Korean Job Discussion Forums

[patrick999]

Hello everyone! I'm new in here. After looking a bit around, I thought "ok let's write a message and see if there is someone who can help me with this".
Recently, I applied for a job in Seoul: Italian Technical Writer. I did a test. The test went well. Then, I had an interview with the Country Manager and went well. She asked for my salary expectations and I replied 5-6 million won per month. Last week, on Thursday, the HR executive wrote me that the company wants to proceed and hire me. She asked for my salary expectations again. I stated a salary of 6 million won, net income, per month mainly because, I think, there is no relocation package as it is a permanent job and rents are high in Seoul, especially if you can't pay a large amount of monet upfront, like me (those are the infos I gathered on internet).
I'm 30 years old, 1 year experience in copywriting and I'm a published writer. In my previous job, as a copywriter in Greece, my pay was pretty high (4.5 million won net income, much higher than that if we compare costs of living in the two countries).
My question is this: is 6 million won net a high pay in Seoul, or is it an average pay for a Technical Writer? I don't want to ask for too much and discourage the employer , but of course I want to be paid according to the market. Any suggestion?
Thanks in advance.

[edwardcatflap]

Sorry don't know anything about salaries but am intrigued as to why Koreans would want to hire an 'Italian technical writer' based in Seoul. Were you writing in Italian in Greece too, or English, Greek or some other language?

[patrick999]

Hello.
Always in Italian. It works like this: companies hire writers from all over the world to write in different languages. They need technical documents, user manuals, or advertising material. If the company has a lot of projects is more convenient for them to have in-house writers because, if in need, they can reach them easily... My last company, in Greece, for example, paid me also when I wasn't at work (week ends) or when there was no project at all and I was spending my time watching movies in the office, just to have me at hand in case of need.
If you are curious, feel free to ask.

[oppa637]

Personally, I'm not sure what the avg pay is for technical writer but it might be a bit high just knowing what the average salary here is. But I think its more pending what benefits they may offer you. You will relocate yourself?

[wishfullthinkng]

it all depends on whether they are planning on paying you as an expat or as a citizen. since you found the job here and they didn't recruit you, chances are they might try to pay you as a citizen, which you would get maybe a third of what you are asking for that position.

[patrick999]

Hello.
I'm not sure about benefits, but as it is a permanent role i really doubt thay will cover accomodation. That's why a 3M won salary sounds low to me (rents are quite high in my opinion if you don't have the possibility to pay that huge amount the landlords request as a deposit).

[Zyzyfer]

Whether it's too much depends on how large the hiring company is, and how technical the technical writing is. I do not have any knowledge of pay in the technical writing market in particular, but would venture a guess that 4 to 4.5 million was probably their ballpark figure. But I mean if this is some premier organization then maybe they can pay closer to what you desire.

As for rent, yeah it will be expensive if you're using one of those "for business expats" rental sites as a gauge as they are inflated for execs and things. If you have 5 to 10 million won lying around then you can probably get a solid apartment in the Haebangchon area for a million won a month or less. You wouldn't be king of the world but it wouldn't be all that bad of a place.

If you have no key money then it will be more challenging. You might be able to get assistance with paying that deposit (I've heard of some positive anecdotes regarding this), but you'd have to discuss it with the employer.

[oppa637]

I am a permanent employee and I get housing.

On the other hand, its always up for negotiation. You could negotiate that they pay key money(deposit) and you'll cover the rent where when you leave, they'll get their key money back.

If its any decent size company though, if they are recruiting you from abroad, i imagine they would give you accomodation or stipend for housing. I highly doubt it'd be 3mil worth though. Housing stipend should be between 500-1000 i'd imagine.

In the end, it should matter what you are happy with and not what we say. If you will only be happy with 6mil a month, state that. I don't think you'd get the job but who knows. (This coming from an engineer that works for a chaebol that doesn't make that much)

[patrick999]

Hello and thank you everyone.
Average salary + apartment paid would be nice. I don't care about earning a lot of money: 3M + housing would be great for me.
I'm writing an email right now to them saying to make me an offer according to the market. We'll see.

[Konglishman]

At one point, I had applied for a job as a technical writer before realizing that the job advertisement had actually expired in the year previous to when I sent the email. Given there is a slight chance I may come back to Korea, I wonder about the possibility of doing technical writing part-time. In fact, I used to edit a Korean professor's academic work before being submitted for publishing.

[patrick999]

I'm sorry but I have knowledge only of the Italian technical writer-copywriter market, not sure about other languages. If you are English mother tongue I'm sure you will find more offers than me in English speaking countries or worldwide: the market for that language is wider.