Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Tulipsaki]

[enchoo]

Try university jobs

[Tulipsaki]

[Weigookin74]

Had a lawyer friend married to a Korean and he worked for some law school here teaching common law in their legal departments. He did some universities in Seoul, but they wouldn't give him tenure. So, he gave them the finger and moved to the countryside and they did give him tenure. But, he had either an F2 or F5. But, you might have to be in Korea and get a Korean to look for you. Maybe the countryside is easier to find something though.

[Chaparrastique]

[ykang2375]

[young_clinton]

I don't understand what the issue is here. Would a Biology degree be a problem? Would an underwater basket weaving degree be a problem? I have the prior degree and a lot of people teaching have the latter. Why would a J.D. matter? You can think and learn and have academic ability.

[Died By Bear]

[PRagic]

You'll probably want to get a TESOL cert, but only if you're looking for university jobs. Might be tough if you're a short-termer from the get-go as there are more and more qualified teachers here with loads of qualifications going for university slots.

A smaller, out of own university might give you a shot, though. Never know until you try. Go on-line and get a list of all Korean universities (the search will take you all of 2 seconds). Get an ESL friendly CV in order and pepper the landscape.

Or you could take a hagwon job. If that's your preference, go for a medium to large chain like Pagoda, YBM, or Wall Street Institute, even Chungmoon, where adult teaching positions are available. In this case, you could opt for life in the big city.

The upside for you is that it'll probably only be a year, and as you'll be on sabattical, you'll be able to roll right back into your old job regardless of whether or not you get raked over the coals here.

Good luck to you.

[Milwaukiedave]

We have a couple JDs on staff at my university. It's not uncommon.

[naturegirl321]

I think Woosong or Yeungnam has looked specifically for JDs to teach law.

[PureLuck]

Hey there. Fellow JD on the job hunt here. Do you also have a Bachelor's? I have found people don't really care about my JD at all, and spending the extra money to get both my JD and Bachelor's apostilled was the only really big difference I've noticed so far. I wouldn't be surprised if it resulted in less job offers being directed towards me, but the fact that I'm a white Canadian probably had more of an impact on that. I still generated plenty of interest once I posted my resume.

You may be able to use your JD and lawyer chops to find interviews for places that need people to teach "business English." I got an interview for a job that was posted seeking someone with corporate/business experience by virtue of my JD even though I don't have any legal work experience. The pay seems to be significantly better than ESL work.

One place I interviewed for asked me why I wanted to leave the legal profession (or the prospect of it) for Korea, and I was pretty honest about just needing some time away in order to decide whether I really wanted to pursue a career in law. That went over well. I think a lot of employers are used to the fact that people treat Korea as kind of an adventure and tend to have personal/romantic motives rather than practical ones.

Anyways, I don't have much helpful to add but I wanted to just tip my hat to a fellow rogue JD and express a bit of mutual understanding. Good luck.

[Shimokitazawa]

[PureLuck]

[FMPJ]

I know three JDs working at foreign language high schools. You should be on the lookout for the more "elite" jobs; ordinary schools/hagwons are less likely to consider your background a positive.