Korean Job Discussion Forums

rebish · Joined: 01 Jan 2016

I'm just wondering what everyone's opinion is on jobs like this one. My boyfriend and I are applying for couples positions and, because we definitely want to live together, we're applying for hagwons only.

We were asked by a recruiter if we wanted to do an interview with a Maple Bear school in Incheon. I couldn't find a lot on the school, so we ended up declining the interview for a few reasons. The hours were 9-6 (which of course I know isn't unusual or tooo bad, I've seen plenty of school that are 9-7:30), they only offered a one way flight to Korea (again I know this is becoming more common), and the interview times were really inconvenient - most were around 2am eastern time, which seemed to show a lack of consideration for foreign teachers (that other interviews we've done or been offered were all before 11pm our time). So we politely declined.

Our recruiter responded that there are very few couples positions, that she does think it's a good opportunity and we should reconsider. I see her point and I know the job market is not as it used to be. However, we both majored in Music Education, are working on TEFL (just an online 160 hour course), and have full-time teaching experience (he two years music in public school, me one and a half years lead teacher in a private pre-k). With our backgrounds, I was hoping to be able to secure a job with only 8 hour workdays, round trip flight, at least 10 vacation days, at least 2.1 or 2.2 a month, etc.

But is this unrealistic at this point? Are couples positions really becoming that hard to find?

pmwhittier · Joined: 03 Nov 2011 Location: Korea

trueblue · Joined: 15 Jun 2014 Location: In between the lines

rebish · Joined: 01 Jan 2016

Fuzzy_Dunlop · Joined: 18 Jun 2014

I take issue with the 99% of couples break up figure, but it DOES happen. If it does, you'll be stuck working with your ex, and maybe even having to live with them. Your school will not necessarily go out and rent another apartment for you.

Also, sometimes these jobs go bad. Your housing is tied to your job. If the school you both work at goes under or screws you – you’re both out of work with nowhere to live. If you work at different schools, you’ll each get an apartment (you may choose to simply not use one) – but you would always have a fall back if one job went back. One of you would still have a job and a place to live (of course, dealing with two employers doubles your chances of getting screwed, so…)

Something to think about. Good luck.

JohnML · Joined: 05 Jul 2015

CP · Joined: 18 Jan 2007

If applying from overseas you will never find the good jobs anymore.

I'd suggest (assuming you have saved some money in your lifetime) is apply for a D10 visa.

Come to Korea by yourselves (Flight money is minimal and meaningless in the grand scheme of things).

Maybe stay in a guesthouse for a short time while you are looking for work.

You don't have to work together, but you could try and find positions that are near each other. If not one of you may have to commute. Once you find jobs it's easy to transfer a D10 to an E2.

After finding a position find your own housing so you don't have to be tied to your employer this way. Then you can live together in the location and type of place you want.

Monocyclist · Joined: 02 Jun 2015

I hope it isn't bad form to post a link to another forum. This summary (which admittedly only considers a single position, but one for an inexperienced person) seems to be an approximation of what you can expect in today's market.

See: https://www.reddit.com/r/teachinginkorea/comments/4jtre9/general_contract_expectations_as_of_mid2016/

trueblue · Joined: 15 Jun 2014 Location: In between the lines

SinaloaPaisa · Joined: 30 Sep 2015

OP, I got some bad news for you.

There are certainly not a lot of couple positions. So, honestly if that is what you really want, you in no way can afford to be picky. Unless you want to spend 1 year searching. In your case, gonna be more of a take what you can get.

Also, your teaching license and experience means nothing in the hagwon / ESL world. Teaching ESL in Korea is nothing more than a glorified babysitting job. Why would they want to pay you more to do a job any joe blow can do? This is a business. Reduce costs and increase profits.

OP, you dont need to even find a couple job. Just both of you get a job in Seoul or the same city. Then one of you request to get a housing stipend and go live with the other one. More money that way and can find better jobs.

trueblue · Joined: 15 Jun 2014 Location: In between the lines

PRagic · Joined: 24 Feb 2006

Boyfriend gets a proper international school position, gets set up with a place to live, and you fly over. You find a job in the vicinity (not hard if you want to teach kindy), get the visa run flight paid for, and settle in to work.

You're both more marketable individually. He should NOT say that he'll be living with you once they pay for his apartment or provide his housing allowance.