Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Us in DC]

Is there a particular one you would recomend? Do they have little boys at the one you frequent?

I have never had a total stranger follow me around a public forum to harass me before. You are like my public forum stalker. Find a hobby.

[cacheSurfer]

[chronicpride]

- Establish what city you want to work in (you'll have better luck in Seoul).

- Make some Korean internet friends before you come over (you can make a lot of contacts thru language exchange websites). In addition to planning to do language exchange with them after you arrive, many will be happy to help you get settled and oriented. Give you accommodation location assistance. Help you look for work. Plus the added advantage that you can begin learning Korean, while you help them with their english.

Get the networking happening. Get your resume/photo out to every email address of every school/recruiter you can find. Email them once every other day. Don't let up. Have a great , smiling, professional photo done of yourself (not just a passport shot). Your photo is what's going to get you the job.

[JennyJJ]

For a little change of pace on this thread: I completely disagree with the "come on over and find a job when you get here - is the only smart way to do it" method.

You'll see quotes here like " Find a neighbourhood you like and walk down the street. There's a hogwan on every block" Well, there's not.

Many people on this board seem to have forgotten how confusing this country can seem when you first arrive.

Okay, call me a stick in the mud - but I have worked here twice and set up my jobs both times before arriving. Once via a recruiter, in 1993 - not all recruiters are bad - and mine was very helpful with problems several times. The second time I organized the job through friends already on the ground here.

Personally, I feel Korea can be quite confusing, English usage here is not of good quality - and the big cities are expensive and not easy to get around in.

If I was coming for the first time - I'd probably try to arrange things through a recruiter - or even several recruiters - and then meet the schools on arrival - do a few interviews and make a final decision. This still leaves you needing a visa run - but if you want to be selective - it gives you some choices.

For your first year here (I'm at 4+) - I wouldn't be too selective. I see newbies with long lists of what they want, but with very short lists of what they have to offer. Try to balance the two please.

Try spending your first year here making contacts and getting to know your town and schools. The first year in any new country is a time to pay your dues and to build your base for GREAT second year and more.

Just my opinion here.

[chronicpride]

Absolutely 100% spot on. All of it.

[bosintang]

I have to agree with JennyJJ here. It seems to me that too many people here have forgotten how confusing Korean can be the first couple of weeks you are here, and a lot of these answers just seem unrealistic to me. As well, Korea is not a traveller's paradise. Traveller accomodations can be expensive, and basics like fax machines, proper internet cafes (not game rooms), can be tedious to find.

That being said, if you still prefer to be here while searching for a job -- and everything else being equal, I personally *do* think this is the best idea -- I wouldn't change the way I'd go about job searching. I'd still go through recruiters, read the job boards on Dave's ESL cafe, English spectrum, etc.

If you decide to come, learn these Korean symbols:

���ÿ� - goshiweon
������ - go-shi-tel (swear filter picked it up!)

PC-�� PC-Bang

Goshiweons and goshitels are temporary dorm-style accomodations, and are found all over the place (at least in Seoul). The prices range from about 250,000won to 400,000won for a month, depending on location and what facilities they have. The rooms are tiny, but all of the ones I've seen at least have kitchen facilities. Some of them even have internet access. It's not likely that anyone will speak English, so bring anything you have on you for translation. Some goshiwons will not want a foreigner to stay there, or will freak out over the fact that you can't speak Korean, but there's lots of them around, so don't be discouraged if you get turned away.

PC-bangs are internet cafes, and are everywhere and easy to find. Koreans only ever seem to use them for playing games, but you can use them for email or whatever. They usually lack proper facilities like printers, and proper business software like microsoft word. Bring an MS-word CD with you and install it yourself. Make enough photocopies and that kind of stuff at home, before you come to Korea. You can find printers and fax machines and stuff here, of course, but it's not as easy as walking into any internet cafe, and may take a little digging.

Get a handphone (try Technomart or Yongsan Electronics market -- ask for a Ka-deu-pone.) You'll need it.

Give yourself a month to find a job. To live cheaply, but comfortably, prepare to spend about a million won that month.

Buy a one-way ticket to Seoul. Have proof on you that you can afford the cost of another ticket home, in case immigration gives you hassles. Before you sign a contract, try negotiating the cost of the ticket. Maybe you can convince an employer to raise your salary if they won't pay your airfare, or something like that, but assume the price of the ticket is a write-off.

I don't know when the best time of the month to come to Korea is, but if I was a betting man, I would bet the first couple of weeks before Christmas would be a good time.

If you want to hit the streets for a job (not an easy task!), most English hagwons will have some English written on their signs. You will probably also see little mini-busses scooting kids back and forth between hagwons and schools, and they will have signs on them and phone numbers.

1million for a plane ticket, 1million to live for a month, and 1million for return ticket or 1stmonth living in Korea. 3million won -- not exactly cheap. If money is a big issue to you, you're better off taking a job from home where your airfare is paid and you don't have to waste a month.


OPTION B

- Wait until the winter camps start up. (January or February?) Take a three-week winter camp job. This will buy you time and help you to make connections and get settled.

[Us in DC]

Thanks. I think Chronic's suggestion of getting a teenager to help us with translation is an excellent idea and I hadn't thought of that.

I hate to say it, after all this, but I am about to sign a contract from overseas . HOWEVER, it is a school I have done quite a bit of reasearch on and found out almost entirely really good things. That my boss is a really nice guy from NZ and that other people who work there are happy and that the only bad part is unpaid prep, which I already knew, so don't rip me a new one please.

Besides, I think this will be a really good thread for future people to read when they are considering coming over.

[Son Deureo!]

[Derrek]

Taking an ESL job in Korea is like playing Russian Roulette.

My goal in signing a contract with a school is to find a place with as few "bullets" in the gun as possible before I pull the trigger (by signing with a school). Imagine your ESL Korea gun has 6 or more chambers. Those chambers might list out as the following:

Chamber #1: Does the housing suck?
Chamber #2: Does the boss make you uncomfortable?
3: Does the school look like a craphole?
4: What are the hours/pay like?
5: How many students are really at the school?
6: Do the contract times they're pushing really jive with the situation?

Sure, you can sign a contract from overseas, and you might just be fine, but it's my experience that it's wise to be here and take the job with as few known bullets in the gun as possible. That way, when you sign a contract, you minimize your chances of getting your head blown off.

Coming to Korea and seeing a school before you sign with them is a definate plus.

There are always surprises you can't plan for, however. Even if you are here and are really careful. You can definately minimize the risks by being here, though!