Korean Job Discussion Forums

[cmac0831]

Hi all,

First time posting, and I hope I'm following the correct etiquette of this board. I searched and didn't find much about this.

I'll be graduating my MA Linguistics program this December and then hunting for a job in Korea starting in Spring 2015. Ideally, I'd like a university job because I'm passionate about truly teaching English. I like kids, but I'd prefer to do as little babysitting and as much structured teaching as possible.

The only problem I foresee is that I will only be 22 when I graduate and start job searching. Aside from the difficulty of finding a serious job with little experience, do you know how close to impossible it would be to find a job teaching university at my age? Do you think speaking Korean could help?

Thank you!
-Cmac

[SeoulNate]

The age will be a barrier, but the lack of experience will be a bigger barrier.

Without a PHD and research, it is nearly (read 100%) impossible to get a uni job here from overseas.

You must be here to interview in person. Also teaching experience is going to be a huge plus for any candidate, of which you have zero.

If you fly yourself over here and get an apartment for your self on your own dime you will be competing with other people who also have MAs and have 2-10 years teaching experience for the most part. They will get the jobs.

Is it possible? Maybe, but you will most likely have to put a year or three in teaching somewhere first.

Side note, at my interviews last fall, at 31 I was one of the younger candidates at most of the places I interviewed.

[cmac0831]

Thanks for the reality check on this one. Do you have any recommendations for career tracks I might want to look at when I'm just starting out? Like I said, I'm fine teaching kids as long as I'm truly expected to teach and not just provide the facade of teaching to make parents happy. I'm also fine with working seriously for serious money and with coming on my own dime to search for jobs in-country. I was thinking about applying to non-teaching education companies as well (like the ones that design test materials and textbooks). Do you think that could be a viable option, or do you think I really will just need to put in my two years at a chain hagwon before I can start getting ambitious?

[SeoulNate]

It never hurts to apply, so you can always try for any job that looks like it would be a good option to you.

IMO - if you are serious about a future in EFL, if you MA offers a teaching cert, or you can take the PRAXIS tests for teaching certification, get that, teach at a middle/high school for 2 years, then head overseas. Being able to work for international schools would be a huge plus.

If you want to start right now, there are plenty of schools that pay a bit more for teachers that have credentials, but you will have to sell yourself well w/o being in the country and having no experience.

Best bet - apply for everything that looks good and take your pick depending on who gets back to you.

[PRagic]

The usual road taken to a university ESL teaching position:

1. Take a job at an institute (hagwon) or a public school. In your case, a hagwon job teaching only adults might be better as your end goal is to teach at a universtiy.

2. Put in a couple of years and get the lay of the land.

3. Add on to your MA with a CELTA and DELTA as you go.

4. Apply for, and hopefully get hired at a smaller university or college in a city or, as is most often the case, at a regional university outside of a major city.

5. Get some experience over the course of a couple of years. Try not to burn any bridges or tick anyone off, because they WILL be contacted once you try to move on to a better gig.

6. Apply for competitive positions with decent pay and conditions somewhere you'd like to live.

7. Work there until they freeze the pay or undercut the pay and benefits, then hope you are competitive enough to go for a handful of the only decent university positions left.

8. Get one of THOSE positions and ride that horse until it dies. Or get really pissed off and leave the country.

[GENO123]

[Troglodyte]

I don't think the DELTA will help much in Korea because it's rare for Koreans to know what that is (and they often don't know what the CELTA is either).

Avoid public schools because they will only give you experience with kids. Find a hagwon and be sure to find out if they have adult classes. If you're willing to do a bit of a split shift then mixed schedule (kids and adults) becomes a bit more probable. If you really want to get some experience quicker, then talk to your boss and tell him that you'll do some extra university student classes without overtime or with only a small perk.