Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Smithington]

I've taught at public school, hogwans, unikwons...and I'm so tired of the #$%^& that inevitably accompanies teaching in Korea. Too much stress. I dearly want to leave Korea, but I'm in a long-term relationship with a wonderful woman. If I must stay in Korea, I need to get out of teaching English. It's not that I dislike teaching. It's the politics of teaching in Korea, co-teacher conflicts, the E-2 visa nonsense, and such that wears me down.

Has anyone successfully made the transition from teaching to "not teaching" in Korea? How exactly did you do it? Do you enjoy what you are doing?

Thanks,
Smithington

[PatrickGHBusan]

[ttompatz]

[jakeciana]

I thought you're a writer/publishing or something.

[nick70100]

I recently went through the same thing. I was sick of teaching, but still quite happy with Korea in general. I think there are 4 things that will help you land a non-teaching job here as a foreigner.

1. Have an F-2, F-4, or F-5 visa.

This will open a lot of doors for you. For as frustrating as the E-2 process may seem, it's actually quite easy to get an E-2. There's little work required on behalf of the employer and little discretion required from immigration. Generally speaking, if you have the required documents you'll be accepted. For the E-7 visa, which is the visa given for most professional jobs, it is more complicated (especially on the employer's side), even if it requires less documentation from the applicant. The employer must prove to immigration that they can't find a Korean that is qualified to do the job and immigration must judge that you are qualified for the job. For many employers, even if they would like to hire you, they will simply be unable, unwilling, or won't know how to sponsor a visa for you.

2. Speak Korean at a high level

Besides ESL, there isn't a huge number of jobs that just speaking English will be good enough for. I'm sure some exist, but the better your Korean is the better off you will be.

3. Have experience/qualifications/skills in a particular field

If you had work experience back home or a degree or license in an in-demand field you may be able to turn that into an opportunity over here. If you have a degree in history and have never done anything besides teach ESL it doesn't make things easy.

4. Know people or have contacts in the field you want to go into

In my experience, I sent my resume to several companies and answered a few job ads on Korean websites and had a few interviews, but my job was a direct result of having a friend of a friend working in the company where I eventually ended up.

You probably don't necessarily need all of these things, but the more you have the easier things will be. In my case I had 1, 2, and 4 but not 3. I took a small pay-cut compared to what I earned teaching and I also work slightly longer hours now and get less vacation time, but I think it's worth it to be doing something with more possibilities for the future. I wasn't happy and I didn't see much of a future for myself in ESL. I'm happier for the time being, but it's only been a few weeks since I started. Ask me again in a year or so and see how I feel.

[IlIlNine]

[hawkeyz11]

[Zyzyfer]

For people without higher qualifications, the best way is to look for those entry-level editing positions that pay less and build up some experience there. I worked at a small media company for three years, editing subtitles.

Such jobs do tend to be competitive despite the relatively low salary, so make sure the resume is clean and concise, and write a proper cover letter. I handled resumes and interviews at the same media company and we did get a number of instant binners.

Once you've got a year or three under your belt, you can aim for specific areas, do your homework on what the work would entail, and start hoping for a higher salary. Also, the comment about the E-7 being special is spot on. The visa requires less paperwork from you but is far more difficult to get in comparison.

[ttompatz]

[Chet Wautlands]

[ttompatz]

[PatrickGHBusan]

To echo others, I too went from E2 to other work. I did marry a Korean woman and that meant I was on a F2 visa after a couple years in Korea.

As usual, Ttom was most informative here.

[proverbs]

[Paddycakes]

Juicy Bar Girl

[wishfullthinkng]

much like the other posters on this thread i also went from teaching to the private non-teaching corporate sector. my korean is very very poor, so that's at least one testament to the fact it can be done.

i've mentioned this before on other threads, but i highly suggest networking (this means make non-teaching korean friends in your desired field) in your spare time. the people who have aspirations of moving out of teaching and don't make any effort outside of sitting in front of a computer screen or only hang out with other foreigners are going to have a much more difficult time accomplishing it than someone who goes out to events/clubs/bars/groups/etc.

don't like to drink? that should be the first warning flag, this is korea and as a male in most corporate environments you will be expected to, so maybe it's not the best choice after all.

don't like to go out in groups against your will? second warning flag, you will also have to do that. team "workshops" and the ilk are all but too uncommon.

don't like working long hours? third warning flag, as korean companys will and do work longer hours than most teaching gigs.

but i agree with some other posters when they say it's worlds better out here. some people are simply built to teach and some are tormented by it and i fall into the latter category.