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Chet Wautlands

Joined: 11 Oct 2008
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Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 7:39 pm Post subject: Jobs for Koreans in China or Canada? |
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My girlfriend (Korean) is thinking about going back to school in Korea. She has a two year degree, but she'd like to study a bit more in hopes of improving her qualifications. She is currently an English teacher at an English kindergarten, but she studied design in university.
We are planning, within the next five years, to move to either China or Canada (my home country).
Can anyone offer suggestions for what she could study that would give help her find a job in China or Canada?
She is, of course, doing her own research, but I thought others here might have been in the same situation.
Thanks for your help!
Chet |
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Captain Corea

Joined: 28 Feb 2005 Location: Seoul
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Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 7:42 pm Post subject: |
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Why not continue down the design path? |
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Chet Wautlands

Joined: 11 Oct 2008
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Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 7:43 pm Post subject: |
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Captain Corea wrote: |
Why not continue down the design path? |
Well, that's certainly one possibility. Just want to see what other options are out there. |
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Chet Wautlands

Joined: 11 Oct 2008
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Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2011 1:00 am Post subject: |
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Bump? (worth a shot!) |
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Modernist
Joined: 23 Mar 2011 Location: The 90s
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Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2011 1:23 am Post subject: |
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Pretty tough for foreigners who are not teaching English or high-level professionals [who get sponsored by their corps] to get work visas in China. They hardly have enough jobs for all the new graduates coming out of their own universities, so they're not too interested in bringing in Koreans, say, to make the competition fiercer. If she is willing to put in a number of years in a highly specialized degree for which China has an acute shortage of workers, she MIGHT have a shot [like petroleum geologist?]. Or if she has connections with some Korean business operating there, doing something involving both Mandarin and Korean [does she know Mandarin?].
In Canada, hell, it's as much a crapshoot for her as for you or me or anyone else. Her only real advantage over anyone else would be the knowledge of Korean, so if she was living in Vancouver or someplace like that she could look for something that connects the Korean-speaking community to the larger area?
From your post, it's hard to see anything in particular that would make her stand out. 'Design' is a pretty mushy description of one's studies. What kind of design? Houses, cars, clothes, computer systems, graphics, floral, what? What can she actually DO? If she's skilled at drawing, at least, that could give her an edge in a number of fields; I would take advantage of that skill and work to connect it with technical proficiency in a software package known for its difficulty and complexity [like AutoCAD]. Organizations need people who know how to do the things their current employees can't, regardless of economic conditions. |
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PatrickGHBusan
Joined: 24 Jun 2008 Location: Busan (1997-2008) Canada 2008 -
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Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2011 5:47 am Post subject: |
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If by design you mean fashion design then it will be extremely hard for her to get meaningful work in that field in Canada as an immigrant.
If you plan on moving to Canada, your best bet would be for her to study something IN Canada. There are lots of good options out there with high demand.
A couple we hang out with (she is Korean, he is Canadian) moved back to Canada 5 years ago (before we did) and she went back to school and got her qualification as a dental hygenist-technician. The course took 3 years and she got a full time position right on graduating. She is making a good salary with very good conditions. They had planned this before moving (darn there is that planning thig again!).
Everyone is in a different situation but often degrees from other countries are not a ticket to a decent job as a immigrant in Canada.
Good luck with the move anyway!
PM me if you want to discuss it further as we made the move in 2008 and I know several people who also made the move in recent years. |
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litebear
Joined: 12 Sep 2009 Location: Holland
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Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2011 12:14 pm Post subject: |
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I live in the Netherlands with my (Korean) missus and she works for a big Korean company here. She reckons over 70% of the staff are from Korea, she has been on business trips to a few other offices in Europe and and says they are the same. She also said that in some countries (Spain in particular) they often hire Koreans who have graduated from Uni in the country and give them non-technical jobs in fields like Marketing or Admin or whatever as it saves a package on relocating people from Korea. There are 5 or 6 who graduated from Dutch unis working in the Marketing dept of her office. The ability to speak Korean is so important that often the employees don't even have related degrees (in Marketing/Admin/HR I mean, not in the IT or tech jobs.
If you guys are planning on moving to a big city maybe scope out what big Korean companies have offices near there. Not sure how much it will help but could be an idea |
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PatrickGHBusan
Joined: 24 Jun 2008 Location: Busan (1997-2008) Canada 2008 -
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Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2011 12:19 pm Post subject: |
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That is not a bad plan litebear. |
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Chet Wautlands

Joined: 11 Oct 2008
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Posted: Thu Nov 24, 2011 9:11 pm Post subject: |
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Hey all! Thanks for the replies.
Patrick, you're right about the difficulties in the design industry. On further reflection, she says she'd rather not enter that field. It's more of a hobby now than it is something she'd like to make money doing.
Going to school in Canada sounds like a great option, though. We have at least three years before we'd think of moving, so lots of time to plan. I was actually hoping you'd chime in on this as I know you made the move a few years ago.
Litebear, that also sounds like good advice.
Were we to move to Canada we would live in Vancouver or Toronto. That way she would have more Korean connections and I could hopefully find work.
Then again, I only have an MA in TESOL... might be hard for me to find something I enjoy back home.
Well, we'll see. In the interim I need to go from conversational to fluent in Korean (2-3 years if I keep at it). After that, perhaps Mandarin. Perhaps not!
Thanks again! |
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PatrickGHBusan
Joined: 24 Jun 2008 Location: Busan (1997-2008) Canada 2008 -
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Posted: Fri Nov 25, 2011 4:52 am Post subject: |
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Chet Wautlands wrote: |
Hey all! Thanks for the replies.
Patrick, you're right about the difficulties in the design industry. On further reflection, she says she'd rather not enter that field. It's more of a hobby now than it is something she'd like to make money doing.
Going to school in Canada sounds like a great option, though. We have at least three years before we'd think of moving, so lots of time to plan. I was actually hoping you'd chime in on this as I know you made the move a few years ago.
Litebear, that also sounds like good advice.
Were we to move to Canada we would live in Vancouver or Toronto. That way she would have more Korean connections and I could hopefully find work.
Then again, I only have an MA in TESOL... might be hard for me to find something I enjoy back home.
Well, we'll see. In the interim I need to go from conversational to fluent in Korean (2-3 years if I keep at it). After that, perhaps Mandarin. Perhaps not!
Thanks again! |
Once again, Pm me anytime you have question or want to discuss something related to moving to Canada with your Korean wife. Either I or some of the mixed couples I know can surely provide you with lots of valuable information!
There are also some challenging adaptation hurdles to clear that many of us do not think of when we move "back home" with a Korean spouse...oh the stories! lol
Cheers and best of luck. |
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BananaBan
Joined: 16 Nov 2011
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Posted: Fri Nov 25, 2011 10:09 am Post subject: Re: Jobs for Koreans in China or Canada? |
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What type of salary would she want if she were to move in Canada?
And where in Canada you guys plan to settle in is an important question? For example, Alberta province has greater job prospects than Ontario and Quebec. |
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PatrickGHBusan
Joined: 24 Jun 2008 Location: Busan (1997-2008) Canada 2008 -
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Posted: Fri Nov 25, 2011 1:58 pm Post subject: Re: Jobs for Koreans in China or Canada? |
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BananaBan wrote: |
What type of salary would she want if she were to move in Canada?
And where in Canada you guys plan to settle in is an important question? For example, Alberta province has greater job prospects than Ontario and Quebec. |
True in many fields but Ontario and Quebec have high demand in many fields as well! Just gotta pick. |
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Captain Corea

Joined: 28 Feb 2005 Location: Seoul
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Posted: Fri Nov 25, 2011 3:38 pm Post subject: Re: Jobs for Koreans in China or Canada? |
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BananaBan wrote: |
Alberta province has ... |
I'm curious... are you a native english speaker? I ask this because I have never heard this phrased this way. |
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Jonephant
Joined: 05 Jul 2010 Location: Seoul
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Posted: Fri Nov 25, 2011 3:56 pm Post subject: |
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Myself and my girlfriend (Korean) lived and worked in China for 3 years. Its actually not that hard for a Korean to find a job in China as long as youre not looking for Beijing and Shanghai. And youre not looking for a job at a "big company". Cities like Dalian, Shenyang and Qingdao are packed with Koreans. Qinqdao has 40,000 alone. Many small Korean companies have factories in these cities and are always looking for native Koreans to work in sales or marketing. Also i know lots of Koreans who work in call centers for big IT companys like Dell and HP. The pay for these kinds of jobs is around 1.2 mil won a month. In China thats not too bad. You can live very comfortably. For the sales type jobs you need to be at least average in mandarin but the call center type jobs just native Korean is enough. If youre seriously considering China as an option i suggest that your gf studies mandarin until she reaches a decent level. |
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giraffe
Joined: 07 Apr 2009
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Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2011 7:03 pm Post subject: |
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Hi Chet,
I cant speak for China but I've got some experience bringing a wife to Canada. My wife has a double major degree in Economics and English ( in other words.. useless) and had about 5 years of experience working as an English teacher in Hagwons when she moved to Canada ( also more or less useless in Canada). She is fluent in English.. at least my definition of it but shes not perfect... I've never worked in Korea as an English teacher so I've no clue about the job prospects for you in canada as someone with an MA in TESOL. I met my wife in Canada and visited Korea back and forth for a few years when she returned to Korea to finish her schooling.
We married in 2009 in Korea when I just turned 26 and she was 25. By the time we had the ceremony in late 2009 the immigration process was all done and she was approved for her Canadian Permanent resident status because we did the paperwork 7 months before that when we got married at the embassy.
I hope you plan to marry your GF and applying for the proper visa before moving/ living in Canada together? Unless shes planning on applying for a Holiday or student visa ( both of which aren't guaranteed..) Not to scare you or anything but even my wife with the proper visa was pestered by Canadian immigration. They wouldn't let her in before calling me and thoroughly questioning me.. Freaked my wife out..
To answer your question base on my experience with the matter...
Its good that your GF wants to go back to school to further her studies/qualifications but if she does this in Korea it's pretty much worthless for any Canadian jobs ( good for her personally and within Korea but wont give her better job prospects in Canada unfortunately). As was mentioned before, If she plans to be in Canada for the long term, she's better off studying in Canada to learn the skills for the job shes interested in... My wife tried for over a year with her Korean qualifications.... to find a job in Canada with no success ( she applied at banks , Korean banks , language schools ect..) As for what your GF should study to get a job... i would suggest something shes interested in and most likely something like a 2-3 year college diploma that teaches actual skills for a job...
What kind of design work does your GF do exactly? If its graphic design, webdesign , illustration kind of work ect.... As a freelance artist myself, I would say that she has great chances finding work as an artist in Toronto , Vancouver or Montreal Not to mention being able to freelance for anyone in the world including korea if she has clients here..... provided that she has a decent portfolio and proper visa to live/work in canada ! Other kind of design work like interior design , industrial design , fashion design , car design ect.. I've no clue....
Honestly, the oonly advantage your GF has over Canadians applying for the same job is her Korean/English ( possibly other languages if she speaks any) abilities. She better do do research about jobs needing korean abilities. For example , certain government jobs , Korean companies , any big customer service institutions such as Banks and what not. Once she knows what direction she wants to go in she just needs to figure out what she needs to do to get that job, what kind of training and qualifications she needs ect...
Without proper visa ( work visa or spousal visa) she doesn't stand a chance finding a decent job. Holiday working visa pretty much = waitressing job in a sushi or Korean restaurant or some other random labor job that a Korean agency fixes her up with if she goes there for help. I also think that it'll be impossible for her to get a work visa with her current qualifications especially not having studied in Canada...
There are alot of government sponsored programs meant to help you find a job in your work field HOWEVER my wife went through a few of those courses and they havent been very helpful. Most of the people who end up in there were twice her age , 5 x more qualified than her with masters and phd's and their english language abilities were atrocious!
With all that being said, After over a year living in Canada, my wife and I decided to move to korea earlier this year! Mostly because my wife couldn't find a job ( I'm sure she could have been a waitress or something similar But I make more than enough money to support us and both didnt want her to be doing that kind of job....), toronto is expensive , wife had no friends and was hard for her to meet people... My wife didn't want to go to back to school to learn a skill. She wants to get an MA in english from a university in canada however she wouldn't qualify since her korean degree is more or less useless and not recognize.... SOOOO Now we live in korea, save LOTS of money. We both work.. We're loving it here. After we save a bunch of money we are probably going to head back to canada and have a kid there. I work as a freelance artist here in korea ( clients are in the USA/ UK ) and wife teaches at a Hagwon again.
Hope my post didnt scare you... The whole point is that you and your GF need to plan and expect the worst =). As Patrick put it "There are also some challenging adaptation hurdles to clear that many of us do not think of when we move "back home" with a Korean spouse" I fully 1000% agree with this... I love it in Canada but it just wasn't right for my Wife to live/work there at the moment. I think its possible for your GF to have a decent ok job in Canada But will require planning and she will have to take the proper steps/measures to make it happen.
I really hope it all works out for you where ever you move too =). |
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