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Jane
Joined: 01 Feb 2003
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 Posted: Thu May 26, 2011 3:48 pm Post subject: |
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If you are not enchanted with Canada, then look elsewhere. In my opinion, North America was the land of opportunity in the past, now it is Asia.
Being in your late 20's, it's probably a good idea to get some experience that will be useful later on; if you come back to Korea, why not see what else is out there besides teaching.
Non-teaching jobs often perfer people who are a little bit older as they think you have more life experience. I would look into it in any case. |
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Draz
Joined: 27 Jun 2007
Location: Land of Morning Clam
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| Posted: Thu May 26, 2011 6:22 pm Post subject: |
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| myenglishisno wrote: |
I'd do it. I'm 27, still in Korea (my fourth year here) and having a great time.
The thing is that being in your late twenties does make you the oldest person around and it's kind of a bummer. I've been meeting groups upon groups of foreigners within my hagwon chain (my branch and others) and aside from a couple people that have 'higher rank' and more responsibility than me, I think I'm one of the two or three oldest in the entire company (which employs more than fifty foreign teachers). |
It's just that most people don't work in a hagwon for so long. I'm the same age as you and also in my fourth year, but I'm the youngest English teacher where I work. |
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jrwhite82
Joined: 22 May 2010
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| Posted: Thu May 26, 2011 6:24 pm Post subject: |
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Honestly, if you are worried about getting your act together and as you rapidly approach 30 years old you kind of have this "I'm not a kid any more" mind set. It changes you. I am in the same boat as you. I have my MA in Teaching, a kid on the way and I'm back here in Korea. Although my degree is teaching, so this is applicable to my end goal. My reason for coming back was so my wife can use her Korean doctor during the pregnancy.
Otherwise, I really feel that if you want to get your career rolling, you should start ASAP. Teaching another year in Korea is not going to help your resume for psych (unless maybe you want to be a school counselor). It will only work to distance yourself from your network of professional relationships you built during your Masters program.
If you can get a decent enough job at home, stay there and live in thrift. If you can't find a job, well that changes things, and in that case, welcome back to Korea! |
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ajp
Joined: 09 May 2007
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| Posted: Fri May 27, 2011 2:15 pm Post subject: |
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| jrwhite82 wrote: |
| Honestly, if you are worried about getting your act together and as you rapidly approach 30 years old you kind of have this "I'm not a kid any more" mind set. It changes you. |
Yeah it's like a switch and once it flicks you can't ignore it.
Looking for non-teaching jobs hadn't really occurred to me as an option--maybe I'll check it out.
Actually, I don't think I mentioned but it wouldn't be a total loss experience-wise if I even just took a hagwon job. I've been doing some freelance writing over the past 6 months or so and my intention was to expand a bit in that area with my time in the mornings. |
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Draz
Joined: 27 Jun 2007
Location: Land of Morning Clam
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| Posted: Fri May 27, 2011 11:23 pm Post subject: |
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| ajp wrote: |
| jrwhite82 wrote: |
| Honestly, if you are worried about getting your act together and as you rapidly approach 30 years old you kind of have this "I'm not a kid any more" mind set. It changes you. |
Yeah it's like a switch and once it flicks you can't ignore it.
Looking for non-teaching jobs hadn't really occurred to me as an option--maybe I'll check it out.
Actually, I don't think I mentioned but it wouldn't be a total loss experience-wise if I even just took a hagwon job. I've been doing some freelance writing over the past 6 months or so and my intention was to expand a bit in that area with my time in the mornings. |
You can't ignore it but you can put it off by wasting time on freelance writing and other such things that are never actually going to turn into/lead to a job.
You said you could get a job back home so why exactly do you want to come to Korea? You're a psych major, don't you ever analyze yourself? What are you running from? |
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Privateer
Joined: 31 Aug 2005
Location: Easy Street.
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| Posted: Sat May 28, 2011 10:29 am Post subject: |
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Don't do it.
The problem with this gig is it's too easy to stay here and stay here and - oops - five years have gone by before you know it and you're still doing the same easy but unfulfilling job. Better to hold out for something better in your own country. |
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soupsandwich
Joined: 20 May 2011
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| Posted: Sun May 29, 2011 9:48 am Post subject: |
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OP...
With an MA, you have other opportunities elsewhere, man. Korea is not the pinacle of ESL in the world.
Mexico
Japan
Thailand
Vietnam
Eastern Europe
(Laos.........shhhh....keep it under the radar. From what I've heard, it is
a great place and the foreingers there don't want it to be ruined). |
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myenglishisno
Joined: 08 Mar 2011
Location: Geumchon
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| Posted: Sun May 29, 2011 10:32 am Post subject: |
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| soupsandwich wrote: |
OP...
With an MA, you have other opportunities elsewhere, man. Korea is not the pinacle of ESL in the world.
Mexico
Japan
Thailand
Vietnam
Eastern Europe
(Laos.........shhhh....keep it under the radar. From what I've heard, it is
a great place and the foreingers there don't want it to be ruined). |
Japan isn't really an option. I wish people on this board would learn that.
ESL-wise, Japan fell off the radar almost a decade ago and the NOVA collapse put nails in the coffin. Unless you have some major connections, an MA in anything won't get you anywhere in Japan except maybe at an Eikaiwa job with a slightly higher pay grade (which would still be less money for more work than your average hagwon).
The only real benefit to teaching in Japan over Korea is that you're in Japan and that really does it for some people. It explains why an already gutted market is still oversaturated. |
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soupsandwich
Joined: 20 May 2011
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| Posted: Sun May 29, 2011 10:45 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
Japan isn't really an option. I wish people on this board would learn that.
ESL-wise, Japan fell off the radar almost a decade ago and the NOVA collapse put nails in the coffin. Unless you have some major connections, an MA in anything won't get you anywhere in Japan except maybe at an Eikaiwa job with a slightly higher pay grade (which would still be less money for more work than your average hagwon).
The only real benefit to teaching in Japan over Korea is that you're in Japan and that really does it for some people. It explains why an already gutted market is still oversaturated. |
You have a point but it does not mean teaching in Japan isn't a good option.
First...you own your visa. When compated to the loopholes you have to go through in Korea (and....your boss owns you), Japan is very much more appealing.
Second....there ARE jobs in Japan. However, you have a better chance of scoring one while in the country. NOVA was not the "end all, be all" of teaching ESL in Japan. Yes, I agree Japan has been off the rador for a bit but just because something is off the radar does not mean it does not exist. In fact, this is a great time to seek emloyment in Japan (you just need a bit more in the way of funding).
Third.....if you (this ties back to the first point) don't like your job, or you find yourself being asked ot bend over, grab your ankles and prepare for a corncob......you can leave. You own the visa.
In fact, other than then Korea still offers an intial one way ticket, I don't see how people still go there.
..just my two cents, of course.
soupsandwich |
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jonski
Joined: 26 Feb 2011
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| Posted: Mon May 30, 2011 6:38 am Post subject: |
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Just something to float around in your minds.....
How many times in your life have you been in the mindset "Please God, just get me over this hump and I'll be fine". Some of you might find this amusing but whatever your going through isn't as half as bad as what game go through every day of their lives. They spend their whole lives grazing for 9hours a day just to get enough nutrition to support themselves. They forever are on the lookout for predators and hence their sight/hearing is fine-tuned to detect the slightest change. We as humans, being hunter gatherers, also have this mindset installed into our brains from evolution. Yes we're top of the food chain now, but not through natural selection, but from the intelligence to use tools to develop.v(In a way this is natural selection but that's another debate). We didn't always use to be though, as there were far bigger creatures walking this land then us. Anyway, without banging out about it, it's normal to feel anxious about these things. It's hardwired into our brains and you will constantly find new things to put in this section of your brain throughout life! Everything is relative 
I'm glad I realized this early, I'm not saying I'm superhuman, but I tend to have a que sera sera approach to life. I took a whole year out after University and borrowed �15,000 to spunk it all down the drain. People tell me I'm crazy for wasting so much money, and yes I will be paying it off for a long time, but I'll tell you what, I learnt some of lives greatest secrets, and that I think, you cannot put a price on!
To all you worriers out there, worrying is the worst part, not the outcome, enjoy life and relish every moment! (Remember that there is no right answer) |
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shifty
Joined: 21 Jun 2004
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| Posted: Mon May 30, 2011 11:36 pm Post subject: |
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| jonski wrote: |
Some of you might find this amusing but whatever your going through isn't as half as bad as what game go through every day of their lives. They spend their whole lives grazing for 9hours a day just to get enough nutrition to support themselves. They forever are on the lookout for predators and hence their sight/hearing is fine-tuned to detect the slightest change. We as humans, being hunter gatherers, also have this mindset installed into our brains from evolution. Yes we're top of the food chain now, but not through natural selection, but from the intelligence to use tools to develop.v(In a way this is natural selection but that's another debate). We didn't always use to be though, as there were far bigger creatures walking this land then us. Anyway, without banging out about it, it's normal to feel anxious about these things. It's hardwired into our brains and you will constantly find new things to put in this section of your brain throughout life! Everything is relative
I'm glad I realized this early, I'm not saying I'm superhuman, but I tend to have a que sera sera approach to life. I took a whole year out after University and borrowed �15,000 to spunk it all down the drain. People tell me I'm crazy for wasting so much money, and yes I will be paying it off for a long time, but I'll tell you what, I learnt some of lives greatest secrets, and that I think, you cannot put a price on!
To all you worriers out there, worrying is the worst part, not the outcome, enjoy life and relish every moment! (Remember that there is no right answer) |
Well the jury is still out about...our genetic makeup versus environmental factors. The controversy is 'nature vs nurture'.
So you're gonna feel anxious when you don't get what you feel is your just due according to your birth and talents.
How to stay que serra serra about that? Especially if you're an EFL teacher in Korea trying to pay off a 15000 pound debt and all the students are calling you 'babo'. |
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jonski
Joined: 26 Feb 2011
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| Posted: Tue May 31, 2011 5:35 am Post subject: |
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| I dunno what your getting at, but I gather you missed the point. |
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myenglishisno
Joined: 08 Mar 2011
Location: Geumchon
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| Posted: Tue May 31, 2011 5:49 am Post subject: |
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| soupsandwich wrote: |
You have a point but it does not mean teaching in Japan isn't a good option.
First...you own your visa. When compated to the loopholes you have to go through in Korea (and....your boss owns you), Japan is very much more appealing. |
That's one good thing but overall I found working in Japan to be much more of a nuissance that working in Korea when it came to that sort of stuff (maybe because I'm Canadian and don't need an FBI check).
Sure, you have the freedom to change employers without having to suck up to immigration but there are a lot of other hassles in Japan that simply don't exist in Korea. I had to wait a month and fill out tonnes of paperwork just to open a limited bank account. It takes more than one month for internet to be connected in your apartment. It's a pain in the ass to get a cell phone, much more so than in Korea. The startup costs can be up to $5000 after you paid for your plane ticket. Since you have to pay rent and evreything is a lot more expensive, you end up being able to save nothing, especially in your first year. Most people spend their first year or so in the hole.
| Quote: |
| Second....there ARE jobs in Japan. However, you have a better chance of scoring one while in the country. NOVA was not the "end all, be all" of teaching ESL in Japan. Yes, I agree Japan has been off the rador for a bit but just because something is off the radar does not mean it does not exist. In fact, this is a great time to seek emloyment in Japan (you just need a bit more in the way of funding). |
Worked in Japan for a year (all of 2010) and when I quit my miserable, underpaying, slave-driving, dispatch company, I couldn't find a single job from in country even though I had a visa. I literally applied at five hundred places and went door to door with my resume. In some cases I was told that there were hundreds of applicants for the position (and it was entry level). If I was applying online (Gaijinpot), I could always see how many people applied for the position before me and it was always a ridiculous number.
Might be different now, post-tsunami. Or maybe not.
| Quote: |
| Third.....if you (this ties back to the first point) don't like your job, or you find yourself being asked ot bend over, grab your ankles and prepare for a corncob......you can leave. You own the visa. |
There are plenty of ways to quit your job in Korea. I just transferred my visa from one employer to another. It took some time but how it worked is that I worked with one employer until a Friday and started with the next the following Monday... no headaches. It can be done.
I could go on for hours about Japan having spent a year there and discovering that most of the fluff people told me about working there was just that. Maybe it was great ten years ago but damn. Imagine working at a hagwon with a kindy that paid 1.2m per month and treated you like garbage. Taking everything into account, that's the average entry-level job in Japan as of now. |
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shifty
Joined: 21 Jun 2004
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| Posted: Tue May 31, 2011 8:30 am Post subject: |
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| jonski wrote: |
| I dunno what your getting at, but I gather you missed the point. |
Well, in your first post, you say humans use their intelligence to develop tools.
I'm saying this is a double edged sword. We now have the faculties to imagine the best for ourselves, to project good outcomes.
If these are denied, we will feel thwarted.
Nurture is the current environment and ancestry the hereditary.
I want to feel que serra serra about my current life, but then everything has to be fair and equitable, which is utopian.
But anyway congratulations dude, I really know zilch about this. I'm not paying 15 gees to do your course, though. That'll bring both fight/flight syndrome as well as existential angst. |
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soupsandwich
Joined: 20 May 2011
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| Posted: Tue May 31, 2011 11:30 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
soupsandwich wrote:
You have a point but it does not mean teaching in Japan isn't a good option.
First...you own your visa. When compated to the loopholes you have to go through in Korea (and....your boss owns you), Japan is very much more appealing.
That's one good thing but overall I found working in Japan to be much more of a nuissance that working in Korea when it came to that sort of stuff (maybe because I'm Canadian and don't need an FBI check).
Sure, you have the freedom to change employers without having to suck up to immigration but there are a lot of other hassles in Japan that simply don't exist in Korea. I had to wait a month and fill out tonnes of paperwork just to open a limited bank account. It takes more than one month for internet to be connected in your apartment. It's a pain in the ass to get a cell phone, much more so than in Korea. The startup costs can be up to $5000 after you paid for your plane ticket. Since you have to pay rent and evreything is a lot more expensive, you end up being able to save nothing, especially in your first year. Most people spend their first year or so in the hole.
Quote:
Second....there ARE jobs in Japan. However, you have a better chance of scoring one while in the country. NOVA was not the "end all, be all" of teaching ESL in Japan. Yes, I agree Japan has been off the rador for a bit but just because something is off the radar does not mean it does not exist. In fact, this is a great time to seek emloyment in Japan (you just need a bit more in the way of funding).
Worked in Japan for a year (all of 2010) and when I quit my miserable, underpaying, slave-driving, dispatch company, I couldn't find a single job from in country even though I had a visa. I literally applied at five hundred places and went door to door with my resume. In some cases I was told that there were hundreds of applicants for the position (and it was entry level). If I was applying online (Gaijinpot), I could always see how many people applied for the position before me and it was always a ridiculous number.
Might be different now, post-tsunami. Or maybe not.
Quote:
Third.....if you (this ties back to the first point) don't like your job, or you find yourself being asked ot bend over, grab your ankles and prepare for a corncob......you can leave. You own the visa.
There are plenty of ways to quit your job in Korea. I just transferred my visa from one employer to another. It took some time but how it worked is that I worked with one employer until a Friday and started with the next the following Monday... no headaches. It can be done.
I could go on for hours about Japan having spent a year there and discovering that most of the fluff people told me about working there was just that. Maybe it was great ten years ago but damn. Imagine working at a hagwon with a kindy that paid 1.2m per month and treated you like garbage. Taking everything into account, that's the average entry-level job in Japan as of now. |
OK....some fair points. However, being that you are from Canada, were not able to obtain a simple holiday working visa? But...I guess that is not really an issue when compared to quality of life.
Good post.
soupsandwich |
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