Korean Job Discussion Forums

[CalifasGirl]

Hi, I'm a Korean woman who was born in Seoul, and I have lived in Los Angeles since I was a year old. I recently visited my family since I haven't seen my maternal family in ages. I wanted to check on English language schools, but I was told to just submit my résumé by two of the three I checked out while I was there. I found them somewhat unfriendly to deal with except for YBM. There was an Englishman at YBM who was quite pleasant. We sat down and chatted for a few minutes.

Since there are so many people here who have so much experience living and teaching in Korea, do you think I should concentrate on YBM? I don't think I will have a good time of it with the other schools given the brusque manner I was treated with. My major reason for concentrating on the Kangnam area is that I would like to be near my grandmother, who is nearing the last stage of her life. I'd like to be there with her.

Currently, I am a substitute teacher in LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District). I hold a BS in genetics, and I used to work for a biotechnology company before I realized that I hate corporate science. Since I had already published a few poems, I went to graduate school and received a Masters in writing. Yeah, like there's a lot of jobs in the US for writers! So, basically, I substitute for LAUSD so that I can focus on my writing.

I did apply and was hired by YBM several years ago, but had to reject the offer since the stock market had crashed. My student loan payments alone amounted to more than what would have been my salary. Basically, my needs are:

1. enough money to pay my bills
2. in Seoul close to the Kangnam area
3. decent work conditions

Number 3 is obviously relative to each person. Given that I sub in South LA where there are riots and gunshots, perhaps what you think is "decent" will be different from what I think is "decent." Also are there other options rather than the hakwons? I noticed that some companies need writers, and when I visited Korea, no one really seems fluent in English, especially WRITTEN English (the Chicago Manual of Style).

Thank you in advance for any information that you are able to give me.

Liz

[canuckistan]

Hey Liz, are you fluent in Korean? There are a lot of jobs for bilingual Koreans teaching TOEFL and SAT-type prep courses. Good earnings potential as well.

[CalifasGirl]

[Intrepid]

You mention three items that you'd expect--
1. enough money to pay my bills
2. in Seoul close to the Kangnam area
3. decent work conditions
All would be satisfied by either of the YBM schools at Kangnam station. A friend of mine just started at one of them; I actually worked at another one of them, but it was back when salaries were 1.05 million a month and that was not bad! Nowadays they get you a one room apartment and pay the deposit; you pay the monthly rent and utility fee of around 500,000. The bills will be another 100,000. Your salary of, I think it's now around 2,000,000 will cover that with money to spare.
The housing that my friend was given was in Daechi, near enough to Kangnam. It was, unfortunately, unfurnished--I don't know if this is the norm but he set the place up for around 700,000 Won, and probably could have done it for less if he'd used this board.
Hmm... Number three is tough. It's 30 fifty minute periods per week with lousy vacations, as you probably know. Still, it's adults, which is better than children in my book. I haven't heard anything bad from my friend about YBM--just that it's a lot of work.
Hope this helps!

[ThisCharmingMan]

Liz,

I'm a gyopo who has experienced some frustrations here when dealing with salaries.Many will try to pay you less compared to whites citing "expectation" levels of students (Actually, I find young children don't question your "foreigness" as much as older students).Don't let them get thier way!Tell them why you deserve the salary you want and stick to it.If they don't budge, then it's probably better to just move on to another and count yourself lucky to have sidestepped a bunch of other potential hassels.

I do suggest maybe splitting half your time at a hagwon as a part-timer and then making up the rest with privates all depending on your ethical standards.The downside is that as a part-timer, you won't probably get severance or a return ticket, but the upside is that you can make the same amount of money for less hours put-in (depending on if you can find cheap housing or something free with help from your relatives)and if your willing to work a little extra then you could probably make some more and finally get that Louis Vuitton bag you've had your eyes set on at Shinsegae Department Store.You have power with that F-4 visa!

Good luck!

[gochubandit]

hey i'm a gyopo looking for work out in Seoul as well. currently in the bay area, cali. are there any schools that consistently hired gyopos for work? i have this feeling that since i'm kor-am, they'll be expecting me to be bilingual, which i'm SO NOT. also when's a good hiring season generally?

[CalifasGirl]