Korean Job Discussion Forums

PCRamplified · Joined: 25 Jun 2010 Location: PA, USA

Hi everyone! I've been thinking about moving to Korea in October/November, and ideally I'd like to teach high school aged students or older, and I'd like to be in/near Seoul so I'm thinking that the GEPIK program might be a good bet, but I've heard that it can be more competitive. So, how competitive is "more competitive?" I have two B.S. degrees, and decent grades from a pretty good university, but neither of my degrees is in English and I have no teaching experience. I am thinking about trying to take an online course to get some sort of certificate though. Overall how hard is it to get into GEPIK? And would having a teaching cert. of some kind help a fair amount? I am a 24 yo. white female from the US, and I've heard that can make a difference too (although that seems a bit dodgy, but meh, figured it might be worth mentioning)

Also, is it possible to teach in one of the GEPIK schools and live in Seoul? And am I completely insane to be considering turning down a job offer for a 40k /year job that looks utterly boring but is in my field and in a nice area? For that one you might need a bit of background. I love traveling and living other places (as far as my experience goes) I did a study abroad in S. America in college, lived with a host family, and loved the experience. I am fluent in Spanish, so I have considered teaching in Latin America, but it looks like most places the pay is pretty much crap. So why Korea? Why Seoul? A. Pay in Korea looks decent compared to a lot of other places. B. The Korean foreign exchange student that lived with my family when we were in high school will be finishing up his stint in the Korean army in November. He lives in Yongsan so I would like to live fairly close to him if I could. He has even offered that I could live with his family if I moved to Korea (Not sure if he cleared that offer with his mom yet though... lol) I'm not sure that would be the best idea just because I've been living on my own for 5 years and would miss the independence. On the other hand, I would expect to pay his mother some rent, but I'm not sure what she would ask for, so if it's possible to get a housing allowance instead of provided housing with GEPIK, I might even be able to save some money that way.

THANKS!

recessiontime · Posted: Thu Jul 01, 2010 11:47 am Post subject:

it really depends, on what the 40k job is. Is it a stable job with upward mobility?

Judging from the fact u have 2 degrees you might have to become a lifer in Korea so you can permanently default on your student loans. Kindly tell us how much debt you have.

toph · Joined: 10 Jun 2010

Well, if you're in this for the money...then yes, it is insane to be turning down a $40K job, cause you're going to be making more there than in Korea.

But, there are many reasons to come to Korea--culture, new experience, get away from home, pay off student loans. But in your case, you clearly have a job available to you where you don't need to worry about money. So you should be wondering more about whether or not you're ready for the cultural aspect of Korea. This may not seem like a huge deal, considering you had a Korean exchange student living with you...but if you read through these threads, MANY people here complain about how "horribly" Korea treated them. When in reality, it's more of a cultural difference of where the foreigner was unable to accept/understand/adapt/remain open to/get over the culture-shock of the Korean lifestyle. So...yeah, keep that in mind. And I'm pretty sure you can get housing allowance from GEPIK, like you mentioned.

Also, the teaching cert will ONLY help you get more pay with GEPIK...which is clearly a good thing (but again, you're still not going to be making anywhere close to $40k). Teaching certs are only helpful in acceptance/eligibility for hagwons--but it seems you're not interested in those. As far as competitiveness? I was always under the impression that GEPIK was LESS competitive than EPIK--as EPIK is a larger, more sought after program. For example, EPIK places teachers in larger cities, and has more positions available. GEPIK is usually a second choice (e.g., Plan B) for foreigners who don't get accepted into EPIK. But this information could be wrong, I don't know.

Anyway, good luck, and hope this helped~

korea87 · Joined: 28 Feb 2010

PCRamplified, I did a summer program in Peru and I also had a great time. Korean culture is nothing like S. American culture. The way they approach foreigners is completely different. So please be cautious about that. I agree with the previous poster with what is the actual job that you are considering turning down. The issue is not just about foreigners being close-minded. I don't think this experience is about cultural exchange like JET. And I have traveled to many parts of the world, Korea has been my least favorite country. Because of my time here, I have been able to save money and travel. So there are some benefits to living in SK.

toph · Joined: 10 Jun 2010

To be honest though, I have to say that the bad experiences are due to the fact that foreigners can't accept OR have a hard time with the Korean culture.

This doesn't necessarily make them "close-minded," but I still believe it comes down to cultural differences no matter what. Because those that enjoy their time in Korea always embrace the culture. Those that don't?...Well, they're always complaining about how Koreans do "blah blah," which is an example of a cultural difference.

The experience isn't about cultural exchange, and JET is a totally different program. But culture does play a big role when somebody decides to move to a new country for an entire year. And no matter what, the point is...the Koreans aren't there to change for you (e.g., the foreigner). You're going to have change for them. (And this would be the case for any person, if they moved to any foreign country).

kingplaya4 · Joined: 14 May 2006

I would NOT turn down the 40k job unless you are very likely to be fired at a moments notice and/or no chance for promotions. Otherwise, coming here is probably silly. A lot of people get stuck here because it's hard to get back into the job world after experience teaching kids in a foreign country, especially if you aren't planning to be a teacher later. Even if you are experiences vary as to whether it is helpful on your resume or not. I turned down a decent job offer just before coming here and still regret it. I'm waiting for the day till I've saved up enough coin to go back, and I'm no America is the best country in the world person either.

PCRamplified · Joined: 25 Jun 2010 Location: PA, USA

To all the questions about the job, it is a quality control job. I believe it would be a stable job, but there's not much room for advancement and they basically admitted during the interview that they expect people to move on to other places after 4 years or so. Not a huge deal-breaker, because it still counts as experience on a resume, and I'm thinking I'd like to go back to grad school after a couple of years anyway. I was honestly expecting that their offer would be much lower and hoping so as well, because it would make the decision easier. Also for recessiontime: you'll probably hate me for this, but I don't currently have any debt. What I do have is a bad case of wanderlust and not knowing what I want to do with my life. Or it's more like I want to do everything. I want to go back to school, but I'm considering everything from linguistics (probably not, not so many options once you're done) to biochemistry (fairly likely) to medical school (parents like this option). I think what it really comes down to in the short term is that I need to decide how much money is worth to me vs. the chance to go to Korea, and in the end I'm really the only person that can make that decision.

korea87: Oh, don't worry, I don't expect Korean culture to be anything like Latin American culture, but I do think my experience in South America has made me more flexible and I think I do a pretty good job of being open to new cultures and experiences and adapting to them.

toph: thanks for your input. Honestly a lot of the things I read here are pretty discouraging, but at the same time, it seems that a lot of people didn't end up in Korea because they wanted to go to Korea, but rather for various other reasons. I think your attitude going into something has a lot to do with how you will like the experience. I also thank you for addressing some of my other questions. I admit I was a little confused upon hearing GEPIK was more selective because, based on the fact that they are always accepting applications and some other things, it actually seems like they would be less selective. It is a concern though, because I don't want to risk turning down aan offer if I'm unlikely to be accepted. Worth knowing that a teaching cert. probably wouldn't influence getting accepted, but I think it might be worth doing anyway, just because if I decide I want to do this I don't want to be a crappy teacher, and I don't think I'm a natural in that department, so I could probably use the extra help.

recessiontime · Posted: Thu Jul 01, 2010 7:40 pm Post subject:

why would I hate you for not having debt? I think it's fantastic you don't have any with 2 degrees.

Your best option is to go to med school (if you can get in anywhere). Everything else is a wasting of time in comparison. Even going to a caribbean med school is a better use of time than South Korea, assuming of course you are American, not Canadian. This is just what I think though, you have to make your own decisions.

Oliver · Joined: 19 Apr 2008 Location: Seoul, Korea

I'd take the job over Korea. In the long run you are not really going get established here. It's best to get a solid job in the field you are in.

Hindsight is a b*tch.

Money is important these days. It's good to get established in a profession.

That's what I'll be doing when this contract is up.

southernman · Joined: 15 Jan 2010 Location: On the mainland again

What's up with the 40K thing being good money.

I was making over 40K back home but I'm literally saving over 3 times as much here and having a fine social life at the same time.

I agree though, if theres room for advancement then stay put, that being said, advancement usually means playing the office politics game and personally I hated that BS.

Good luck either way

byrddogs · Joined: 19 Jun 2009 Location: Shanghai

Just before coming here many moons ago I was given a job offer in my field of study by one of the biggest companies that specialize in that field. It was in the 40k range for starters with lots of room for advancement.

I'd already worked corporate America prior to that and mostly hated it. I wanted to experience something different, hence Korea.

I'm making a bit more here now than that 40k, considering I don't have a mortgage or rent to pay and taxes are much lower.

I also get to travel wherever I want to, because I get a lot of time off. That is important to me. What's not to like about that? Smile

Like southernman said, I'm also able to save money here, whereas I wasn't able to back home.

All of that aside, I do miss my family and friends back home, and many of them are pushing for me to come back right now, but I don't like the uncertainty of the situation there for me.