Korean Job Discussion Forums

antigoti · Joined: 29 Jun 2010 Location: Jinan South Korea

I am planning on working for a university job in Feb/March but I am not sure how or when to go about it. I have my M.S in Mass Communications, 120 hr TESOL, and 50 hr Bus English (B.S was in Business too). Does anyone know when I should start applying and what all I need to do (besides the new immigration stuff)? Thanks again

air76 · Joined: 13 Nov 2007

You generally apply for uni jobs in Oct/Nov or May/June....if you're not in Korea for interviews you'll be pretty hard pressed to get hired....pretty much you'd need to come and work at a public school or hagwon for a year and then move up the following year. It's not impossible to go straight into a uni, but improbable.

Make sure your job ends at the end of February or the end of August, to make a smooth transition.

antigoti · Joined: 29 Jun 2010 Location: Jinan South Korea

Hey thanks for the response
Also I am working for EPIK now and my contract ends the 25th of February so thats why I wanted to know. At that time I will have a full year of experience. Do I need to gather extra stuff like letters of recommendation, new transcripts, or just apply through emails and school websites?

sigmundsmith · Joined: 22 Nov 2007

Depends where you want to work. In Seoul it is soooooooooooo competitive now. You only have one years experience and you will be competing with others who have a lot more experience teaching than you across a broader spectrum as well.

The masters is a plus but it seems that every tom has a masters these days who also have more experience than you.

Sorry to be blunt but that is the current market. Nothing stops you from applying but unless you know someone it will be a little bit of a struggle.

Good luck though.

P.s. Have you thought of China? I think that maybe an option for you (and for so many people) as there are university jobs opening up all the time.

air76 · Joined: 13 Nov 2007

antigoti · Joined: 29 Jun 2010 Location: Jinan South Korea

Ok thanks for all the responses I truly appreciate them
last question...I know the difficulty in getting a university job in seoul but a friend of mine said maybe in gyeonggi-do area that is still on the subway line to seoul may not be as hard (suwon and ansan for example) and I also want to maybe true daegu, ulsan, or busan...what do u think?

PatrickGHBusan · Posted: Mon Jul 19, 2010 4:51 am Post subject:

You can cross Seoul off your list OP.

Your qualifications and experience (1 year) will take you to the 'thank you but no thank you' pile for most University positions in Seoul.

You shoul aim for University positions in smaller cities or second tier universities.

Start looking in mid-October and continue doing so until early January.

Visit schools IN PERSON and drop off your application package.

sigmundsmith · Joined: 22 Nov 2007

Im going to be honest with you. you maybe aiming too high. not saying that you wont land a job in one of the larger cities - daegu, busan - but what i have seen they have increased their pre-req. for masters with experience and there are people to fill those position. Even in Suwon people with experience and masters will take them.

My suggestions is that you will have to start at the lower end. that is, a uni gig in the country somewhere that pays extremely low. lower than what you are getting now. and then gradually work your way up. that is the market at the moment. they want the academic qualifications and experience. and there are a lot of people who have been in the uni system who got their masters while working (many online) that are trumping all those around them

but still there is no harm in trying. you never know that someone might like your cv. it only costs a stamp to apply for any particular job.

PatrickGHBusan · Posted: Mon Jul 19, 2010 5:01 am Post subject:

sigmund is right.

OP, your qualifications and experience do not stand out in the current market. You need to have realistic aims.

definitely maybe · Joined: 16 Feb 2008

I know people working in and around Seoul at universities without masters degrees. These are not top schools, but they're not terrible either. All of these folks had at least two more years of experience than you though.

air76 · Joined: 13 Nov 2007

I think that you'll have better luck in the Gyeonggi area than in one of the other big cities.

I don't think that it is true at all that you will absolutely make less money than you are now. We do alright at our university and neither of us have an MA (quite a bit more experience, but universities drool over MAs, especially the lower-tier ones that generally can't get away with requiring all applicants have one)....you have to remember that most universities have overtime available to bump up your salary. You can certainly take home 2.5 million or more every month after overtime at a lower-tier university job without teaching too many hours at all.

We're not on the subway line into Seoul, but not too far out of the city if we want to head in.