Korean Job Discussion Forums

[new challenga]

Hello all,

I am a web designer and illustrator based in Los Angeles and am interested in finding a job in Korea (preferably in Seoul or near Seoul) related to my field. I am Korean-American and although my Korean isn't perfectly fluent, I can speak it well enough to communicate my ideas.

Ideally, I'd like to find a position in an established firm operated by non-natives.

Does anybody know where I can find job offerings of this type either on the web or through some other medium? I've already tried searching Craigslist and Google but couldn't find many offers.

And just in case any potential employers are viewing this thread, my portfolio of work can be found on my website.

Thanks for reading.

[duke of new york]

Have you ever seen a Korean website? I think they just train chimpanzees to design them.

But yeah, that's the kind of job you would probably have to apply for in person. There's not really a lot of demand for foreign web designers, as far as I know. How would you get a visa? I can't see a company sponsoring a foreign worker for something like that.

[Skippy]

First off, get your visa status verified. Since you are Korean - American you should be able get a visa that should allow you to work here. If you can not get the F-2 (?). Then your chances are very low of finding work here. Because it is not worth the effort to hire and process the immigration for a web designer. Plus this sort of job can be done over the Internet.

In the grand scheme you are nothing special. If your Korean was better maybe you could get better jobs. But you are competing against thousands of other Koreans already here and some that can speak English too.

Still the majority of jobs will be hired by Korean own companies. Foreign owned companies would likely already have staff needed or would do hiring in country. Once again they would probably like Korean ability.

Once again - look on Korean sites like naver.com Also consider pulling up your sleeves and doing some research. Find and look for any and all Foreign owned companies in Korea and try applying directly.

[ED209]

Do you love activeX?
Do you swear loyalty to IE6 and no other?
Can you fit 200gif images on one page?
Yes? Come on over.

[ttompatz]

[giraffe]

If you're korean american and you can apply for the F4 visa, Why not just go the Freelance route and work for american clients/studios while living in korea? That's what I'm doing....

I'm a Concept artist ( I work mainly in animation, feature films and commercials) living /working in korea on a F2 spousal visa. I'm canadian and wife is korean. I'm 100% freelance and all my clients are located in LA, NewYork and London UK. I've had no problems working internationally and corresponding by skype , email and phone calls.

As Ttompatz wrote "one word... naver". Google is your friend too. Just do a search for graphic design , website, animation studios. I dont think the average english teacher on these forums know much about web/graphic design studios in korea. I've visited/had interviews at a few korean animation studios last year. They look nice and are very similar to the Tv animation studios Back home except work hours are crazy and the pay is ALOT ALOT ALOT less.

If you can't get an F4 visa... Umm good luck finding a studio who wants to sponsor you and willing to house you / pay you a decent wage....

Again my recommendation is go Freelance. Keep your clients from back home ( if you have any) and do the work from korea. If you need more clients you can maybe try to get some freelance here in korea.

Good luck

[Skippy]

[new challenga]

Sorry for the late reply. I changed the email associated with my account and the admin had to reactivate my account.

Thank you all for your replies!

I actually was considering freelancing in Korea but was worried that some clients in the US wouldn't be as eager to hire somebody from overseas.

I got an F4 visa last time when I taught English for a few years so I think that may be a good route to go.

Oh, and I'm totally aware that the majority of Korean users still use IE6, browse websites dependent on Active X, condense an insane amount of images into one jpeg, etc. etc. but lately I have also been noticing a lot of projects coming out of Korea that adhere to modern web standards (html5, css3, divs instead of tables, etc.) giving me hope that there may be a demand for designers like me who are already well-versed in the matter.

I'll do some more searching through Naver. The freelancing route really seems like one I'd like to take. Giraffe, no problems at all keeping clients or gaining new ones from over there? They don't care where you're based?

[Underwaterbob]

My brother in-law is a web-designer. I get the impression most of the work is freelancing. Might want to work on your Korean skills.