Korean Job Discussion Forums

[jonski]

Hey all,

I'd like to give a brief outline of my situation and if possible receive some input.

Looking to get married and have children quite soon but finding work back home is quite difficult for engineering positions.

I like the idea of living here in Korea, I've been here for 3 years and can speak enough Korean to have a basic conversation for about 20 minutes. I have 3 years of good references, both previous and current jobs have given (and will give) first class references as I've worked hard and always done everything expected of me.

The main thing that worries me is the potential income. I've heard from many friends that after marriage, with the new visa, you can find much better employment opportunities.

I currently make about 3mil + free accomodation, working 8 hours a day. I make quite a bit more than my colleagues so I have to keep it a secret. The main reason for this is I connect well with people and therefore regularly receive excellent feedback from students.

After marriage, I would almost certainly need quite a bit more income per month. So I'm trying to get a picture of how much I could expect to make.

Doing 2 jobs (5 hours at each) at say after school positions seems like a good deal. It would equate to 10 hours of work a day but should hopefully earn a minimum of 4mil a month. Do you think this is a reasonable expectation? I'm not 100% sure but I think these positions also offer a 400k housing allowance? If so, then could I also expect to add a total of 800k (2 jobs) to the monthly income so that the total would be 4.8mil?

I think I could raise a family on 4.8mil a month in Korea, I'm not greedy, to me, money isn't everything, I don't expect a 'cushy' lifestyle, I just wish to be comfortable.

Does anyone have any experience or input on this? I'd really appreciate hearing some advice.

Thanks



-Doing 2 different jobs, 5 hours at each school, maybe at after school positions.

[optik404]

Your gf isn't planning to work?

[Otherside]

Yup could work.

You could find 1 Afterschool position easily enough, with a schedule running from say 12-5. Then you need to find a place for your other gig, a lot of people do corporates in the morning evening, and the pay per hour can be good. A point to note with the A/S programmes, is that a lot of them are extending hours. A few years back, it used to be a 4-5hour day...now I'm seeing a lot of positions with closer to 7 hours at work.

Also remember, when working multiple jobs, it's very important to make note of the commuting time/time between jobs. While a 10 hour day seems manageable, adding 2 hours on a crowded subway each day will really hurt.

[frankhenry]

[Who's Your Daddy?]

5 Mil is about the max that you could do without burning out and going crazy. I found that 4.5 say was fine before our baby was born. But for the first 3 years after a baby you'll be so tired just doing one full time (say public school) would be enough.

Now, in Korea, kindergarten is very cheap (except the English-only ones, which you won't need). After the government subsidy, we pay less than $100 per month.

So, your living costs in Korea (excluding housing) are pretty cheap here.

If you are living in Seoul, your housing costs could be a problem. If you're working in ESL, and your wife isn't working, you'd probably be better off outside of the Seoul area.

==
Now, my personal note. Once the baby is born in Korea it is harder to leave. And in my personal case, the companionship with your wife goes down. One Korean man commented to me "I'm an ATM." So my satisfaction with living in Korea declined, but my wife's desire to live here increased. If I had to do it again, I'd leave Korea with the wife before the baby is born.

[alongway]

If you can get Jeonse
and you want to work a little.. you can do pretty well on a single income. Even with kids.

If you want to coast.. not so much.

A well paying day/afternoon job with 1 or 2 really solid business classes could put you at around 5 million. You might be up early, but won't really be home late. 5 million, with no rent means your necessities will probably be less than 700-800/month in terms of basic groceries and utilities, higher for heat in the winter.

In some situations it might be much more advantageous to be in Korea.

starting a business, cost of living, etc. In others, back home might be better. Depends on your career prospects and what your housing situation might be like.

[TDC troll]

I brought up my daughter here , until the first grade in middle school .
She then decided she'd like to go to the states and live with my sister .
I'm actually not spending as much , as if she were here .

More to your point , I believe that it not so much what you earn as
how you spend it .

At my highest point of earning here , I was getting almost 6 mil / mth , at
my own home school , after expenses .
My wife also had a restaurant .
Yeah big bucks , right ............. Well , no .... Because we were spending
like crazy .

Now , I work at a hagwon , 3mil /mth + morning kindy 3 x wk ( 1mil/mth.
My wife sold her restaurant , now she is the cook at a local place
2.5 mil/mth . So , exactly ; 6.5mil/ mth combined.

But , we realized our bad spending habits from our past .
We have cut down on unnecessary things .

I should say that even if you are getting money for housing .
Which I believe you'll probably only be able to get from one employer.
If you work after - school , you'll only have time for part-time kindy or
business classes in the morning .
Definitely save towards , a big chonsae or buying a place .
That was definitely the relief point for me , anyways.
When I moved away from Seoul , and the high housing and bought my
own place in Northern Gyeongi .

The longer I stay here the less I need Seoul , and the salaries are similar,
in a rural area , ( sometimes even better ) .

[Yaya]

Hmm, as soon as your child enters elementary school, your wife might want to move to the West (dunno where you from but I assume you are from the West). Korean schools are good at teaching basic science and math, but well, there is a reason most expats leave Korea: their children's education. Plus the cost of living in Korea has shot up but salaries have stagnated. And well, it's getting better for multicultural families and kids but still a far cry from what you could get back home.

Save as much as you can then convince your wife that life won't stay hunky dorry in Korea and that moving abroad would be better.

[Lazio]

It would be best if both you and your wife worked for a couple of years and save like crazy so when the baby comes you will be able to afford a decent Jeonse or buy a house. It depends on her age though.

[kingplaya4]

I've had F visa for quite a few years, not as ambitious as some, but I'm far from lazy. When I still single I was saving a million a month or a little more, at a run of the mill hogwan. Now I work at much better one which was giving me regular raises those have slowed to a trickle but I'm also allowed to teach private lessons in their building provided they get a cut which I think is fair.

So we can say my income not counting inflation has doubled since getting married, but the reality is with another person to support nearly all the extra money gets eaten up. I'm probably saving a few hundred thousand more than I was, but it's nothing worth getting excited about. If my wife wasn't as lovely as she is this whole Korea deal totally wouldn't be worth it for me.

[FriendlyDaegu]

What kind of engineering? 5mil is the low end for engineering, technical advisors, field service, etc., with potential of up to 20mil with quals and experience. You may do better to focus on that. The jobs are not easy to find but they do come up once in a while.

[frankhenry]

other little expenses. 100,000 won gift every time one of the relatives marries. 50,000 won gift for the cousin's new baby. 100,000 won for chuseuk, and 100,000 won for new year. and a 100,000 won for this, and a 100,000 won for that. 900,000 won to replace the refrigerator, etc.

but, you will be able to buy a box of apples for 18,000 instead of paying the 20,000 won foreigner price

[jvalmer]

[Weigookin74]

[jvalmer]