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Korean Job Discussion Forums
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ewlandon
Joined: 30 Jan 2011
Location: teacher
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 Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2013 1:13 am Post subject: |
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| Threequalseven wrote: |
| ewlandon wrote: |
| Once you are hear do what you want. |
I doubt that would work very well. If you're hired without a beard, chances are your employer won't want you to grow one. That was the case for one of my friends, anyway. Best to look how you plan on looking so there are no surprises. |
ew here! (tired)
Anyway they cannot tell you not to grow a beard (unless its in the contract), but they can choose not to hire you for whatever reason. |
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Threequalseven
Joined: 08 May 2012
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| Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2013 10:53 pm Post subject: |
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| ewlandon wrote: |
| Anyway they cannot tell you not to grow a beard (unless its in the contract), but they can choose not to hire you for whatever reason. |
Technically, true. However if your employer tells you not to do something, is it really worth acting in defiance of them? Even if they don't fire you, you'd still be setting yourself up for constant nagging and/or cold shoulder treatment. (Granted, I took an indefinite leave of absence from a s--- pizza job back home because the new manager wanted me to be clean shaven. But that was a ---- pizza job, not Korea, and I was 19.)
Anyway, if the hagwon owner did decide to fire you, despite nothing being stated in the contract, it's not like the legal system here is exactly set up to work in favor of foreigners. And even if it were, the employer could simply say that the employee wasn't fulfilling their duties or something else from the contract. Of course, most employers probably wouldn't care if you grow a beard - and lucky for you that yours didn't. But some do. So why take that chance if you plan on having a beard anyway?
Though, at the end of the day, it really depends on the beard. If you can grow a nice thick beard, then just trim it up nice for your photo and you'll still look presentable. But if you have a patchy, whispy, creepy looking beard, then yeah - just shave. |
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lemak
Joined: 02 Jan 2011
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| Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2013 5:19 am Post subject: |
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There are quite a lot of superficial stereotypes regarding appearance in Korea (everywhere, really, but it's still going strong in the ROK) especially among the kiddies. Black or dark skinned Asian equates to dirty, being fat means you're lazy, old = sick, if you have a beard then you're a criminal.
Works the other way too, wearing big nerdy thick rimmed glasses obviously means you're smart, hence everyone in the country wears them regardless of need, lol.
Of course this isn't generally accurate, almost borders on stupidity, but remember recruiting for a large chunk of these jobs is based around potential popularity - quite simply who the students will like the most, and who will possibly scare them away. Many schools won't care, but I'd wager all things being equal between two comparable applicants, one with beard, one without then the former is going to be on the unemployment line a little longer.
Up to you what you choose to do, but as previously mentioned Asia is still very conservative, and while Koreans generally understand foreigners like individuality and doing different shit I couldn't ever imagine a *Korean* applying for a job in a school with facial hair on either a photo or in the interview. |
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byrddogs
Joined: 19 Jun 2009
Location: Shanghai
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| Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2013 5:39 pm Post subject: |
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| lemak wrote: |
There are quite a lot of superficial stereotypes regarding appearance in Korea (everywhere, really, but it's still going strong in the ROK) especially among the kiddies. Black or dark skinned Asian equates to dirty, being fat means you're lazy, old = sick, if you have a beard then you're a criminal.
Works the other way too, wearing big nerdy thick rimmed glasses obviously means you're smart, hence everyone in the country wears them regardless of need, lol.
Of course this isn't generally accurate, almost borders on stupidity, but remember recruiting for a large chunk of these jobs is based around potential popularity - quite simply who the students will like the most, and who will possibly scare them away. Many schools won't care, but I'd wager all things being equal between two comparable applicants, one with beard, one without then the former is going to be on the unemployment line a little longer.
Up to you what you choose to do, but as previously mentioned Asia is still very conservative, and while Koreans generally understand foreigners like individuality and doing different shit I couldn't ever imagine a *Korean* applying for a job in a school with facial hair on either a photo or in the interview. |
^ I'd go with this info. It applied when in Korea and applies to teaching/working with Koreans where I am now.
I'd lose the beard and earrings to avoid stereotypes. |
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