Korean Job Discussion Forums

[chronicpride]

[Ilsanman]

Post something for someone who cares. We all know if we have to fear this change or not. I don't.

[Daechidong Waygookin]

[Derrek]

Working in Korea as an English teacher is a good deal for the young 20-something folk just out of college.

If you are older, however, it is less attractive. Not only due to lack of advancement, but also due to things like home ownership. Sure, if you have a ton of money when you come, you could buy property here, but I don't want to lock my money up in this society. If I were married and living here -- that's a different story.

Many people on here are young and cannot understand the power of building equity by home ownership. That's understandable if you haven't owned a home before. I didn't understand it before I owned my first house. Sure, paying the monthly house payment takes a chunk out of your salary back home, but really, it's a sort of "forced savings." Homes where I'm from appreciate an additional 10% a year, too. Also, where I'm from, most improvements you do to your home will pay for themselves with a higher sales value.

We love the free housing here, but unless you're saving every penny of the difference, and then some on top of that, you're not really saving much by being here.

That's my opinion.

[adventureman]

..

[PolyChronic Time Girl]

The trouble is many hogwans hire you by your picture, NOT your credentials. So I don't understand why it's a big shock to directors that many of these teachers have fake degrees. I'm all for checking out a teacher's background. Actually, at my last hagwon there was one applicant, Harvard educated and the recruiter checked it out and she was legitimate, but as soon as the director saw her picture (she was black) he said, "no, don't want her" and instead hired a white girl with an online B.A

[chronicpride]

Personally, I don't give a rat's ass, if they ever followed through and actually did this. But what bothers me is the larger picture of that they are using the foreigner as the scapegoat for the ailments of the industry. Any joeblow Korean that speaks 2 words of english, can drop money on a Wonderland franchise fee, with zero business experience, evade tax, falsify info to MoE about student enrollment and staff numbers, to qualify for less pyeong workspace to save on rent, prey on the balli-balli mothers by providing, shite education to their kids, supplemented by tired, useless books. Yet, it's all about the teachers who work on fake degrees that are the ails of the industry. You also see the hinting of that scapegoatism in the article over on the 'employment ring bust' thread.

It pisses me off, because, if they do go ahead with this, this is the farthest that they will go, as they claim that they found the root problem and publicly addressed the 'issue', and they will not continue to go any further than that to clean things up. Whereas, I'd want them to also do criminal record checks on teachers, and a more stringent qualification process on who can open up a school. But it will never go anywhere near that far. They'll just do the public, 'hey, relax. We're not the problem. It's the fraudulent foreigners.' And the public will eat it up with 'Ahh. Ahh. Ok. That explains it. We all knew how strange they are, anyways.' Meanwhile, things will eventually blow over and the onus will fall back to the schools to verify.

[Daechidong Waygookin]

[Homer]

Good post Derrek.

However, you can do precisely what you said while working here in Korea if you plan and organize yourself accordingly.

You mention building equity through home buying. That can certainly be true in many cases. But, to buy a home, you need money. A person teaching here can most likely have a higher savings rate then they would back home due to certain advantages here. Also, advancement is up to you. If a person stays where they are and simply expects advancement as a due then they will be in for a rude awakening.

Like every job field in the world, advancement here comes to those who improve themselves and who take steps to advance. This is possible here and home.

As for locking up your money in this society, in today's world, you do not have too. There are a myriad of investment possibilities out there.

[Derrek]

[Homer]

Indeed Derrek,

I rent out the house we bought back home. I have a friend looking after it (repairs and upkeep).

[Rather_Dashing]

Amazing...

Here I am all worried about whether I qualify with a REAL degree and I see this post about how easy it is to get a job with a fake one.

Whatev...

[fidel]

[Daechidong Waygookin]

[fidel]

hello