Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Kwangjuchicken]

[TECO]

thanks

[fusionbarnone]

Working with false qualifications is illegal anywhere. In the US, employers are checking and I don't think that Korean English teachers working for Hogwans would find difficulty in doing a web-search of "ones" university on behalf of the directors. Diploma Mills must advertise in order to stay in business so you can't hide. In Korea, imagine a Director who suddenly discovers his "prize" waygook has a purchased lambskin after having worked for months, in the west, the police are usually notified. Do not get complacent here, even, Paladin Press authors of subversive literature who specialize in "ID changing" recommend getting a real qualification asap. Thanks to the internet, the world has become way too small.

[fusionbarnone]

An interesting side note. A number of years ago in Korea (10/15) Korean uni students would apply and complete a 1 year PhD program in Manila then returning to Korea transferring credits toward courses in Dentistry. his worked for a while until the govt stamped out the practice.

In the west, a legitimately earned degree from India, Phillippines, etc would be scoffed at but, such degrees are stilled "earned". These exotic unis are ligitimate so your education can be verified. However work-wise, Korea states that to qualify for a visa a 4 year undergraduate degree is required and only a 2 year on-site Masters degree is recognized as well as your uni being from a western country.

If you want to add credibility to a "How to"book your writing this will put you up in the serious stakes rather quickly. Academic snobbery can be side-stepped via this route, it's cheap, non-diploma-mill, and not as damn stressful as enduring a@#$% professors and the politics you must play if you go the MA, Phd route back home.

If you want to avoid even the work needed to complete something at this level, you can always set up your own unaccredited university registered in a country Bahamas etc (even Nevada which is quite cheap to register a company). If it's solely for you and a "few" select clients you are not a diploma mill provided your are not advertising for "graduates". A nice website(cut & paste/scan), answering service, all legitimate. Anyway, my 2 cents worth for those seeking alternatives.

[Zed]

[fusionbarnone]

The information was supplied courtesy of the National Korean Department of Education, and only, after I queried their reason for not giving those with a masters degree, whose study in entirety consisted of 1 year, a pay rise. If you have a 2 year duration Masters then their next question is to question your alma mater's brick and morter status, followed by your actually on-site classroom attendance. It's a ploy/s to pay you less using every angle possible.

[Zed]

Well, I guess "recognized for what" is the question. There are teachers here working at unis who only have BAs. There are some working on Masters now via distance. There are ......

So this is in relation to getting raises? At which places?

[fusionbarnone]

Good point as it raises what I've suspected happens far too often in Korea namely, administrators will do or say whatevers required to get the result they want. In the case of people I know, it was to save money for the EPIK program. For people you know, I guess the needs of the institution were the primary concern and decisions were made based on filling the vacuum rather than presenting barriers.

[mithridates]

Ah, this is an interesting thread; I didn't notice it as I was in China at the time.

The first visa I got in Japan was a Working Holiday Visa, and the second time I got a visa as a Specialist in Humanities / International Services, which I got by showing them the Japanese Language Proficiency Test Lv. 1 that I passed, which immigration accepted.

As for fake degrees, as far as I can tell there are two types: the kind that issue one within a week or so for under $100, and the other kind that costs more, somewhere around the $1000 mark. They call themselves educational consultants and claim that they only give degrees to people who are already qualified for one due to previous experience or knowledge, and seem to balk at the term degree mill.

Never met anybody who had a fake degree though. I couldn't see myself turning one in either unless he/she was really incompetent or just needed to be gone. Apparently there was a teacher at the place where I used to work who was a bit of a pedophile and just shouldn't have been hired (his degree was real though). He kept on making sexual jokes about children and didn't get along with anybody else and the hagwon knew that he just had to go, so they called him into the office and told him that he was lacking in work ethic and needed to work harder. He told them that he didn't intend to give any more effort and they used that as a reason to fire him, after which everybody breathed a sigh of relief.

[Juggertha]

I would be more worried about someone abilities and attitudes than their degree status. Honest, I DO KNOW ppl here with degrees and for the most part they are the same as the ones with paper, some are good and some not as good.

[rapier]

I couldn't care less. The standard of many of the hagwons here, the way they treat their workers, etc hardly warrants or deserves someone well qualified.
Most of these places deserve monkeys for teachers. they'd probably be better at playing games as well.

[TheUrbanMyth]

[TECO]

[mithridates]

[TECO]