Korean Job Discussion Forums

[PRagic]

@JMO

No reason you can't make the move, but the more you can set up in advance of the actual transition, obviously the better.

The resounding input from those who have made the move without having something set up in advance is that you're going to be uber surprised at just how fast you're going to peel through your savings. If you can stay with family or a friend, at least for a stint, it'll take some of the pressure off.

If you're still single, then that's one less obstacle to just picking up your chips and making the move.

Might be tough going, though. 10 years here doing work unrelated to your target job market leaves you vulnuerable to competition from much younger people with similar degrees and experience.

Again, not saying you can't make it happen, just that you have to be prepared to see it through. Your grad cert, if fairly current, might help a lot. Just look at it this way: at 31, what do you see yourself doing for another 34 years? If you're not up for teaching English and living here (or somewhere else where you can make a buck at it), then the transition, even if it takes a couple of years to get up and running, is well worth the investment.

[JMO]

Yea, the past year has been basically all about setting up in advance. It does feel too little too late at times.

I'm finishing up my grad cert in tech writing.
I took a part time job online editing/writing for a friend's company
I'm doing a remote internship for a software start up in Ottawa building their help documentation.

By the time, I hit the job market I'll have a year (slightly more) of kind of relevant experience, portfolio and references. I do have decent - good connections in Calgary and Ottawa too. I'm hoping it all works.

I'm starting to think of moving into instructional design as I do have time to build a portfolio and I could relay more of my experience into that. Also, at my current job I could develop projects for my dept and parlay that into my portfolio.

I'm moving with my fiance (will be wife) and we'll be staying with her family for a while, as my visa stuff gets sorted out. I like living in Korea, but its time to move on. I do not want to be here for 34 more years for sure.

[Died By Bear]

I'm just an average man with an average life. I work from 9 to 5, hey, hell I pay the price. All I want is to be left alone in my average home .. But why do I always feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone?

[Stain]

[northway]

[JMO]

[bbud656]

I was worried about the same things, but my path took me to China instead of home.
I've been out of Korea for about almost 8 months now after 3.5 years teaching there. I spent most of my time drinking, traveling, and having a blast. However, I realized if I didnt change something I would be stuck there forever and I didnt see the teaching situation staying as rosy for me in the long term.
Originally, I was planning on going back to the US and looking for a gov't job or some entry level marketing thing. To help my chances I did a complete 180 and worked my ass off to make up for my 3 years of excess. 6 Months before I left Korea I started a company with a friend (who also happened to teach in Korea). I had also made it a point to network on my travels and stay in touch with the people I met. That combined with the company I started landed me an internship at a large advertising agency in Beijing. I pretty much knew no one upon arrival. Checked into a hostel in a beijing hutong. I used my savings from Korea to enroll in a language school. I took intensive, 1 on 1 Chinese lessons for 20 hours a week, worked 20 hours at the internship, and managed my company late at night ( US Time zone). I did this for about 3 months until I had an idea to start another company to fill a need in China. After trying to do all 4 at once, had to quit my internship. I was working something like 14 hours a day and starting to go crazy. Now my new company is getting some great valuations and I am in the process of shopping Angel investors. The company I started with a friend when I was in Korea is doing great and helping finance my living after I spent my Korea savings on IP lawyers.

The whole reason I went to China was to acquire skills after dulling my brain in Korea for so long. Now I can speak decent Mandarin, I can write an air tight patent, and know a whole lot on how to run and set up companies in multiple countries. I risked a decent amount of savings to learn this stuff and I decided from the start that it would be worth it even if my companies failed.

In retrospect, being an entrepreneur isn't the best resume builder. Despite having an insane amount of experience from setting up and running things on my own, not many companies want to hire someone with an entrepreneur bug in them. I would probably have to downplay my experiences to get a regular job in the future. Like some other people have said, leave before 3 years are up. Try to do something productive in your free time. I worked my ass off and was no fun my last 6 months in Korea. I certainly was no fun my next 6 months in China. Work hard and you will land on your feet. A little luck helps also.

[northway]

[Died By Bear]

[Steelrails]