Korean Job Discussion Forums

[PRagic]

This is partly written in the spirit of a motivational message, and, admittedly, partly as an act of shameless self-promotion.

Over the years, there has been a decidedly pessimistic take expressed on these boards when it comes to the ability of foreigners in Korea to advance their careers, whether it means staying in ESL or transitioning to a different field.

Well, midair chest bump, high five, low five, funky dance; I’ve been promoted to Full Professor with tenure. So it CAN be done no matter where you start out here.

I transitioned out of ESL long ago, but as I’ve often written on Dave’s, ESL put me in Korea, paid the bills, and introduced me to teaching as a career, and for those things I’ll always be grateful.

Over the years, I’ve mostly been active on Dave’s when people have questions about pursuing advanced degrees and the prospects for employment should the degree(s) be earned. This post is along those lines.

I started out, like so many others, working at a hagwon. Originally, I just came over to work for a year or two while burnishing my Korean. Then, when I found out about the opportunity, I did my Master’s in Korea at a Graduate School of International Studies. Work in ESL, in many forms, enabled me to pay cash for the degree along the way, have a little in the bank so we could get married, and then to actually bank and invest when most of my cohort was going into debt up to their eyeballs to do the same back in the US.

Post degree, I had started out working in trade and foreign direct investment here, but then the Asian financial crisis surreptitiously put an end to that option. Armed with that Master’s, my first university job was teaching English. I liked it, and my wife and I liked the lifestyle. I knew that ESL wasn’t a long term option for me, especially as I came to meet more and more professionals with related degrees and certs. I didn’t’ have them, and I quickly hit my level of incompetence - freely admitted.

My Ph.D. was done back in the US, and like many I was fortunate enough to get fully funded with a stipend for the duration. The goal was always to knock it out and then work at a university here in Seoul.

Being open to working at a Korean university meant that I could go directly into a tenure track position rather than first having to do one or two post-docs.

The playing field with the Doctorate leveled out. In my experience, the same rules apply to all faculty regardless of country of origin. I made the first promotion to Associate Professor on time and without event. Tenure and the promotion to Full Professor also came at the first available opportunity, and the process unfolded with the full support of my department, college, and university.

The global job market for academe isn’t that great, and, as such, the option of pursuing a Doctorate in any field with the goal of securing a tenure track job should be weighed against personal circumstances. But it is possible, and it’s possible without accruing a load of debt.

My apologies for penning a novella here. Thanks to all those who supported me over the years. Sincerely appreciated.

[ttompatz]

Contrats on full professorship and tenure.

.

[tophatcat]

[Redcap]

Congrats on securing the tenured position.

Time to go shopping for appropriately unfashionable Tweed jacket and pipe.

[euluhawk]

Does the graduate program provide nightly classes or offer scholarships?
I'm trying to applying for graduate programs, but really want to stay in my current job that is during the day.

[PRagic]

Probably depends on the program and what you want to study. Some of the TESOL programs, for example Dongkuk, may have night classes.

If you're looking to major in international studies, international relations, Asian studies (or Korean studies), or business/commerce/trade, then you're probably going to be looking into Graduate Schools of International Studies (GSIS) at Yonsei University, Korea University, Seoul National University, Ewha Womans University, or Sogang University. Those are the major players, but Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU) is also up there (particularly for an MBA), and Sejong University also runs a dual degree MA/MBA program as well. You'd have to check with them individually to see if they offer night courses.

When I was in grad school, I went on the books at the hagwon as a contractor and taught only a couple of hours a night during semesters, but then full time over the breaks. I was also doing a lot of ESL oriented writing, editing, and recording, and co-hosted a radio show. When all was said and done, I was making a pretty decent buck even as a full time grad student.

Looking back, I have no idea how all that got done, but it did. Definitely wouldn't want to do it again now lol. No fancy vacations, a crap apartment, and no over-the-top spending on a social life (and no time for one anyway). But we had fun when we could and the time flew by. Still, we were able to get a nice place on our own dime when we got married when I was half way done with school.

The upside? Yeah, those couple of years sucked, but by the time I had that first job at a university, I had so much going on on the outside that I made more doing that stuff than I did at the university. My wife had a good job, too, so we were banking quite a bit even by corporate standards. That was enhanced by the university provided housing that freed up the initial coin we had lumped into chunsae on our first place together.

Your employer might be flexible, especially if you have an F-series visa. If not, you could probably find a place that would let you work around a degree. If you don't have an F-series visa, you are allowed to work some on a student visa (20 hours a week?).

Like I've said, I've been out of the ESL game for a long time. I don't know which, if any, of those opportunities still exist. Back then, it was quite easy to network and find any number of income generating, ESL oriented gigs. I remember teaching a couple of corporate classes for 60-80 an hour, for example.

Best of luck to you. Hope things pan out.

[PRagic]

Ah, and, yes, most of those grad programs do have scholarships. They've gotten more and more competitive over the years, though, so getting has gotten a bit tougher, especially for some of the more popular programs.

As when shopping for any grad program, follow the money. Whoever offers you the best funding wins!

[nick2012]

That is awesome news PRagic, congratulations!

You may not remember, but you offered me some useful advice when I was choosing between GSIS programs almost a year ago now. I hardly ever post here, but wanna say thanks for your commitment in helping those on this board.

A bright future awaits!

[PRagic]

Thanks. Hope your plans are unfolding, well, as planned! Cheers, PR

[mithridates]

Congrats! I'll reference this the next time I see the subject of careers in vs. out of Korea roll around.

[kimchi_pizza]

A sincere congratulations~!

[JohnML]

[Zyzyfer]

Congratulations.