Korean Job Discussion Forums

[itiswhatitis]

I'll keep it simple:


I've been in Korea since 2007 and have a 120 TESOL and an unrelated BA.

I want to get a univ. job come Sept. or March 2015 to travel and have self improvement during the long vacation. Also, living in Korea has grown on me and I think that working at a Korean university may be an interesting experience.

I will live anywhere, I will put my boots to the ground and drop of resumes etc......
What are my chances? Thanks in advance for any insight/personal experiences.

[YTMND]

4 months is rather lazy.

If you really want to travel, why pick such a small country? You can easily visit anywhere in Korea within a couple days. Get a higher paying job, work Monday to Thursday, then you have 3 days to visit an area.

I would go to another country like China or take 4 months in between jobs and travel south to north in Japan.

[sigmundsmith]

If it is a major city like Seoul, Busan, Daejeon etc. it will be very difficult, if not impossible to get a university job without a Masters degree. I am not saying it can't be done but I will be starting a new job in a week in Seoul at a good university. I have an MA TESOL, 4 years university experience and a total of 8 years teaching experience and I asked one of the TA what calibre the applicants were. She told me very high with all having Masters degree. Also, universities are starting to target more specific masters degree (TESOL; Linguistics; Education) rather than just any graduate studies.

If you are specifically keen on a university your other option will be to take a position in a rural area where they accept people with a BA. But note not all of those places offer 4 months vacation - you usually end up doing summer and winter camps so your vacation will be half. Also, note that the pay in these rural universities are usually quite low.

But you did state that that Korea has grown on you. Why not spend the time and effort to get an MA - preferably related to ESL/EFL studies.

The market in Korea is so competitive now and the expectations of qualifications are quite high. Do some research and see what MA program works well for you.

[World Traveler]

I don't think an MA (even a related MA) guarantees a uni job anymore.

Schools want prior Korean uni teaching experience: 2 years for an MA and 4 years for a BA. It's a new rule.

How can someone get in without that?

By the time the OP finishes his MA, the uni job market will have become even more competitive, with more (even rural) unis audited and aware of the new policy from the Ministry of Education.

[faeriehazel]

If you don't have an MA, then you need a minimum of 4 years teaching experience in a public institution (so no hakwons, and after-school programs also don't count). Your TESOL certificate doesn't mean much unless it's an MA TESOL.

The previous poster is correct - competition for uni jobs in the big cities is fierce, and without an MA + uni experience your chance are very slim. Your best bet is to try the rural schools.

[wings]

I believe the law has just changed and Universities can only legally employ those with a master's degree in the future, those currently employed with only a BA will be allowed to stay until their visas are up.

I work for a university ESL programme (no 4 month vacation) and our school told us a few months ago about this coming change and that they would investigate how it affected us. As our programme is legally considered a hagwon (tied to the university, but without all the perks) there ended up being no problem with those who don't have a master's.

If you want a job with 4 months of vacation, you'll have to put in the time and get a master's degree.

[World Traveler]

Not only that, you'll need a masters degree plus two years of full time verifiable university teaching experience teaching credit classes.
Time machine invention time?

[GENO123]

[SeoulNate]

[World Traveler]

What prior experience did you have then? University research experience? Public school teaching experience in your home country along with certification? Corporate (non hagwon) teaching experience in Korea? A PhD? All of this can fulfill the MA plus two years/BA plus four years requirement (but few people have that). The Ministry of Education made this requirement (post secondary experience needed). Some universities aren't aware of rules (or choose not to follow them). Tons of illegal stuff goes on in Korea, but more and more schools are being audited these days, and as a result want to do things the proper way.

[SeoulNate]

All five of us have teaching certs from the US.

I have had mine for some time, the other four just got theirs from their MA program.

I have prior secondary experience back home, but two of the other people do not have any experience other their work at adult language schools back home and hakwons here.

I have been led to believe that what you are refering to is not the law and is more of a rule that can be bent/broken when the institute can prove they have legitimate reason for hiring the people that they do.

[faeriehazel]

I have read the Korean law and it says you must have BA + 4 yrs or MA + 2 yrs of experience "in an institution certified by the Ministry of Education as an institute of education" which means a proper school (primary/secondary/college, doesn't matter), not an academy or an after-school program. A relative of mine is involved in the hiring process at a uni and confirmed this for me as well. Many unis require the experience to be from a university, but the law per se does not require it.

I'm sure there are schools that may not follow this law to the letter, and maybe there are loopholes. Certainly the government can't investigate every single ESL teacher hired by a Korean university.

[World Traveler]

I swear I heard one interpretation say that public school experience would count if the person was teaching certified (and if the experience was in one's home country. Maybe the rule is hard to understand. But it is certainly not just a suggestion. If unis don't follow it, they'll lose funding.

[SeoulNate]

Here's the problem with that:

If the teaching experience was in your home country, they dont verify it. At all.

They do not/can not/will not (not sure which) check and verify that experience.

Yes, I was a public school teacher back home before coming to Korea. Do they know that for sure? No. Did they verify, No.

[World Traveler]

It's impossible to verify? Are you sure about that? A record exists somewhere (maybe even on an easily accessible website). They could have checked and gotten the proof without you knowing about it.