Korean Job Discussion Forums

Pulgasori · Joined: 14 Sep 2004 Location: En Route to Daejeon

Ahoy!
This is my first posting on your fine forum, I've been reading/stalking the boards for a few weeks now, figured it was time to actually sign up.

To the topic^
...If I told you I'm turning down a 60k/year (entry level, right out of Uni.) job, managing in a 4-star hotel....for the opportunity to go overseas to teach English in South Korea?
(I'm currently interning there, but am being offered the paid position I've been working.)

Well I am. Embarassed

I spent a month in Seoul this past summer in the Bahrom International Program (BIP) offered through Seoul Women's University. It was a great program, in one month I learnt more about Korea, saw more places, had more contact with delightful Korean natives and tried more new things than I could ever have hoped to accomplish on my own.

Point being: I grew EXTREMELY fond of life in the ROK.

I would have many contacts and relationships waiting for me in Seoul, if I were to work in the big city.
I'm picking up the language quite well too. It helps that I have 3 very nice Korean girls at my school teaching me every step along the way... Laughing

So I ask you again, putting yourself in my position, given your experience. Would you take the (albeit non-ideal/boring) well paying job in your hometown or go for the gusto, and try something new and exciting: the path of the ESL teacher. I'm more interesting in your thoughts regarding the differeing lifestyles, as opposed to the professional aspects (why I posted in the general forum Confused

)

Any thoughts or comments are apprciated!

chi-chi · Joined: 15 Jan 2003

Go for the gusto, take the path of the ESL teacher (cough)
Maybe you'll get some poontang.
Best regards Laughing

Pulgasori · Joined: 14 Sep 2004 Location: En Route to Daejeon

Yes, I admit....Korean girls may be accounted for in formulating my eventual decision. Cool

I actually had a nice short-term relationship with a Korean girl during my month there. She's encouraging me to come back as well, which would certainly be nice.

Gollum · Joined: 04 Sep 2003 Location: Japan

Damn, I should have gone into hotel management.

the_beaver · Joined: 15 Jan 2003

danielcraig · Joined: 17 Aug 2004 Location: Indiana, USA

Ditch the hotel job for now. You can always go back.

Also, you might look into hotel jobs in Seoul. The large hotels hire non-Korean speaking management for higher-level positions. Anything in operations is fair game.

Do the teaching thing while you do some hotel networking. Best of both worlds?

royjones · Joined: 26 Mar 2004 Location: post count: 512

You are crazy (just joking). Take the hotel job, and come to korea on vacation. It is a no brainer.

dulouz · Joined: 04 Feb 2003 Location: Uranus

Take the hotel job. ESL in Korea is a dime a dozen. Further, when you quit because you've been screwed over and over again, you wont have to answer the question "why didn't things work out there?"

sadsac · Joined: 22 Dec 2003 Location: Gwangwang

Take the hotel job, get the experience and then find a postion with a major hotel here. You didn't experience Korea in your one month stay. You were a tourist. ESL teaching will not help you get back into management within the hospitality industry. Smile

shortskirt_longjacket · Posted: Sat Sep 18, 2004 6:40 pm Post subject:

Nanaimo bars are yummy. So I've heard.

Take the hotel job if you want something stable and if you're excited at all about starting a career.

Korea's cool, but it's always here. Jobs back home (at least where I come from) are hard to come by. If hotel management is something you want to do, then do it. You certainly didn't go to college to become an ESL teacher.

Good luck; let us know how it works out.

gi66y · Joined: 15 Aug 2003

How old are you? Are you in debt? Family to support?

Working out here is certainly not that stable, but then managing a hotel isn't necessarily stable either.

Also remember that the first stage of culture shock is usually "euphoria"--the I-can't-believe-I'm-really-here feeling. You weren't here long enough to experience the day to day crap that you have to go through to buy things as simple as garbage bags. (I mean I had his garbage can on the counter and I was pointing at his plastic bags and he just stared at me blankly).

I had a good job lined up before I came (although it was closer to 40 than 60K), but I figured that any job I could get then I could get in a year.

Although now it's been almost three...

danielcraig · Joined: 17 Aug 2004 Location: Indiana, USA

Real Reality · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Location: Seoul

Are you enjoying the internship experience? If the internship is going fine, then you probably should accept the hotel position.

You can go to Korea on vacation. Perhaps, you could transfer to a hotel in Seoul in a few years.

Of course, you know that a month in a special program is not the same as working and living in Korea for one year.

Foreigners Experience Difficulties in Living in Korea
Overall living conditions, including education, housing, medical care, transportation, immigration, and access to the Internet are pointed to as inconveniences. Not only inconveniences caused by different systems and customs in Korea, but also special discriminating practices are ubiquitous. "Even though Korea has achieved some degree of globalization in going abroad, it has still a long way to go for globalization in embracing foreigners inward," said foreigners residing in Korea.
article written by Jae-Dong Yu and Soo-Jung Shin
http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?biid=2004070522448

For Housing Rentals, Foreigners Easy Victims
Foreign residents in Seoul are preferred over any Korean tenant by their landlords because they are paying several times as much as what Koreans are paying for their rent, realtors and industry sources say.
article written by Byun Duk-kun
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/nation/200308/kt2003082818233111970.htm

You may want to look at this thread.
http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/korea/viewtopic.php?t=26874

Ilsanman · Joined: 15 Aug 2003 Location: Bucheon, Korea

I agree with the majority. Don't teach here. You are asking to get screwed.
Read some horror stories. They are not fiction.

Pulgasori · Joined: 14 Sep 2004 Location: En Route to Daejeon

I appreciate all the prompt and informative responses!
Just got off annother shift tonight which helped to remind me why I'm not pursuing hospitality.

First off, I certainly realize that my brief stay in Seoul was no more than a mere lick of the icing...Culture shock usually takes more than 30 days to come into effect.

Also, I may not have been clear in my OP, Hospitality/Tourism management isn't my area of specialization, and isn't a sector I envision myself working in several years down the line. I'm looking to find my way into the field of negotiations/labour relations.

The plan is:

-Pay off Student Loan within 1-2 years. (teaching in Korea may come in handy here)
-Complete IMBA back in Canada (international Master of Business Admin)
-Find Gainful employment either domestically or internationally.

My fear would be complatency with the hotel gig. Getting a little too comfortable with what I already have, passing up on what 'may be'.

Haha, I guess I'm just an optimist.

Answering a couple queries: