Korean Job Discussion Forums

[doublejeopardy]

I am looking for info on working in non-teaching jobs in Korea. I did search and found some info but not all I am looking for, so...

Anyone have a non-teaching job that you found in Korea, working for a Korean company? What's it really like? What are the hours generally like? If I were to snag one of these positions, what kind of salary should I expect, with or without a housing allowance? What kind of vacation do you get? Are you expected not to take it all? I would, of course, have experience back across the pond applicable to the job in Korea.

For those of you who have done hagwon and non-teaching, how do they compare?

Thanks in advance for any info.

[Wangja]

If it's a management or technical job with a Korean company, your hours are likely to be 5 minutes longer than those of your boss. 10 hours minimim, excluding semi-compulsory "team-building" dinners/soju racing. The holidays are likely to be as low as 2 weeks a year.

A similar job with a European company will be 8 hours standard, plus executive "extension" up to whatever is necessary to fulfill your job description. The holidays will be good, usually 5 weeks minimum.

For US companies, I would expect similar hours (standard) but with lousy holidays.

Pay, depending on responsibility and to a lesser extent qualification will be from 8,000 USD a month offshore plus flights, probably 2 a year, and hosuing allowance of 3 million KRW upwards and local allowance of around 2 million net after tax. Normaly, you also get medical costs, education for children and flights for wife/husband - or even cohabitee - with European companies. Edit: I forgot the car: often, you get a fully expensed car.

There is no comparison between teacher salaries and management or technical salaries.

[doublejeopardy]

Thanks for the information, though this would be an editing/writing position, which is where my skills and experience are, so I imagine it would be pretty...very different. I am basically trying to figure out if it would be worth my while, if I only plan on staying in Korea for another year or two and want to enjoy that time and save money. It would look slightly better on a resume than teaching at a hagwon, but maybe not much.