Korean Job Discussion Forums

Jane · Joined: 01 Feb 2003

I did salmon canning for two summers in Alaska.
100+ hours a week of work, 7 days a week, for two months. Starts after July 4th usually, until late August. Hard, cold, dirty, smelly work.

Then, if you're not wiped by then, you can do crab processing in Akutane or St.Paul up in northern Alaska, etc. Tougher work than the canneries in southern Alaska.

If you want to get on a boat, you have to get to know the captains, as they choose their own crews. Usually you need to know someone in the business.

If you want to know more about employment at the processing facilities, check out the Alaskan food processors through a Google search.

SW · Joined: 08 Sep 2009 Location: Korea

AsiaESLbound · Joined: 07 Jan 2010 Location: Truck Stop Missouri

.38 Special · Joined: 08 Jul 2009 Location: Pennsylvania

The Peace Corps will pay you a readjustment bonus, something to the tune of four grand, maybe more or less.

A casual warning, though, for you class-tourists: Real manual laborers are seriously hurt or killed doing these jobs quite often. Losing fingers, a hand, or even your life would be a crappy way to end your labor vacation.

As someone who put himself through school in the factory, I'm not going back. No way, no how. I just don't see the romantic angle in it.

detourne_me · Joined: 26 May 2006

AsiaESLbound · Joined: 07 Jan 2010 Location: Truck Stop Missouri

I don't want to toil either. It depends on desperation in a time where education seems to mean little like it used to. With the state of the job markets, I can only wonder if we'll have Phd's and MA's doing anything just to live paycheck to payceck. I've already met a number of MBA's working for $10/hour as shift managers over the years during the 2000's. The 2000's have become increasingly disappointing so never say never to doing a little ol' fashioned dirty, dangerous, and demeaning work.

TravelinSig · Joined: 30 Dec 2009

I also did the Alaska gig a few years back. It's tough work but you can earn some serious cash in a short amount of time. check out ppsf.com Basic living conditions (dorms, no tents), don't have to pay for food or board either. I had to buy my rainboots which were like $75. They will pay for the flight from Seattle to the working location, you'll have to reimburse them the difference, from Korea it might be expensive. Contract was from late June to mid Aug. I was strongly considering doing it again before I decided to come to Korea.

SW · Joined: 08 Sep 2009 Location: Korea

I've researched the "work and holiday" visas for Aus and NZ. Turns out the NZ one is free, but the Aus one costs something like 230 AUD. I think my first choice would still be Aus, both because everyone tells me it's nicer and that I have a feeling there might be more work. I checked out that Allied Labor Force website, and as was suggested earlier, didn't look like there was much work going on. Although maybe that would change by August. No matter what, it's nice these visas exist.

Aside from going to Aus or NZ, though, I'm starting to strongly consider trying out Texas. I have a friend in the Austin area, and he says it seems like there are still some jobs to be had. Might be a decent way to sidestep the really brutal stuff in Alaska, although after a September in Texas maybe it'll be a relief to come back to Korea in December.

I also sniffed out some info about Antarctica; a big employer is here. Most of the stuff is skilled and required a good chunk of experience, though.

Thanks again for the suggestions.

AsiaESLbound · Joined: 07 Jan 2010 Location: Truck Stop Missouri

That's really interesting about the Antarctica jobs. Despite how brutal it is, the supply of people for those temporary jobs far outstrip the number of positions so it's competitive. I read the positions pay about the same as they would in your home country despite being very hard 7 day a week jobs you do for like 6 months straight. There is no time off nor personal time on Antarctica. I would expect the project specialist jobs pays about $15,000 for the 6 month tour. Not bad, but not really good considering what you have to go through, but it's for the unique experience. Applying is worth a try if you think you want to go to a very cold place to work every day for many months on end. Looks to be one of the most demanding jobs anywhere.

Senior · Joined: 31 Jan 2010

A buddy of mine was a cook on Antarctica for 6 months before he came here. He wants to go back.

oldfatfarang · Joined: 19 May 2005 Location: On the road to somewhere.

Vegetable picking in Australia = very hard work, in 35+ c heat. Snakes everywhere, daily firings for looking tired, not keeping up, or the boss has another hangover. You sleep in tents on the farm. It's not idyllic camping, or in hotels/doss houses (the hotel will find you work, but you'll lose a lot of cash paying for your accommodation). Many schemes like this are a scam, as they only allocate you enough work so that you can pay your weekly rent (and therefore keep the hotel full), and many young backpackers spend all their wages in the hotel bar.

However, I made a lot of money 'contract' picking vegetables in Bundaberg. On 'contract', you're paid for what you pick, and if you're a hard worker, you can make very good money. Stay out of the pub if you want to save any cash.

Fishing boats in Western Australia. You can sometimes get a job, but usually when the catch declines and the normal crew have jumped ship (after making the easy money for the season). You work 2 X 10 hour shifts a day, and it's dirty, and incredibly dangerous. Industrial accidents are the norm, and they're not pleasant. Many drug addicts work the boats these days as they're excluded from the mines. Also, the crew shares the catch income - and also the boat running expences. So you can work for a month, and if the catch is light, you don't get paid.

Still, my GF and I saved a lot of money - but at the end of 6 weeks we were completely exhausted (you can work illegally as the boat will have a fake fishing licence for casual labor). A very tough crowd, and if you don't keep your mouth shut, you'll lose your teeth, or get thrown overboard.

Mines in Western Australia:
Hard work, hard to get. Very dangerous. Again, a very tough crowd. There were long bearded, rugged, broken men walking around the hotel lobby swigging whisky straight from the bottle. If you looked them in the eye, you had picked a fight you couldn't win. Welcome to Kalgoolie. The guys work out 'bush' for 10 days + straight, and then come into town to blow their wages on gambling and prostitutes. It's not as exotic as it sounds.

When I was on the road I did a bit of laboring in Australia to cover travelling expences. None of it was fun, all of it was dirty, low paid and dangerous, and you had to be lucky to make a decent wages. Most of your wages are spent on living expences/accommodation, and travelling to the next town to look for work.

Good luck. Laboring isn't financially viable, and if you strain your back, you'll have years of medical problems to weigh up against any low income you earn.

Also. Forget looking for work in NZ. It's so scarse, and the pay's so low, it's not worth the flight to go there. Australia is where the casual laboring jobs are.

Jeonmunka · Joined: 05 Oct 2009

Very little work available in NZ ...

Wishmaster · Joined: 06 Feb 2003

Who the hell wants to do manual labor? Geez. Don't try to make it sound glamorous and adventurous, it clearly is not. You work your ass off for a little bit of money. Yeah, the fishing gigs in Alaska might pay some coin, but you work all the time, are sleep deprived, cold and work in treacherous conditions. I guess if you really need the money, but if not, screw that. But please keep the "Working class hero" thread going...

bde2 · Joined: 19 Feb 2010

I did a season on a processing vessel (pacific cod) about 5 years ago... so some of my info is probably out-of-date, but I'll tell you what I remember.

As other posters have said: HARD work. LONG hours. Cold, dangerous, smelly. But you do make some money, and you definitely meet some interesting people.

You don't necessarily need to show up in Alaska. A lot of them do recruiting in Seattle. You're better off steering clear of the ones that pay hourly, though. If you get a full week of work, you make bank... but on my boat, there were some days when we didn't have work, due to storms and the like. Those lost hours come out of your OT, which is where the real money is.

You're better off going with one that gives you a percentage. I know that American Seafoods offers this on at least some of their vessels.

One more tip: steer clear of Icicle Seafoods.

Good luck.

SW · Joined: 08 Sep 2009 Location: Korea

Thanks for all the info, esp. bde2 and OFF. Also Jeonmunka for seconding OFF about NZ. I'd love to visit NZ, but I guess I'll steer clear for now.

OFF, that's some great info about Australia. You have convinced me to make going back to the States my plan A. If I do wind up doing this, I'm betting I'll be spending a few months in Texas. Plan B might be Alaska. I have a close friend who worked a boat up there, and he strongly advised me to "do it before I turn 30," and there isn't much time left.

"Bearded, broken men..." now that's a hell of a description. Having spent the last two years working with Korean children and middle-aged women, the, umm, "culture shock" might be too much.