Korean Job Discussion Forums

[DarrenD]

Hey ppl, I am a long time lurker and first time poster.

Here is my situation : I am born, schooled and have lived my whole live in the UK and am finishing my degree in electrical engineering atm. My grandparents came from India in the 1930s so that is my ethnicity. English is the ONLY language I can speak properly, I have a relatively tame Scottish accent which is clear (i.e. I use proper English!).

I am 27 years old this week and have travelled on my own to various countries before and am generally well travelled. I have work experience working in central London for London Underground in a graduate placement role for 14months, though my degree result wont be good enough to return there.

Anyway I love the orient and their people. I like to do positive things and enjoy energy that kids offer. I like to escape and live somewhere nice where I can look after myself and eat well in sunshine.

But, will anybody take me? Already I understand that top places wont be chasing after me, but who will? I am prepared to deal with slightly unscrupulous employers and would like to work in a city I can maybe fit in.

Any experiences, thoughts or any input plz?

[edwardcatflap]

If you want to teach EFL as a career, do things properly. Borrow some money if need be, get a CELTA. Do a couple of years in small language institutes then join a professional organisation like International House, Bell, or British Council. Do a couple of years there then get a DELTA. If you want to work at a university get an MA in a related field. Once you're properly qualified and experienced no one will care about the colour of your skin.

[DarrenD]

thx for a reply!!!

but do i have to have that much experience to get taken in? ur last sentence makes me feel like i have to be extremely well qualified to have a decent chance.

i really appreciate your honestly even though i had hoped to do CELTA during the summer and was ready to leave for Korea before the end of the year.

[Unposter]

I think you should submit your documents to (a) recruiter(s) and see what happens first. Annecdotally, I believe it will be harder for you to get a job but not impossible.

If you are serious about making a long term committment to the field than by all means improve credentials. But, if you are thinking about just coming for a year or two it might be worth your effort to invest in a lot in your education.

Sending your documents to a recruiter requires very little cost. You have very little to lose so go ahead and try. If questions about your ancestry really end up being a problem (and I don't know to what extent they will but I suspect somewhat), improving your qualification will not likely improve your chances.

My guess is if you are reasonably well spoken, patient and willing to work a little bit to get a job, you will find a position.

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

[DarrenD]

^thx

i am very well spoken (went to a top school) and was just planning on doing it for a year initially to see how i got on.

i guess ur right it might be worth just sending my documents to a recruiter to see how difficult it really is.

could u name a couple of credible recruiters?

[lifeinkorea]

I would talk to recruiters first on the phone so they can hear you before seeing you. If they see an "Indian" face, they might (scratch that, they WILL) look at it as a last resort regardless who you are.

I replaced a Filipina woman last year and her English was perfectly fine for teaching elementary school children. However, parents complained.

[DarrenD]

^lol, thx for insight dude!

i am experienced in telesales so i may indeed drop them a line first

[siborg69]

my school will be looking for a new teacher but not until september sometime i think. they hired a guy from england who was of muslim descent i think, and they didnt have a problem with that. they DID have a problem with him being a dick though!!! so if you want, i can mention this to my school and see if theyre looking someone around that time. it might be a bit later than you planned on coming to korea, but let me know if you want me to ask

[madoka]

[edwardcatflap]

[AsiaESLbound]

I'd say if you have clean criminal record and degree from accredited uni, then go for it. Looks like something good to do for 1 to 3 years. Longer if you want kill time. I know a hagwon teacher of Indian decent whose been going to Korea for years.

You'd be looking at somewhere tropical to be eating well in the sunshine. I don't see a good supply of fresh healthy foods, but more dependence on preserved things due to the cold temperate climate and lack of supply from tropical areas down South. You can get bananas and oranges anywhere, but prices might seem high more times than not. Much of their food is not the healthy food I envisioned it being, it's very high salt, MSG, and preserved things. My idea of Asia is of a time long past where it's all natural food with the buildings being all pointed dragon tailed roofs in harmony with nature. While the polished rice lacks nutrition, a cup of it at lunch keeps you from getting hungry longer due to slow digestion. Being single, it's no big deal that fruit and vegetables aren't cheap so I eat them anyhow. I actually eat healthy except school lunch has too much salt, MSG, and lacks fresh ingredients with deep fat fried food being offered almost as often as rice and gimchee. If you love oyster and shitake mushrooms, you'll be in 7th heaven. Korea is a great place to buckle down to a minimalist lifestyle with your laptop offering all the free downloads you can watch and play along with great hiking trails being free. Korea has these outdoor work out gyms and miles of great trails.

Korea gets a handful of nice sunny days in May and September, but it's either cloudy, rainy, or cold more times than not. Problem with tropical areas is I can't seem to understand how you make enough money if not qualified for an international school. I read up on these sorts of things in exploring my future options, but little seems to make sense from a financial perspective. You can go get certs and MA like a poster said, but it's a hefty time and money cost in my opinion for $1500 to $3000 a month though it may offer 4 months a year off at a university job. There are no tenures being offered here and few, if any, back home like was commonly given to baby boomer gen professors. All my younger lecturers were just that; lecturers working part time. Know that Korea is tops for Asia if it's money you need. It's not like where you apply for 100 low paying jobs and lucky if only 1 brings you on at $10/hour. Nothing like that so stop modestly selling yourself short. Recruiters are working to fill these jobs; not simply produce PR for companies at our expense.

[lichtarbeiter]

I hear lots of people on this board talk about how much harder it is to get a job here if you're a minority, and it's probably true to a certain extent. However, it is not even close to being impossible. In the neighbourhood I lived in, I met at least one native English teacher of the following ethnic backgrounds: African, East Indian, Chinese, and Filipino (and the East Indian had VERY dark skin). None of these people had TESOL or CELTA, none of them had a Master's or Education degree, and only the African-American had a year of experience in Eastern Europe.

So while it's true that a given school might reject your application based on your background, as long as you're persistent and keep applying to many different schools, there's no reason it should take longer than a few weeks for you to land a job.

[tokkibunni8]

In bigger cities it will definitely be more competitive for you to get a job offer. If you really want to come out, i would suggest a public school in a smaller city. Where I'm at, we have 4 teachers of Indian decent, one from South Africa, two from the UK and one from the states. We also have a few teachers of Chinese and Korean decent.

The color of your skin will make it harder for you to get a school in Seoul or in a hagwon, but I know there are public schools out there that will hire you not based on the color of your skin.

Good Luck!

[The Gipkik]

You are about to finish a degree in electrical engineering--and you want to travel to Asia and teach? Well, if it's wanderlust that's got you, go for it, but you could find plenty of engineering consulting work in China and other countries, for example, with a few contacts and some networking. Jumping into teaching and kids sounds like such a radical departure.

[waynehead]

I've known a couple of guys of Indian descent who worked here. They had good experiences overall. Don't worry so much about it.