Korean Job Discussion Forums

[migooknom]

Hello.

I am planning on entering the field of teaching. I'm going to seoul for a year or two as soon as I graduate this December. I'm a korean american born and raised in the states but I speak korean fluently. Is this going to hurt my chances of getting a job? I figure employers would want someone as "foreign" as possible. I know looking like the natives is going to put me at a disadvantage off break. Should I just speak nothing but english at the interviews? Are there still many teaching jobs available in seoul? My family in korea is actually against me coming. They say theres a job shortage going on or something I've been reading the posts on these forums and I'm going to try and get a job once I'm there instead of getting screwed over by a recruiter here.

Oh and on a side note, how often do you guys speak korean to your students?

Thanks in advance

[eamo]

Many private institutes will hire gyopyo teachers. Some don't.

Your chances of finding a job are fairly good if you have teaching experience and are willing to work as a 'part-timer'. Now, of course, in Korea even part-timers can put in an 8-hour day!!!

[migooknom]

uh-oh...

what if I don't have any experience?

closest thing I've done to teaching is being a camp counselor.

I do enjoy working with kids though.

[turtlepi1]

Screw the hogwans...apply directly to the public school system.
You will get hired and if you ever want to can likely transition into a "real" teaching position...

[eamo]

Have you got a place to stay when you come here?

Do you have enough cash for a few weeks in a go-shi-won?

If you have a support network here then you can relax and look for a job slowly (the best way).

The lack of experience will lower your appeal a little but many hagwons will hire any English speaker who will work at the right price.

A young gyopyo (under-grad) approached my hagwon for a job last month. His English is perfect and he got a job. As a teacher's assistant! They fely they couldn't put him in the classroom because he was too young and inexperienced.

[Real Reality]

migooknom wrote,
"My family in korea is actually against me coming. They say theres a job shortage going on or something."

Setbacks discourage, frustrate job seekers
In this economy, one may not get any response from prospective employers for months or even a year, job experts say. The stress of such a protracted job search can be far greater than one might imagine.
By Kim Tae-gyun, The Korea Herald (April 7, 2004)
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2004/04/07/200404070043.asp

Economic Downturn Continues
The economic downturn continued in September amid rising economic uncertainties from rising oil prices, won currency appreciation against the American dollar and China's interest rate hike, dimming the prospect of economic recovery next year.
by Kim Hong-su, Chosun Ilbo (October 29, 2004)
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200410/200410290038.html

Bad Factors Surround Korean Economy
by Jong sik Kong and Chi-Young Shin, Donga.com (October 29, 2004)
http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?biid=2004103014828

Leading Business Index Falls for 6th Straight Month
by Lee Hyo-sik, Korea Times (October 29, 2004)
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/200410/kt2004102915081410440.htm

Part-Timers Fall Victim to Labor Exploitation: 70% of Employers Fail to Pay Due Wages
by Na Jeong-ju, Korea Times (October 29, 2004)
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/nation/200410/kt2004102917064010510.htm

Lecturers just scraping by, lawmakers say
Part-time lecturers in Korea belong to the low-income sector and their welfare status is worrisome,...
by Lee Seung-nyung, JoongAng Daily (October 23, 2004)
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/200410/22/200410222244561509900090409041.html

Inflation, lack of jobs mark hardship
by Kim Jong-yoon and Park Sung-ha, JoongAng Daily (October 10, 2004)
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/200410/10/200410102221442179900090509051.html

No jobs here? Let's export some people
by Chun Young-gi, JoongAng Daily (May 27, 2004)
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/200405/27/200405272239313509900090109012.html

Only 1 in 101 Applicants Finds Job
by Bae Keun-min, Korea Times (November 22, 2004)
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/200411/kt2004112214480953460.htm

Discrimination
Having taught English conversation, there have been too many students that have withdrawn from this writer's class simply because of the color of their instructor's skin. This Korean-American has personally experienced the deep discrimination/racism of Korea, and it is painful.
Chosun Ilbo (December 25, 2002)
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200212/200212250002.html

[migooknom]

Such quick replies. Thank you

Not too worried about living expenses. I'll probably be staying with family down there.

But I'm trying to get a job quick. Since I'm going to be living with my family, they're going to be breathing down my neck if I bum around. They won't stand to see me as a ���.

How young is too young? I'm only 22 and as I mentioned before, I have no experience Am I going to be limited to a TA position?

[migooknom]

[Real Reality]

The accidental citizen soldier
Young Jin Chun is thoroughly American, a 25-year-old Bellevue resident and Newport High School graduate who wanted to soak up his ancestral culture and learn Korean while teaching English overseas for a year or two. Thanks to the South Korean government, he's getting that experience, but not in the way he ever imagined. The planets did not align for Chun. They collided.

Although he's a U.S. citizen, Chun has been drafted into the South Korean army -- a two-year hitch in one of the world's most tense military regions.
By JOHN IWASAKI, SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER (April 8, 2004)
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/168210_korean08.html

Korean-American Forced to Serve in Military
Kang came back to live in his motherland when he was 32 years old after both his parents passed away in the U.S. "I knew any male had to serve in the military (in Korea), but I thought the age limit was 32. My pastor also told me that I��d be exempt from the Korean military service because I served in the U.S. military," Kang said. However, when Kang tried to apply for his citizen's registration card, he found out that he was still required to serve out his mandatory two years as the Defense Ministry had changed their age limit to 35 a few years ago. The government pays him 26,000 won a month ($21) and some 110,000 won for lunch and transportation.
by Byun Duk-kun, Korea Times (December 12, 2003)
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/nation/200312/kt2003121218123212020.htm

[migooknom]

[Wangja]

hmmm, I thought both Korea and US forbade dual citizenship?

[turtlepi1]

[migooknom]

[kangnamdragon]

[thorin]