Korean Job Discussion Forums

[chungbukdo]

My friend is a Korean citizen who is thinking about doing a masters in TEFL. She was born and raised in Korea but did some high school in the UK as well as her full university degree. She ended up with a dead on London accent. She also has the Cambridge TEFL course under her belt.

Both of us are thinking of doing masters degrees in TEFL or applied linguistics, but we're worried that she might not be able to get university lecturer jobs in Korea (or abroad) if she doesn't fit the government determined legal profile of a native speaker in Korea or elsewhere.

So, are these jobs open to Korean citizens? Do the Koreans get paid less than foreign nationals?

Right now she's working at a hakwon teaching speaking classes. She took over for an American and is getting half of his salary for the same work. She is also teaching corporate classes and gets about 60 cents on the dollar compared to the foreign nationals.

Thanks for any information you can provide. Also, we don't mind working in other countries. Both of us are tired of Korea.

**Also, *IF* we ever chose to get married and she obtained Canadian citizenship, would things change for her a lot? Or would there be the problem of not completing primary and secondary education in an English speaking country still?

[luckylady]

[nora]

my university turned down two foreigners out of hand because they had gotten korean citizenship. we are not allowed to hire korean citizens. i dont know if it's a university rule or a government rule.

that said, we do have a couple of koreans in our department. one of them got canadian citizenship and grew up there. the other had us citizenship, but gave it up and is a korean citizen... so im not sure on the whole situation.

sounds like in your situation, koeran citizen by birth, no degree from overseas, then the answer is probably no. if they got a phd and got hired not as an english instructor, but as a full fledged professor, then they could get a uni job, but its a totally different game then.

[Who's Your Daddy?]

ㅅㅅ sounds like an incentive not to get citzenship and stop at F5.

Also my PS contract has a clause that citizens can not get a housing allowance. That prevents the naturalized Koreans of Filipino decent working as native teachers from getting a housing allowance. Isn't that nice.

[No_hite_pls]

[john110375]

[quote="Who's Your Daddy?"]ㅅㅅ sounds like an incentive not to get citzenship and stop at F5.

Also my PS contract has a clause that citizens can not get a housing allowance. That prevents the naturalized Koreans of Filipino decent working as native teachers from getting a housing allowance. Isn't that nice.[/quote]

I think it would be different if you hold two passports ?!
As long as one of them is from an English speaking country ?
Not sure as I'm not teaching myself.

[Unposter]

From my experience, she shouldn't have any problem becoming an Instructor at a Korean university if she has completed an MA from a university in an English-speaking country.

I also agree with another poster who said that if she completes a Ph.D., especially if it is from a university in a country where English is the native language, she could land a tenure Professorship.

I also think she could really clean up as a teacher at a hakwon or as a private tutor (with tutor's licence) if she applied herself.

There is a lot of opportunity if she can both speak and write Korean at atleast a fairly fluent rate and she can speak English at atleast a fairly fluent rate and even more opportunity if she can do all that and write in English at a fairly fluent rate.

[chungbukdo]

[chungbukdo]

[chungbukdo]

[chungbukdo]

[fustiancorduroy]

Your friend can easily get a job in a university, possibly as a tenure-track lecturer. Without her PhD, she could not become a full professor. Still, being a tenure-track lecturer is far better than trying to work on a year-to-year guest contract that foreign instructors have. She'll make at least as much money as, if not more than, any foreign instructor and get just as much vacation time. To me, though, if your friend wants to make this her career, she should concern herself with getting her foot in the door more than how much vacation time she'll have. She'll have plenty of time for vacation when she is older, more established in her career, and richer.

If you want to go the hagwon route, try for hagwons in Apgujeong or Daechi. There you'll find plenty of academies that pay for talent and experience, from both Korean citizens and non-Korean citizens alike. She might not make as much as Western teachers at first, but if she sticks with it and develops a following, she could make huge money, as in 5, 8, or 10 million won a month or more.

[liveinkorea316]

OP you said in your OP that you were worried your gf would not fit the "government determined legal profile of a native speaker in Korea or elsewhere."

Universities are not constrained by such laws as to who they may hire as language instructors or even professors. Your gf will have no problem getting a VISA it is the job interview that she will have a problem with.

Public and Private universities are different mind you. But there are a hell of a lot more private unis anyway. Public universities may have internal protocols that preclude her working in that position but even then, I work at a public uni and I would be surprised if there was any law BECAUSE at the language Institute of our uni there are plenty of Koreans teaching Korean, Japanese and other languages. There is no chance there would be a special law specifically prohibiting for example, your gf, from working in the same place as those people just because she was teaching in the English section rather than the Korean part - she has the same employer and is doing the same job - teaching language.

The ONLY problem your gf will face is Korean discrimination which is obviously why you are here. My uni has hired Gyopos as Native teachers for freshmen and Philippinos. What is the difference between a Gyopo and your gf? just a passport.

Not sure really. Our course is marketed to our students as being taught by Native speakers. We also have a level one English course which is taught by Koreans (which your gf could go for and does exist at unis) that is taught by Koreans.

At the end of the day I think your girlfriend might have a shot IF she can get in the door and show her pronunciation and that she sounds like a native speaker. If she has a hint of a Korean accent then they will probably not take her because Koreans that have studied overseas are a dime a dozen. If she has a good accent I would say she could be in.

[Swampfox10mm]

Heck every univ has PT or FT Korean staff. We have dozens in these jobs. Foreign jobs are completely different. The univ. gets credit for hiring non-Korean staff full-time in rankings, etc.

[alongway]

What people are mixing up is that Korean citizens would not apply for the same jobs english speakers from the big 7 apply for. No korean would ever apply to be some assistant english teacher like a native. They'd take the exam and become a real teacher and in the long run make a lot more money.

Same with a university. Guest lecturers are just that. Guests. Koreans aren't guests.
They'd become regular professors.
The positions open for E-2 and E-1 visa holders aren't available to Koreans because if they were, then they couldn't hire native speakers from foreign countries to work there.

That's the whole reason they can do that. They're bringing in a worker to do a job koreans can't do. If Koreans can do it, it's done.