Korean Job Discussion Forums

[basic69isokay]

How's the economy? Are you able to make more or less than in Korea? Do you wish you stayed? Or left earlier?
Many people are now deciding Korea is not worth it, just wondering what the word is from the other side. Thanks

[Died By Bear]

IT jobs have been trickling back into existence...I've noticed it because I'm always getting alerts from CareerBuilder. But not the way it was before 2008.

[northway]

As always, it depends on what your skills are, and to a lesser degree what your passions are. There are jobs to be had, but what differentiates you, and what industry are you looking to get into? Is there an industry you really want to get into, or do you just want a job? The problem for a lot of EFLers is that they don't really have any marketable skills and they're most passionate about travel/culture/drinking, none of which will get you hired.

Unless you have some real skills, you're going to be lucky to get $30-35k to start, regardless of where you go. Even with the cheapest apartment ever, that's going to be significantly less money than you make even on the lower end of the spectrum in Korea. Once you factor in the fact that you probably have to have a car, and thus pay for gas and insurance, you're out over $1,000 a month between housing and transportation, easy.

I came back after a relatively short time (2.5 years) and I was only 26, so it was easier for me than most. I got into sales and marketing, and while I have moved very quickly in my company and have an awesome title for the industry that most people need at least a decade of experience to get, I save significantly less than I do when I was in Korea while not having nearly the freedom to spend that I did while I was there (and this is with a 401K match, health insurance fully covered, and phone covered by my employer).

One part of me wishes that I'd stayed in Korea, but I see how hard it was after just 2.5 years there to come back and find something, and at a relatively young age. I can't imagine how difficult it would be if I'd stayed for five years and come back now.

One regret of what I didn't do before I came back was to take online classes to improve my skills. If you're on the broke end of the spectrum, look into the free (or super cheap) classes offered by EdX (https://www.edx.org) - there are hundreds of classes up now, all offered by great schools, with the max price usually around $150 if you want a certificate of achievement. If you have a bit of money to spend, I highly recommend checking out Harvard Extension School or MIT's online offerings - these are a little bit more expensive than some of the other online courses out there, but the name recognition carries a lot more cachet and is more likely to help balance your EFLing. In hindsight, I think it would have been infinitely easier to spin my time in Korea if I had been consistently taking a class or two each semester to improve my skills while I was there, explaining it as an adventure during which I was improving myself rather than just an adventure.

[Weigookin74]

[KimchiNinja]

The news is all about how unemployment is getting better, but I tend to be skeptical of government numbers.

For example as far as employed-to-population ratio -- the US used to be higher than the world avg, but that has changed and they are now lower. Around 58% of working age people in the USA work (down from 62% in 2006).

http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.EMP.TOTL.SP.ZS/countries/1W-KR-US?display=graph

[Weigookin74]

[KimchiNinja]

Income inequality is another reason to avoid the US job market. The middle class are slaves to the 1%; with wages held constant, while cost of living increases. If you hit upper middle class you receive some scraps, but middle class gets raped from all sides.

[northway]

Harvard Extension has a graduate certificate in marketing that's only four courses ($2,200 a course though) and could be knocked out in two semesters. If you're looking at breaking into the business world, that would certainly help, though it is quite costly.

As for focusing on the interior, there's a point there, but I wouldn't be so vehement about it. The comeback of the American city over the last decade has really been awesome, and cities like Kansas City, Pittsburgh, and Milwaukee have a lot to offer these days.

That said, I think you're underestimating how difficult it can be moving to a place where you don't know anyone, particularly a smaller city. It's super easy to meet new people in a place like Korea, as there are so many new people moving through all the time and groups of friends are quite fluid. It's not nearly as easy in a new city, particularly a smaller city, if you don't know anyone there beforehand. If you're leaving Korea, it makes sense to move to a place where you have a social network (and perhaps something of a professional network) in place.

Also, it's not as if the coasts are that bad once you get away from the immediate metro areas of New York, Boston, DC, SF, LA, and Seattle. I would qualify both Portland, Maine and Portland, Oregon as belonging to the coasts, but both are still quite affordable and have vibrant startup scenes. Ditto Providence and Baltimore.

Speaking from experience here, having done it once, I won't move to another domestic location where I don't know anyone.

[Who's Your Daddy?]

^^ I get what you're saying, but I'd rather be middle class in Canada (or the US - I'd live in Texas), than rich in Korea.

[JMO]

[KimchiNinja]

Sorry, but what is anyone going to do with a marketing degree/certification?

[northway]

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[KimchiNinja]

[JMO]