good" places, but that's just never going to be how it works here.

You'll go from trying to work for a wonderful place to simply accepting some last-minute gig that expects you to hop on a plane and start the second you land. The worst part is when your contract is finalized, the next day you'll get the call from the place you wanted to work. Then in a few months, your buddies will all move on to better gigs. And that's about the time your boss decides to crack the whip and implement some policy guaranteed to give you hives. You get ready to go home or to an island beach, rest up, rethink your plans, and do it all over again. You start by targeting those wonderful Utopian places your buddies brag about...

[nero]