Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Satchel Paige]

NYC gal,

this employable/unemployable shit is all in your mind. Give it up and move on with your life.

Satchel Paige

[DorkothyParker]

I came for the cheap shoes and the street food tbh.

I had an *okay* entry-level job from when I was in Uni (just graduated this past spring) and could have moved my way up in the company if I was motivated. But I wasn't because it was a bit too business/economics oriented for my tastes.

My idealistic mind thinks teaching is like giving a gift. I feel more emotionally gratified teaching kids songs than selling money market accounts to small businesses.
And did I mention the shoes?

[Satchel Paige]

So you must like 22 or something? Are you also a hot blonde with big hooters? You must have snapped up a job in minutes.

[Lunar Groove Gardener]

Man, the business of songs for kids in cheap shoes eating street food in the market is money.

[DorkothyParker]

I am 26, married, and (as my kids tell me) "just little bit fat."

I guess with me it's not about the money (although back home I was bleeding on my single income/2 person household). I like life in whatever form it takes. Seriously though, if I am happy and the kids are learning English at an age appropriate rate and level, who can judge what my success is?

I swear "silly ditz who only cares about food, clothes and make-up" is just a part of me. It's the part that laughs when others are too serious to live in the moment and appreciate their existence in the now.

[Steelrails]

Well I for one will admit that I had minimal employability back home. There should be no shame in admitting it. Making 9 an hour and worrying about armed robbery every night was not exactly a great working experience. The job looked like it paid well and had upward potential for income (those that say it doesn't feel that they should be promoted for just being there, sorry but if you want to get paid more you have to be more entrepreneurial). I find the salary and benefits sufficient without being overly extravagant.

But I also came here to explore my ethnic background and all that. I wanted to see something new, and not just see it, but live it. If I didn't get to Korea now, I might not have gotten a chance.

I also had had some small experience doing e-mail based editing for a hagwon and private tutoring Korean kids back home and I enjoyed it. I like working around kids, I like being able to go play basketball with them during recess or to sit down and do some coloring together.

I think people who are ashamed to admit that they in fact, did come over here because their prospects back home (economic or amorous) were grim should not try to deny that, but embrace that. We all know the inner truth, if we can't admit it then we lie to ourselves and that is always destructive in the long run.

I also think people who need to rip on people coming over here because they struggled to get a job or couldn't get laid need to chill out and not be so judgmental.

At the same time those who are here just for a paycheck should refrain from mercenary business practices, those who don't like kids shouldn't whine and moan about having to deal with kids. What did you expect? I also find that most of the people who put down Korea in order to make themselves feel better are the types that "Are trapped here" or came in with unrealistic expectations. As for Koreans having that perception of us, I think it is kinda annoying, because there are MANY exceptions, but hey, let's be real and admit that at least 50% of us are here because things weren't too promising back home.

[NYC_Gal]

[morrisonhotel]

[morrisonhotel]

[sigmundsmith]

I was working in London earning on average over 65 000 pounds and moving up. Was offered a position with a new company where I could earn more but felt that working 80 hours a week and the cost and lifestyle of London was no longer for me.

So was planning on going to Australia to pursue a Masters degree.

But decided to take a year off and come to Korea. That was four years ago.

Am doing my masters degree now and enjoy my less hectic lifestyle in Korea.

Yes, with current situations in the world economy causing people to seek employment outside their home country, but this is not unusual for western people. This phenomena has been happening for decades.

Unfortunately, when you have a cultural/ethnic group react negatively to others not of their background, they will find and state any reason (whether true or untrue) to paint them in bad light.

Things like they are not employable in their own country, they are drug users, rapist etc.

Unfortunately, those attitudes are hard (if not impossible) to change.

But non-koreans a scrutinized very closely. Our behavior and mannerism and what we do in this culture.

How one holds themselves and conducts their behavior in public determines what Koreans will think and form an opinion of them.

If you dress very casually (scruffy) when you go out - this is completely your decision and your right - Koreans frown upon this. And we all know why.

If you are drunk and loud and rude, Koreans will frown upon this. And we all know that Koreans can every bit as loud and rude when they are drunk.

But this is their country.

I have always had the attitude of not giving my host country and people any reason to form further negative opinions of me. That doesn't mean I bend to their whimes but try to fly under their radar so to speak.

I have found that my time here is more enjoyable and Koreans are more accepting of me.

Many may disagree with what I have said and thats OK. But I vary rarely post negative topics on this site as I am quite happy whith my lifestyle.

[frankly speaking]

I still don't understand why people talk about this subject. First of all being in the corporate world and making a lot of money has no bearing on how effective someone is in the classroom. I think that it would be more relevant to ask who is qualified to teach in their own country. Although there are different approaches to classroom teaching in your own country, there is more relevance to the skills than being some office working making 50K a year.

Also most schools in Korea prefer younger people who just finished University. Not many people have a lot of work experience when they just finished school.

[Satchel Paige]

[mc_jc]

OP. my question to you is; Why worry about what a certain segment of the population think of the job?
No matter what kind of job a person has, there will always be a section of the population who will look down at it.

Another question; Why concern yourself with coming to Korea if you are so worried about what people think of teachers here?
You can go to many other places where teachers are not looked down upon as much as you think they are in Korea.

The common misconception is that Korea pays the most to their foreign ESL/EFL teachers, but that is not the truth. There are many other places that pay as much as schools in Korea but have a lower cost of living, meaning you can save probably more than you would in Korea.

If you are really worried about status, look for a non-teaching job in the US that would assign you in Korea.

[TheUrbanMyth]

[SL8R]

I think the foreign teachers that say everyone here is unemployable back ome are just insecure about their own prospects. It is such a broad statement and reeks of insecurity and a bit of meanness I think.

As to why some Koreans make the same assuptions, I think it is just because of what they read and hear in their own media and because a great number of Korean men would never leave Korea if they could get what they see as a 'good' job. That is the typical nine to five, 50 hours a week salaryman type job with a reasonable company.