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anyjobsoutthere
Joined: 23 Apr 2009
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 Posted: Wed May 19, 2010 2:47 pm Post subject: Advice for someone over 50 |
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| I'm in my late 50's. Have BA and MA degrees but no ESL certification. Extensive experience including Asia. Have taught on secondary and university levels, both ESL and English language/literature. Do I have any chance of a decent job in Korea? I'd prefer university but would consider secondary. WHAT would be my best options? |
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Paladin Brewer
Joined: 25 Dec 2009
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| Posted: Wed May 19, 2010 3:21 pm Post subject: |
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If you don't mind a rural area (and specifically request it), it might help. I think rural areas will take anyone breathing  I'm actually in a rural area, and there is a guy around here also from South Africa who has been here for 4 years and is 53 or 54, and I met a Canadian guy who is in his 60s. But I don't really know  |
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ttompatz
Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea
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| Posted: Wed May 19, 2010 5:28 pm Post subject: Re: Advice for someone over 50 |
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| anyjobsoutthere wrote: |
| I'm in my late 50's. Have BA and MA degrees but no ESL certification. Extensive experience including Asia. Have taught on secondary and university levels, both ESL and English language/literature. Do I have any chance of a decent job in Korea? I'd prefer university but would consider secondary. WHAT would be my best options? |
You have the quals so IF you are in Korea in June/Dec when the Uni's are posting and hireing then your resume should get you as far as the interview stage.
Beyond that you will need to interview well.
If you are trying to land a uni job from abroad you probably won't have much luck this year with the surplus of qualified individuals who ARE in country and also want the same job.
If you are trying from abroad you will have to lower your sights (and salary expectations) to that of entry level (or just above) in a hakwon or in a rural location in a public school.
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anyjobsoutthere
Joined: 23 Apr 2009
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| Posted: Thu May 20, 2010 5:12 am Post subject: |
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If you are trying from abroad you will have to lower your sights (and salary expectations) to that of entry level (or just above) in a hakwon or in a rural location in a public school.
What's a hakwon? What are public school conditions like? Are there no universities in rural areas? What is life like in a rural area? How rural is rural?
I take it AGE is the primary problem in my case? |
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ttompatz
Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea
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| Posted: Thu May 20, 2010 9:00 am Post subject: |
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| anyjobsoutthere wrote: |
If you are trying from abroad you will have to lower your sights (and salary expectations) to that of entry level (or just above) in a hakwon or in a rural location in a public school.
What's a hakwon? What are public school conditions like? Are there no universities in rural areas? What is life like in a rural area? How rural is rural?
I take it AGE is the primary problem in my case? |
Ageism is alive and well in the ROK.
AS to your other questions, it would be in your best interest to peruse the FAQs (frequently asked questions) forum and the sticky thread at the top of the forum.
FAQ
http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewforum.php?f=7
for answers to questions like yours and many others like:
Getting a Job - Korea Vs Japan, Taiwan and China
Getting a Job - Things You Need to Know
Getting a Job -Hagwons, Unis, EPIK & Public Schools
Alien Registration Card (ARC)
Getting Organised to Come to Korea
Choosing a Location in Korea
Contracts - Health Insurance, Pension, Severance etc.
Visas
Some of the threads are old but the information is still mostly accurate and they get updated with new information by means of new posts at the bottom of the threads as information changes.
If you are planning to make the jump to here then a few hours of reading will certainly pay for themselves over the course of a year's contract (and probably save you a lot of grief too)..
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PatrickGHBusan
Joined: 24 Jun 2008
Location: Busan (1997-2008) Canada 2008 -
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| Posted: Thu May 20, 2010 9:06 am Post subject: |
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A Hakwon is a private language school or academy. They are the largest employer of ESL Teachers in Korea. They hire all year long. Some Hakwons teach children (kindergarten to High School) and others teach adult learners.
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| What are public school conditions like? |
Check the EPIK website. You can get an idea of the conditions.
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| Are there no universities in rural areas? |
There are some universities in the countryside. They tend to have a harder time attracting Foreign Teachers. Still, if you apply form abroad, your odds of landing a job in ANY University are greatly reduced.
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| What is life like in a rural area? How rural is rural? |
I lived in Busan the entire time I was in Korea but have friends working in rural areas.
How is life there? It depends on YOU and on your needs and expectations.
You WILL be the lone or one of the few foreigners there. This is something some people love while it drives others nuts.
You WILL have reduced access to western goods, so if thats important to you....
Korea is a small country so getting around is easy, you CAN head to Seoul for a weekend and its not oo expensive.
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| I take it AGE is the primary problem in my case? |
It is one of the issues. Were you in Korea your age would be less of an issue. Since you are applying from abroad your age becomes more of an issue.
Why?
Because the market is flooded with applicants, many of which have your qualifications or better. Also note that Universities, by and large, hire Teachers locally as they want an in-person interview. As someone who worked for a University in Busan and was on the hiring committee, I can tell you that your application from abroad would have gone straight to the reject pile. This is simply because the University always found more than enough qualified candidates already in Korea.
Your age also works against you because the vast majority of applicants are younger and therefore cheaper. The bad US economy also sent heaps of qualified applicants on the Korean ESL market.
So your age plays a role in your job search and I think what Tom said is accurate: you will have to lower your expectations somewhat and possibly accept a hakwon entry-level position if you insist on applying from abroad.
Finally, like Tom just said: Read the Faqs here. Thatv time spent reading will pay off when it comes to finding a job and it will avoid you asking many unecessary questions and a lot of grief.
Good luck. |
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