Korean Job Discussion Forums

blackjack · Joined: 04 Jan 2006 Location: anyang

Read plenty of good advice here and hoping for a bit more.

I've just been offered a job at the International Language School (known as the ILS) in Anyang, Seoul. I got the interview through my recruiter (teach english korea).

They have offered me 2 million a month, a single apartment, airfares (all standard I know).

The hours are 3pm to 11pm (I have been working from 7pm to 4pm for the last two years so i am quite happy about that).

And i will be teaching kids from elementary age (I am a kiwi and we don't call it that here, so i guess that 5?) to high school.

Everything so far seems good and i am quite happy with it, however there is a catch

I have only had the one interview but she offered me the job, and when she asked how soon i could come over, i said i would come over tomorrow, if i had the visa. And she replied to this, what some people do is come over on a tourist visa and then do a visa run to Japan, is this just a little to eager or is this standard?

Or am I being paranoid with all the stories that I have heard?

Cheers

some waygug-in · Joined: 25 Jan 2003

That is the way many do it, but be sure that you get your visa before you start work.

Otherwise you will be working illegally.

Grotto · Joined: 21 Mar 2004

Exactly. Make sure that they know you wont start work until your have your visa in your passport!

blackjack · Joined: 04 Jan 2006 Location: anyang

Cheers for that

must just be me being paranoid, cause she sounded really nice on the phone (and even complemented me on my voice, over here i always get told i sound like a bloody pom Wink

)

Grotto · Joined: 21 Mar 2004

Ahhh the milk and honey of before work.

It is standard for them to want you here yesterday as Koreans are notorious for not planning ahead of time. If you arrived here they would want you to start work the next day and then most likely try to get you a flight to Japan to do a visa run in a couple of weeks.

If there is a Korean consulate or embassy near where you live it is much easier and faster to get them to Fed-Ex the visa forms to you and then have them filled out there.

That way the visa would be in your passport before you even left.

You would teach children aged 5-about 11/12 teaching elementary.

8 hour days for 2 mil is a bit low IMO. If you look around you can get jobs for 2. mil for 5-6 hour days.

blackjack · Joined: 04 Jan 2006 Location: anyang

Cheers Grotto

Unfortunately the embassy is about 600kms away (you would think that an embassy would be in the largest city with the highest % of koreans rather than the smallest with almost none, oh well)

About the hours, I have been told i will only have to work 125 hrs a month, the school is open between 3 and 11.

The school is prepaying my airfares to come over, would they also pay for the visa run??

Cheers one again

everyone always seems very helpful here

TheUrbanMyth · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Location: Retired