Korean Job Discussion Forums

[iduran]

I have been in Seoul now for 6 weeks with all the necessary documents for an E-2 visa as a US citizen, but I'm finding it quite difficult to even get an interview. Some recruiters have blatantly told me it's my age (55), and the fact that many schools prefer female candidates (I've also read that on many posts here), but another factor is that my experience is almost exclusively with adults whereas the great majority of jobs here are for teaching children, and in large groups, whereas I am hoping to teach in small groups. I know, I'm picky.

So on the one hand I'm over-qualified or too old (many schools want young -and therefore even inexperienced) recent graduates, and on the other hand I am under-qualified (I don't have a Master's degree), and not interested in the large groups, hassles or trappings of university "academia."

I have 30+ years of experience teaching English and Spanish as foreign languages in Germany (4 years), Japan (4 years), Spain (13 years), and the USA (3 years) in all kinds of environments, such as private schools, companies, private lessons. I've helped start up language schools, and even had my own school in Spain for 10 years.

So I'm completely bilingual in Spanish and English (with dual citizenship from the USA and Spain), and I'm professionally proficient and experienced in German, French, and Japanese. I've worked extensively as a translator from Japanese into English, and also from German and French into English. Due to the similarity of syntax and to a great extent also vocabulary, my fluency in Japanese makes it relatively easy for me to learn to read and translate Korean, although I have yet to reach the intermediate level in speaking or listening.

Rather than teaching in a school (private or public), I would almost prefer to work as an in-house proofreader, editor, and translator. I figure in moments of lower activity I could also teach the staff English or any of my other languages. However, it's hard for me to find outsourcing companies. I would need an employer to sponsor me for the visa; I can't just offer my services to companies as a freelancer. Another reason for wanting a regular job is the health insurance coverage. And simply because I need a "break" from all these years of insecurity and "freedom" as a freelancer. After a year or two in Korea I'd like to return to my nomadic translator and teaching life (through Skype) cycle touring around the world.

What would you all recommend? Please ask any details I might have forgotten to mention. If it's ok, I can also post my CV here for all to see. It's shorter than all I've written so far actually.

[Speck7]

Good luck it's rough out there and given your age it wont be easy, but doable. keep looking.

[ttompatz]