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World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
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Posted: Sat Jul 31, 2010 3:15 pm Post subject: America's unemployment rate for college grads: 4.4% |
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If you enjoy life in Korea, then by all means keep doing what you're doing. However, if you dislike being here, and are simply staying out of fear, rest assured that finding a high paying job back home is far from impossible (assuming you are from the United States).
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Particularly for men who lack a college education and were or are in an industry that depends on manual labor (construction and manufacturing above all), this is a perilous time.
But for tens of millions of others, there is no recession. For the college-educated, the unemployment rate is 4.4% (for college-educated women, less than that). For them, wages have been rising, since more-skilled workers command higher salaries and industries ranging from technology to health care have been hiring and expanding. |
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2007409,00.html |
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Leon
Joined: 31 May 2010
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Posted: Sat Jul 31, 2010 3:30 pm Post subject: |
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Did it happen to mention what it was for recent college graduates? It's much higher, especially when you factor in underemployment. |
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Louis VI
Joined: 05 Jul 2010 Location: In my Kingdom
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Posted: Sat Jul 31, 2010 4:01 pm Post subject: |
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...more-skilled workers command higher salaries and industries ranging from technology to health care have been hiring and expanding |
I knew I shoulda got a Nursing degree or majored in Electrical Engineering. Low unemployment for them and good pay. Who woulda thunk? |
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World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
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Posted: Sat Jul 31, 2010 4:19 pm Post subject: |
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Are you saying we all picked the wrong major?
Average starting salary for a college graduate: $49,353
Starting salary for an EPIK teacher: $18,272
(Which incidentally is lower than the lowest paying jobs in the United States)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/18/americas-lowest-paying-jo_n_579457.html#s91310
I looked up the unemployment rate for college grads under 25. The highest rate I found was 8%. Don't sell yourself short into thinking that it's impossible to break into that illustrious upper 92% of recent college graduates who are able to find jobs (at an average starting salary of $49,535). |
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cedarseoul
Joined: 16 Feb 2008 Location: nowon-gu
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Posted: Sat Jul 31, 2010 5:36 pm Post subject: |
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i fear the avg starting salary is somewhat lower for english degree holders from the midwest...:-/ |
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World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
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Posted: Sat Jul 31, 2010 6:01 pm Post subject: |
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Correct. Average Starting Salary for an English Major in 2010: $37,154. Still, that's not bad: the equivalent of 3.6 million won a month.
Last edited by World Traveler on Sat Jul 31, 2010 6:08 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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thegadfly

Joined: 01 Feb 2003
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Posted: Sat Jul 31, 2010 6:07 pm Post subject: |
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...so why are you here, WT?
..so EPIK pays under 1.8 million won a month?
...and you do not include housing or airfare in your calculations?
I'm not saying that EPIK is a GOOD job, just that you are lying...I mean, purposely misleading with the numbers you choose to present, and the sources from which you pluck the "statistics." |
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World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
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Posted: Sat Jul 31, 2010 6:25 pm Post subject: |
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Not under. At 1.8 million exactly as a start without qualifications.
How am I lying or misleading?
Oh, no, I forgot to include the airfare in my calculations! Sorry about that!
Does it offend you that I am letting people know that there are other opportunities out there in the world?
My sources are quite mainstream. Where do you get your statistics? Anecdotally?
BTW, I left Korea and now live in the United States.
This seems like a touchy subject for you. Is it because you think you are making big bucks here and/or are incapable of doing any better elsewhere?
I did not make this thread to antagonize, but rather to offer interesting/insightful information to others. |
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Ukon
Joined: 29 Jan 2008
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Posted: Sat Jul 31, 2010 6:31 pm Post subject: |
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These statistics ignore how many college grads worked lower lever entry level positions that paid garbage or crappy service jobs for a few years after graduating....seemed to be the case for many I know unless they had a valued degree. |
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World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
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Posted: Sat Jul 31, 2010 6:33 pm Post subject: |
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I should also mention that the value of a benefits package attached to a professional job greatly exceeds the amount paid for housing (which are pathetic, tiny accommodations) plus airfare plus any other bonuses. Benefits packages amount to thousands upon thousands of dollars.
I'm just saying that if money is your main concern, South Korea is not necessarily a gold mine. There are other reasons to teach overseas besides money. If money is primarily what you are after, there are other, more effective ways to get it. |
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World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
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Posted: Sat Jul 31, 2010 6:38 pm Post subject: |
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Ukon wrote: |
These statistics ignore how many college grads worked lower lever entry level positions that paid garbage or crappy service jobs for a few years after graduating....seemed to be the case for many I know unless they had a valued degree. |
College graduates average $20,000 a year more and have half the unemployment rate of non-college grads. That's a true statistic. College degrees are worth something. I've even read that college graduates average a million dollars more in wages over a lifetime. (I guess 20K times 50 would be that). |
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Junior

Joined: 18 Nov 2005 Location: the eye
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Posted: Sat Jul 31, 2010 9:51 pm Post subject: |
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World Traveler wrote: |
I looked up the unemployment rate for college grads under 25. The highest rate I found was 8%. Don't sell yourself short into thinking that it's impossible to break into that illustrious upper 92% of recent college graduates who are able to find jobs (at an average starting salary of $49,535). |
If things are so good back home, then why has Korea just been invaded by every american college grad from Florida to alaska? Its unprecedented. |
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laguna
Joined: 27 Jun 2010
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Posted: Sat Jul 31, 2010 9:55 pm Post subject: |
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cedarseoul wrote: |
i fear the avg starting salary is somewhat lower for english degree holders from the midwest...:-/ |
$30,000+ for 10 months of work doesn't sound bad to me |
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iwillteachyouenglish
Joined: 07 Jul 2010
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Posted: Sat Jul 31, 2010 10:50 pm Post subject: |
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99% of all statistics are BS
Funny that I stood in a line full of graduates, many eagerly accepting 10$/hour work, part-time for Sylvan Learning, eh? It's amazing anyone shows up to work in Korea with all these great jobs available! Btw, I am college grad, from a top school, and near the top of my class. Gee, where's my 50k? |
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passport220

Joined: 14 Jun 2006 Location: Gyeongsangbuk-do province
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Posted: Sat Jul 31, 2010 10:57 pm Post subject: |
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Does anyone respect ESL teaching as a long-term career? No disrespect to anyone who does but when I was in college back in the late '80s anyone who had a major that would have put them on the path to ESL teaching was thought of as a slacker / hippie / basket weaver / etc.
Now that I have been teaching as a second career I think it can be quite satisfying and even noble. However, the reasons I really enjoy it most is it is so low stress and frankly, easy. None of my friends back home would not conciser what I do a �real job�.
Other than a rare few who hustle and have the very best of the best jobs, I don't think ESL teachers in general think it is realistically a top shelf choice to build a long-term financial future. If there are opportunities back in the States, most will take them over ESL teaching, no statistical analysis required. |
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