Korean Job Discussion Forums

[naturegirl321]

WEar professional clothes. You'd be surprised how many peopel go to interviews in jeans.

Use titles, such as Dr. Mr, Prof. DOn't address your interviewers by their first name.

Be prepared. Bring orginals, such as your degree and recommendation letters so that they can see them. I wouldn't give them orginal transripts, etc at an interview, but that's up to you.

Talk to people. If someone you know is at a university, ask them to put in a good word for you. Even if they aren't in charge of hiring, they could still tell the directors about you. (though you should only recommend people that you're certain will do a fantastic job)

Have a professional CV. Borders, correct spelling, information in full will all help you.

Call or resend an email. Some emails may go to spam, or sometimes people don't pass the first round of interviews, or those that do, accept jobs elsewhere. Never hurts to send a polite second email or phone call.

Say thanks if you have an interview. A day or two later, shot off a quick email saying thanks.

Follow directions. If they want you to fill out an application form, then do so. They want contact info for your references, do so. They want orginal transcripts. . . well, that's up to yuou. You SHOULD follow directions, however, if you're applying to a couple places, getting orginal transcripts could get expensive.

Keep a list of the unis you apply to along with their contact info.l That way you'll know who's calling you for an interview.

Broaden your horizons. Look outside of Seoul, there's less competition and often unis will pay a bit more for "hardship" posts.

[hubbahubba]

[naturegirl321]

YOu'd be surprised what people do, like I said, jeans at interviews, crappy CVs with spelling mistakes. Obvious, yes. Though sadly people often don't pay attention.

[djsmnc]

Also a good, professional looking photo is a plus. I wouldn't submit one without a tie on. However, while assisting in the hiring process, I saw Hawaiian shirts, people holding drinks in bars, people on their trip to Cebu 2 years ago and I guarantee you that a lot of places will immediately delete those applications.

[naturegirl321]

[PatrickGHBusan]

This is a nice addition to the 3-5 other threads running here on this very topic.

This thread by naturegirl falls in to the painfully obvious common sense that any applicant should have...but as she said, you would be surprised how badly some people present themselves when they apply....

[sigmundsmith]

Peoples. Dont listen to the above posters. Please send in your cv with spelling mistakes, this shows that you are creative. Show up to interviews in a hawaiian shirt, this shows that you have imagination. Don't follow directions, do what you want, this shows that you are an individual.

Alas, I will endeavor to do the opposite and I propbably won't succeed. I think this way is the best. Good luck to you all

[SeoulMan6]

LOOK OUTSIDE OF SEOUL.
LOOK OUTSIDE OF SEOUL.
LOOK OUTSIDE OF SEOUL.

If you're looking for your first university gig, look outside of Seoul and other big cities. There's too much competition. Plus, there are plenty of rural universities and colleges.

I remember working at a small, rural university and we couldn't give the job away! I mean, I'd have given it to anyone who had a pulse and a couple of years in Korea, hagwon or otherwise. Those who finally took the job were pleased with the work, loved the 10 weeks of vacation, and still pulled in 2.0 million won. While those are not great conditions for a university, everyone did their year out in the country and were able to put "ZZZ University" on their resume which opened doors in the future. And hardly any of them had MAs.

They have since moved into much better positions that they never would have gotten had they not "done their time".

Aim low and you might get lucky.

[naturegirl321]