Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Stalin84]

Hey guys.

Life isn't going to well here in Japan. To make a long story short, I worked for an average "dispatch company" (which places teachers at various schools and takes a large cut of the money from the Board of Education for placing teachers as BoEs refuse to hire teachers directly). Dispatch companies are one of the main routes into the Japanese English teaching market. If someone doesn't work for JET, it's likely that they work for an ALT company like mine or an Eikaiwa (hagwon).

Contrary to what a lot of people think... the work is worse here than in Korea. I had a relatively "bad" school in Korea but my school here made my PS in Korea seem like a dream. I was treated like sh*t, paid sh*t and bullied on a routine basis by the faculty. They'd give me impossible tasks and then punish me when I couldn't accomplish them. They never told me what I wanted and expected me to be psychic. They humiliated me in front of the students... regularly.

When I left Korea it seemed that I had a good few years and taught well, I was never at bad ends with my employers. I left on a good note although the reason I left was because I didn't like living in Korea for a lot of the reasons some of you don't.

Anyway, the BoE in my area decided one day to switch companies. That didn't mean I lost my job, it just meant I had to sign a new one-year contract with a new company if I didn't want to lose my job. The new company paid 1.8mil (KRW) which is 700,000 KRW less than what I was getting. I was only told this three days before it happened because I'm obviously not important enough to tell. I quit the company in anger with a few other ALTs and now we're all jobless.

I was surprised that there were no regulations to keep this from happening but the thing is A) there are, B) we just weren't important enough to be told in advance though it 100% pertained to our lives and C) the whole business is technically "illegal" (in the same way Hagwons technically are) so we can't expect much sympathy from the government.

So, I'm getting a new job. ASAP.

I'm also considering moving back to Canada. Especially if my next job ends up being a huge joke as well (you seriously have no idea how bad ALT jobs suck in Japan--they don't even let you teach, you just stand there and say random words from the textbook--and they still manage to make you stressed out/miserable).

Has anyone here moved back to Canada recently?

To be honest, I don't want to go back unless I know I can make more money than I would be able to in Korea or here. I posed this question on the forums a few years ago and a lot of people said stuff like "I can go home at any time and make 40k+ a year, I just don't want to."

I get curious and stalk Facebook to see what people I went to University with are doing. Some work at Sobeys, some sell insurance, some work at local coffee shops, some work at independent newspapers/websites (they make less than people working at coffee shops) and the rest work at call centres.

I simply can't go back if that's all there is. I want to do a BEd but I've heard equally horrifying stories about people with BEds substituting for ten years without being hired on, schools getting 300 resumes for one position, etc. Hardly seems worth it to me as I'm better off here.

What say you? Anyone back there now? How are you finding the market?

Should I stay put?

Go to another country?

Cheers.

[PatrickGHBusan]

The answer to your question is: it depends.

Your employability in Canada will depend on:

What your degree is in.

What experience you have in your field

What job you want

Where you will settle down.

When you go.

If you are in a field that has high demand, you can do well.

If you want to teach, you need to be certified and right now, in most places, the teaching market is bone dry.

Yoru best bet is to PLAN your return to Canada well ahead of time, do some research and at best find job openings before you even comeback. If you can schedule some interviews before coming back, that is even better.

I ended up settling back in Canada in 2008. However, I had a job in place. The number 1 reason people fail when the move back home is lack of planning and just showing up without a plan. They typically burn through their savings and have to settle for a job they would not have taken otherwise....

Good luck.

[Tundra_Creature]

What Patrick said pretty much. Certainly come back with a plan. I was over in Korea as an exchange student and had a part-time job at a printing warehouse that promised they'd rehire me as soon as I came back. Surprise, surprise, there was an issue with re-hiring and was laid off for 2 months before they rehired me again. Needless to say I had to spend any savings I had (which wasn't much to start with).

If you do intend to teach, then you'll certainly have a harder time finding a job in the city. If you're pretty flexible and have tough skin though, you will probably have an easier time finding a job teaching in the territories/on reserves/inuit communities/in the country. It can be hell if you're not prepared for it though (like any job I suppose)

There is also the possibility of working in other countries as well. I keep on reading about on how the UK is looking for qualified teachers from Canada, Australia, and the NZ, so it's something to check into. Though I have no idea what it's like to teach there.

[loveless]

kill yourself before receiving something outta all this breathing...

[youtuber]

OP, I am back now, and it is very very difficult. And I am in Alberta. And I retrained. A large part of the problem is everyone from the rest of Canada (especially Ontario) is heading like Zombies toward Alberta because they think this is the promised land. Well, it's not.

I am guessing you are from New Brunswick (because of the call centres?). Things will be incredibly difficult there as well.

I taught in Canada and I wouldn't recommend it. There is 0.00001% chance that I would teach on a reserve.

I honestly don't know what the best course of action is. The unemployment rate in Canada is officially 8%, but unofficially much much higher. Very many people are "underemployed" which basically means the same as unemployed.

Don't be in a hurry to retrain. That is very expensive.

Maybe the best thing to do now is sit tight and see how things play out over in Canada. However, because of our immigration policies and the US economy's continuing shrinkage, things won't be getting better in Canada any time soon.

Be very careful about retraining. Most people seem to think that an MBA or law degree will get them a great job, but that just is not the case anymore.

[Hugo85]

The lack of information is strong in this one!

Without knowing your major, your experiences and what type of jobs you are aiming at, it will be impossible to tell you what kind of job you can expect and what kind of salary.

I can tell you however that my engineering class didn't face major issues finding engineering jobs at the height of the crisis. If this is your field then things may go over well. If your background is a bachelor in psychology, I heard there might still be openings at Canadian starbucks, if the arts students didn't fill them up yet.

[Stalin84]

Ugh. Not sounding too good... then again, I wasn't expecting it to. I had a friend go back with the same degree as mine and was successful, although he joined the RCMP. Another friend joined the Army as an officer. Neither is a career I would do because I value my freedom a bit too much.

Outside of that... I can honestly say that I don't know a single person that I envy back home, financially. As I said, I was Facebook stalking "employment info" and only found a couple of people that I envied and in all of those cases, they were in school a lot longer than I was and were doing things I wouldn't even consider.

Your employability in Canada will depend on:

What your degree is in.

BA Philosophy major, history minor.

Pretty worthless. The last time I tried using it to get a job in Canada I was pretty much laughed out of the room. I was applying for an entry level call centre job that paid more than any other call centre (at $14 an hour with relatively low call volume). The hiring manager said "so what have you been doing the last four years?" "Working part time and going to university." "...Okay, so you've been doing nothing." "No, I was in university." "You were doing nothing."

I think that's pretty much what all employers in Canada think of a BA. I know it's garbage. If it weren't for teaching overseas, I'd totally regret getting a degree.

What experience you have in your field

I have teaching experience here and ideally, I'd want to teach. This might be impossible (as is evident in the thread). My experience is in Korea and Japan, which probably means jack sh*t in Canada, unfortunately. More "doing nothing."

What job you want

I have no sweet clue. Aside from teaching, I'm open to a lot of different things. I'm 26 so I'm a bit too old to go back to university (I also really don't want to) but wouldn't be opposed to doing some college courses. I'm really good with technology in general and if I knew a college programme that was technology-related (networks, programming, graphic design, game design etc) that was only a year or two long that had really high employment rates, then I'd do that.

Where you will settle down.

Don't really care. I am a city person, though and I hear Vancouver is nice.

When you go.

Don't really know. It's just a thought that keeps coming back in my head. I want to wait until the economy starts picking up again. To be honest, things were really crappy where I'm from (Nova Scotia) from long before the global economy collapsed and Canada isn't really the best place to be a young person wanting to start a career.

Randomly, if I were to do a BEd, would I be able to find work in the US? I've heard of a few people doing that to some success.

[Stalin84]

[youtuber]

I couldn't handle the kids. Very unruly. You may be able to handle them and you may like teaching in Canada but be forewarned that it is much more difficult and less rewarding than teaching in Asia IMHO.

[Tundra_Creature]

[recessiontime]

The horror stories about substitute teaching are true. From what I've been told it's hard to get any full time job unless you know someone. Otherwise it's you against 99 other resumes, that's Canada these days. Patrick talks about experience and merits but in Canada it just comes down to nepotism, who you know, not what you know.

I've basically heard that there's an oversupply of teachers yet the schools keep pumping out more and more graduates lol.

OP, check your pm. I might even have a solution for you.

[blackjack]

ever thought about emigrating?

Australia and NZ both need teachers and have relatively low requirements

[Louis VI]

Here are the relevant things I hear through the noise:

[oldtactics]

I tried the job search back in Ontario from about April - August and I can honestly tell you that despite reference letters and 6 billion volunteer & non-profit projects on my CV, I got one callback on approximately 100 applications/resumes sent out.

Two temp agencies did get in touch with me, and asked if I was willing to move to downtown Toronto to work for $12 an hour at a call centre. I voted no.

There are jobs, and people are getting them, but the competition even for entry-level administration jobs is overwhelming right now.

If you really want to go back, you should, but be aware that you're probably going to have to work somewhere part-time with kids still in highschool while you're looking & waiting for 'career' work.

[recessiontime]

I think blackjack is really onto something. I'd probably research into it.