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Korean Job Discussion Forums
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nate1983
Joined: 30 Mar 2008
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 Posted: Wed Aug 14, 2013 4:43 pm Post subject: |
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| heartcooxbrain wrote: |
If you are of Asian descent, I would suggest getting a TOEIC score, and if possible, a similar standardized proof of your fluency in Korean. |
Taking TOEIC if you're a native English speaker is just obnoxious. What the heck are you trying to prove?
I would agree that the TOPIK could help, but honestly a lot of people would never have heard of it since they aren't used to reviewing foreigners' application. But I'd say that unless you're working in a global/international-oriented company, you would probably need to have an advanced level (TOPIK 5/6) to really interact in an office environment. I had passed level 5 pretty comfortably but there were still plenty of linguistic difficulties (never looked forward to calling the IT department lol).
And not all Korean office environments are the sweatshops popularly depicted - I had a fantastic time after transferring there, and the people were awesome...seriously some of the nicest people I've ever worked with. |
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heartcooxbrain
Joined: 10 Aug 2013
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| Posted: Thu Aug 15, 2013 1:06 am Post subject: |
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| nate1983 wrote: |
| heartcooxbrain wrote: |
If you are of Asian descent, I would suggest getting a TOEIC score, and if possible, a similar standardized proof of your fluency in Korean. |
Taking TOEIC if you're a native English speaker is just obnoxious. What the heck are you trying to prove?
I would agree that the TOPIK could help, but honestly a lot of people would never have heard of it since they aren't used to reviewing foreigners' application. But I'd say that unless you're working in a global/international-oriented company, you would probably need to have an advanced level (TOPIK 5/6) to really interact in an office environment. I had passed level 5 pretty comfortably but there were still plenty of linguistic difficulties (never looked forward to calling the IT department lol).
And not all Korean office environments are the sweatshops popularly depicted - I had a fantastic time after transferring there, and the people were awesome...seriously some of the nicest people I've ever worked with. |
I suggested that native speakers of Asian descent think about getting a TOEIC score just to pass the preliminary paperwork round. If you *look* like a native speaker, I'm sure there is less to prove when it comes to English fluency. But I'm speaking as a gyopo. My experience has been that a lot of Korean employers don't trust what I tell them on paper as far as my English skills go because I look Korean.
Of course, if I met them in person or spoke to them on the phone, I would be able to prove my English fluency better. However, the way many Korean job applications go is paperwork preliminaries first, in which *only* what's on paper is considered, and then only after you have passed the preliminaries are secondary opportunities presented to you.
A lot of the job opportunities that I've been applying for have the minimum requirement of a >900 TOEIC score. At that level, even non-native Koreans can write decent English resumes--so a resume alone isn't enough to prove my qualifications among a sea of other Koreans, who on paper, speak English just as well as me, except they have a TOEIC score to prove their skills, while I, relying on the fact that I was an American, wouldn't have any proof.
I'm sure there are lots of job opportunities out there for foreigners where a TOEIC score would be overkill, especially if they found out about said job through personal contacts. However, that hasn't been the case for me. I just wanted to share my perspective on the subject in case it's of help to anyone. ^^ |
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nate1983
Joined: 30 Mar 2008
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| Posted: Thu Aug 15, 2013 10:44 am Post subject: |
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| heartcooxbrain wrote: |
I suggested that native speakers of Asian descent think about getting a TOEIC score just to pass the preliminary paperwork round. If you *look* like a native speaker, I'm sure there is less to prove when it comes to English fluency. But I'm speaking as a gyopo. My experience has been that a lot of Korean employers don't trust what I tell them on paper as far as my English skills go because I look Korean.
Of course, if I met them in person or spoke to them on the phone, I would be able to prove my English fluency better. However, the way many Korean job applications go is paperwork preliminaries first, in which *only* what's on paper is considered, and then only after you have passed the preliminaries are secondary opportunities presented to you.
A lot of the job opportunities that I've been applying for have the minimum requirement of a >900 TOEIC score. At that level, even non-native Koreans can write decent English resumes--so a resume alone isn't enough to prove my qualifications among a sea of other Koreans, who on paper, speak English just as well as me, except they have a TOEIC score to prove their skills, while I, relying on the fact that I was an American, wouldn't have any proof.
I'm sure there are lots of job opportunities out there for foreigners where a TOEIC score would be overkill, especially if they found out about said job through personal contacts. However, that hasn't been the case for me. I just wanted to share my perspective on the subject in case it's of help to anyone. ^^ |
While I can see your point, and realize that some HR departments will "blindly" request applicants to have a score over 900 or whatever, one would hope that there is enough common sense involved (sometimes in short supply, I know) to realize that there's absolutely no reason for an educated native speaker to "prove" his or her competence in that language.
Also, as TOEIC is really intended to be taken by non-native speakers, if I saw that a "John Kim" had a TOEIC score of 990 I would probably be less comfortable about his true level than if I saw "English (native)", which would immediately put me at ease. |
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elavndrc
Joined: 15 Oct 2008
Location: Korea
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| Posted: Thu Aug 15, 2013 11:01 am Post subject: |
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I would agree that a TOPIK would help - one of the things I've wanted to do is go back to Korea just to study Korean and take a proficiency test. As I learned Korean from primarily speaking to people and watching TV, you can imagine that my grammar skills are far from perfect.
But there is no way I would ever consider taking the TOEIC. I don't see a point in that at all. Even if I am of Asian descent, I lived my entire life in the States (except for the two years I was in Korea). It makes no sense for me to have to prove my English proficiency when my professional experience and schooling have proven it already.
As an update to this post - I've almost given up on getting a non-teaching job not related to English. I lack experience and most importantly I lack the ability to get an F visa. I've had people call me for jobs (not realizing I am not of Korean descent) and just tell me straight out that they cannot hire someone who doesn't have an F visa once they find out I'm not Korean. Even if the job posting says having a visa is "preferable". |
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Zyzyfer
Joined: 29 Jan 2003
Location: who, what, where, when, why, how?
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| Posted: Thu Aug 15, 2013 5:38 pm Post subject: |
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| elavndrc wrote: |
| As an update to this post - I've almost given up on getting a non-teaching job not related to English. I lack experience and most importantly I lack the ability to get an F visa. I've had people call me for jobs (not realizing I am not of Korean descent) and just tell me straight out that they cannot hire someone who doesn't have an F visa once they find out I'm not Korean. Even if the job posting says having a visa is "preferable". |
The visa for these jobs is an E-7 and yes it is kind of a pain for an employer to obtain. If the advertisement even mentions F visas then I would pass over it. Which unfortunately will limit your pool of possibilities... |
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nate1983
Joined: 30 Mar 2008
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| Posted: Thu Aug 15, 2013 10:16 pm Post subject: |
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| Zyzyfer wrote: |
The visa for these jobs is an E-7 and yes it is kind of a pain for an employer to obtain. If the advertisement even mentions F visas then I would pass over it. Which unfortunately will limit your pool of possibilities... |
A lot of expats are on the D-8 visa, which is generally obtained when working with a foreign company. Your other alternative is to live there for a year and try to qualify for the F "points" visa. |
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elavndrc
Joined: 15 Oct 2008
Location: Korea
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| Posted: Sun Aug 18, 2013 1:15 pm Post subject: |
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I've been looking on Korean sites - my Korean is not totally fluent but I can read enough to navigate the site. However - it doesn't seem that I am able to actually apply to the jobs posted because I cannot register for the sites?
I was on SARAMIN and even though I went to the registration for Foreigners without the Foreigner Registration Card it wouldn't let me register.
Anyone have any tips for those who are registered on SARAMIN?
Thanks! |
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