Korean Job Discussion Forums

[NYC_Gal]

I don't think everyone is unemployable, and I've made a point of having my friend translate my CV into Korean. The last time my coteacher pulled the "I'm more experienced than you" silliness, I nodded so she could save face, then an hour later showed her my resume, pretending it had nothing to do with the situation. I asked her if she'd check the grammar and spelling for me. She doesn't pull that sh*te anymore.

It doesn't get to me. I was just curious if there was truth to it in the majority of cases.

[Sector7G]

[NYC_Gal]

[mc_jc]

OP, I get what you're saying now.

But think of it this way- right now, the employment prospects for someone graduating from a university in Korea is very dim at best. The reason is many senior positions are held onto until the person either dies or is forced out. The notches needed to promote someone are simply few.
If a person is laid off from a company, it could be weeks or months (and in some cases, years) before they find a suitable position that they feel matches or exceeds their previous employment.
Thats part of the bitter reality of the Korean job market.

Now look at the ESL field- the attrition rate is so high that many positions are open for the qualified person to fill. All a person needs is to match the qualifications the employer is looking for and they are hired- simple as that.

Despite what people say, the ESL field in Korea is a stable job market. Yes, it is a gamble in regards to receiving pay and benefits on time, but for every bad employer, there is a good one. And no matter if a person is fired or quits a certain job, there is always a position open for them somewhere else.
ESL teachers have a unique type of job security in Korea they Koreans don't have and many foreigners don't have back home.

And to say that foreigners are not employable back home is just a wild assumption.
I knew a guy who worked with me back when I was an ESL teacher in Mok-dong. He was a production assistant in California before he quit the business and came out to Korea to teach ESL. When we used to hang out, he would show me these photos of him with all these celebrities with whom he worked with on the sets of many movies.
Another person I knew was a woman who was a professor at Dartmouth who took a sabbatical to teach ESL in Korea.
Then there was a professor at one of the big universities in Seoul who also taught university courses online and made a killing doing it.

There are MANY reasons why people come to Korea to teach ESL, not necessarily because they have no job prospects.

[NYC_Gal]

[Steelrails]

Roll-call of the foreigners who are here who were working a crappy job back home with minimal prospects? It seems that everyone here is some sort of former exec or bigshot so I just want to know who the fellow B or C-level talent is in these parts, that would be more of a story.

Say it loud and say it proud!

[NYC_Gal]

[NYC_Gal]

[Satchel Paige]

[NYC_Gal]

[mc_jc]

I find it amazing that some people find it hard to believe that there are actually some who prefer to be in Korea for the change of pace instead of just coming here because they couldn't make ends meet back home.

There are some who do fall in that category, but to generalize that everyone is that way is a complete understatement. It is like how I generalize about Koreans being a certain way- I know not all are like the ones I mention here, but it is to prove a point that it is haphazard to make such blanket judgment calls.

This is MY story- I first came here in 1990 as a soldier in the US Army (considered a low-level job). PCSed from Korea and then ETSed from the Army in 1994- however, by then I had already obtained my BA from UMUC while attending classes at Cp. Casey. Went home and applied (then got approved) to Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs. Finished the program, but was not ready to enter the government sector yet, so I applied and got hired to teach ESL in Korea in 1997 (again- assumed to be a low-level position). Worked as a teacher from 1997 to 2003. In 2002, I started volunteering at the USO, where I got my basepass. During my time off from work, I went to Yongsan to apply for a position onbase. I got hired by the same agency I am now director of in 2003. I got promoted to my position in 2006.

Now if I weren't employable back home, how would I fair working for a US government job here?

Though I can't speak for all expats teaching here, but I believe a post-high school education does improve a person's job prospects, even in a sluggish economy.

[Fox]

[bucheon bum]

[cubanlord]

[NYC_Gal]