Korean Job Discussion Forums

[arzeller]

Hi all -

I am currently an ESL Instructor to an international school in Boston, MA, and I'd like to go abroad this coming September to teach in (preferably) South Korea. I am considering graduate school in Boston for Spring 2013, and so I am having some difficulty finding shorter-term contracts.

Ideally I would like to teach somewhere in or around Seoul. Teaching children would be great for me as well, but I am more flexible in the age that I would teach. Currently the students that I've taught for the past year and a half have been mostly between the ages of 18-26, but I have experience with older and younger than this as well.

Any help that you could give me as to what recruitment agencies, schools in particular, or anything else to point me in the right direction for SHORT-TERM contracts would be greatly appreciated! Something along the lines of September 2012 - February 2013 would be perfect, but again, I'm somewhat flexible.

Thanks in advance!

-Adam

[Troglodyte]

I think that you could negotiate something with most schools if you're willing to give up most of the job benefits that are offered in Korea (airfare, housing, end of year bonus) and possibly a lower salary to make it worth their while. If you're just doing it for the experience then go for it. You can still make enough to live off of, although your living costs would eat into any savings that you might be hoping for.

Why do you specifically want to go to Korea? If you aren't dead set on Korea, consider Japan, Vietnam or Thailand. You can very easily get short term work in those countries. Easier than in Korea.

[arzeller]

[Dog Soldier]

My friend works in Seoul and his hagwon (adult) does unofficial 6 month contracts. They pay for your airfare one way, and you can quit after 6 months.

[arzeller]

[Dog Soldier]

No idea. Think the hagwon name is Pagoda. I have no idea if this is a decent place to work at. Best to do your own research.

[laynamarya]

I sent you a pm.

[Troglodyte]

The big attraction to Korea is that the relatively good salary combined with the job benefits, which include the very low starting money necessary to come here. So, basically, Korea is an easy country to start in, particularly for recent college grads who don't necessarily have the money to support themselves overseas for a month or don't want to risk going somewhere without something set up. But in exchange for the job security you give up mobility and you have to actually press for something other than a relatively standard contract.

Other than Korea, your choice will depend on which of those things you're willing to sacrifice.

Japan: better money (albeit a higher cost of living); job mobility (first employer gets you a work permit but afterwards you can leave and keep the permit); you can get a job set up from abroad but you'll have to pay your own plane ticket; many employers will arrange accommodation for you and deduct it from your salary (some of them own the apartment that they rent out).

China: salaries fluctuate a LOT, even within the same city but even the best paying job will only barely match a starter salary in Korea, in some place it might be only 500 USD; schools almost always offer free accommodation as a job benefit (sometimes it's shared with another teacher/teachers); a lot of places will pay for your plane ticket; work permit should be linked to a specific employer but it's not hard to transfer it once you've got one.

Vietnam and Thailand: Salaries there are improving now. I'm not completely up to speed on Thailand these days but Vietnam is close to a Korean salary if you're working the same hours; the authorities rarely care about work permits here, so schools often don't care if you have one either (without one, you'll be making visa runs every 3 months or so); there are no real job benefits (unless you're on a contract but those will only be big schools and they'll want at least a 1 year commitment) so you're really just looking at salary; very easy to do freelance work, temp work, part time work, etc --> you're not locked to only one school and you can leave whenever you want; you have to be there in person to get most jobs (only long term jobs will hire from abroad and even then most hire locally). You can hang out at a youth hostel for a month while you round up jobs for yourself and round up another couple backpacker-teachers to rent an apartment with. Philippines might be similar but I'm not familiar with there.

I think that Thailand and Vietnam are popular destinations for Korean long-termer who want to take a break from Korea for a while.


Anyway, check out the jobs on Dave's to get a general idea about what different countries are offering.

[arzeller]

[hollachris]