Korean Job Discussion Forums

uberscheisse · Joined: 02 Dec 2003 Location: japan is better than korea.

i disagree. i've met probably 100 foreigners since i've been here. every one has got through my invisible monster fence of "are you honest?".

of course i'm open to getting burned by a demonic piece of poo, too. but i know how to streetfight so i should be ok.

mysteriousdeltarays · Posted: Fri Jul 23, 2004 9:32 am Post subject:

He is a smart cookie but not educated. Hmm may I suggest yet again a working holliday visa to Japan where "smart cookies" if cute, control the world. Or better yet Taiwan! Where nothing is required beyond young and cute!

uberscheisse · Joined: 02 Dec 2003 Location: japan is better than korea.

well he is an accomplished songwriter and guitarist with a great singing voice...

but he's italian. i don't think you could market an italian to an asian market unless they were an action film star.

JongnoGuru · Joined: 25 May 2004 Location: peeing on your doorstep

lovalova · Joined: 30 Jun 2004 Location: Wherever the girls are

uberscheisse · Joined: 02 Dec 2003 Location: japan is better than korea.

BA in computer science? you could teach english...

mindmetoo · Joined: 02 Feb 2004

JongnoGuru · Joined: 25 May 2004 Location: peeing on your doorstep

Okay, all joking aside, I'm seriously not getting this discussion.

Uberscheisse,

I'm sure you've noticed a distinct lack of really useful responses to your OP thus far. This isn't because readers of this thread are being intentionally unhelpful, IMO.

I think, rather, your OP presupposes certain facts or circumstances that bear little semblance to reality on the ground here, and we're just unable to be of much help beyond comic relief (street-singer, gigolo) or tangential observations about degrees and computer science.

Despite your having landed a job & income that satisfies you, why would your friend arbitrarily choose to live & work in Korea?

First of all, and regardless of which country we're discussing, it's a person's particular skill set & work experience that determines their "job market" -- where they'll work -- not the other way around.

We don't first pick Job Market X (or Country X, in this case) on the basis of a friend who's found himself gainful employment there, and then try to cobble together a suitable resume. (...notwithstanding an earlier poster's citing of reports that white-collar middle-class Koreans will spend US$30k for the chance to slaughter chickens, just to get to the Land of the Big PX)

Point 1: Once you're out of the school system and into the work force, it's your skill set that determines where you'll work and live, not vice versa.

Secondly, Korea is not Mexico, or Thailand, or the Philippines, or India, with their lively populations aging flower children and gen-x slackers from the West. It's not even Taiwan or Japan, with its little colony of colourful Western "buffalo people" in their pavement stalls, hand-crafting silver & tourquoise trinkets to sell to amused Japanese passers-by.

Since when has the Republic ever set out a "welcome mat" for westerners just kicking around wondering what to do with themselves for a few years? (I'm not including ESLers in that group) And with all due respect, since when was anyone so deluded to imagine that day is on the horizon?
The government, the laws and the people of Korea certainly aren't looking to become the slacker hub of Northeast Asia.

Who are the foreigners in Korea? Foreign factory workers are here under specific government programmes to perform 3-D jobs, U.S. military are here for obvious reasons, ESL instructors are here to meet a specific perceived need, corporate representatives are here to ... represent their corporations ( Smile

), the corps diplomatique is here because they're everywhere, tourists are here temporarily and can't work legally, and a few dozen legal/technical types and foreign correspondents make up the rest.

Point 2: Despite what we see on "Club Day" over in Hongdae, Korea isn't an R&R station for the Freak Brothers' Global Tour.

There are countries custom-built for foreigners to hang out for a few years while they "find themselves", "make their next big move", or simply "dry out". That Korea isn't among this very small handful, though, shouldn't annoy or surprise us.

The Guru

mithridates · Posted: Sun Jul 25, 2004 9:42 pm Post subject:

How is your friend's Korean? As somebody else who chose not to go to university I can sympathize with his predicament. If his Korean's good enough he should first make a Cyworld homepage and start making contacts from there. If he's not planning to go to university his only option might be becoming famous in Korea. I would probably also recommend a year in Japan first, get a Working Holiday visa and go to Fukuoka. Lots of Koreans there too.

uberscheisse · Joined: 02 Dec 2003 Location: japan is better than korea.

jongnoguru... thanks.

like i had said before, i hadn't expected a positive response, due to his lack of 'formal' education. also, he doesn't speak korean... which is detrimental for anyone not wanting to teach ESL.

he didn't choose korea, he's just my pal and sees that i'm having a good time here, and was curious of what his oppportunities were here. i had no clear answer for him - but i thought someone else here might.

i bet he could get work as a sound engineer or recordist and become the next big Kpop producer... but i'd bet all other engineers are korean-speakers only, so he's pretty effed there too.

oh well.