Korean Job Discussion Forums

brocktastic · Joined: 08 Oct 2006

i am finishing my contract here.
i have an MA from a great university in canada.
i had really good jobs back home.
and i am sick of people assuming i am here because i can't get a job back home. not the case.
sure, i have met some crazy waygooks, but also some really cool people.
more good than bad, i would say.
i wanted to experience another culture and see much of asia.
i had a great time. learning, living, loving...
it's been a good year - good job, met some amazing people - but i can't shake this feeling that teaching english in korea is something that will be underappreciated when i get home.
thoughts?

cbclark4 · Joined: 20 Aug 2006 Location: Masan

Oversees jobs are good for resume.

Will you be teaching?

There is a huge teacher shortage in Florida.

cbc

Brocky · Posted: Fri Dec 08, 2006 8:57 pm Post subject:

I suppose it depends on your own personal outlook. How long have you been in South Korea? If it has only been a few years, it could be regarded as a career break. If you are considering a job in the teaching sector, you can regard it as an interesting challenge, utilised in order to better prepare you for your future career.

Personally, I am only 22 and straight out of higher education. My previous job offer on Kenya fell through. I have a year off before Sandhurst and I needed to fill a gap.

If however, you are a 45 year old, morbidly obese, balding spakker who spent 15 years in SK chasing after young korean girls who you mistakenly believed were into you despite you not showering for weeks on end...well.

You may be ******...

Mod Edit: Edited for language.

Qinella · Joined: 25 Feb 2005 Location: the crib

mnhnhyouh · Joined: 21 Nov 2006 Location: The Middle Kingdom

Alyssa · Joined: 15 Jan 2006

Big_Crazy_Ape · Joined: 05 Nov 2006

Satori · Joined: 09 Dec 2005 Location: Above it all

Atavistic

Homer · Guest

Be careful not to mistake what you read on here as being representative of foreign teacher sentiment in Korea....

seoulsista · Joined: 31 Aug 2005

I always worry about how Korea will appear on my resume. I think for anyone not familiar with the hagwon industry it might appear like Q said that I am independant, able to adapt etc.

But where I am from people seem to know everything and I am always anxious that I will end up interviewing with people who will know that my decision to come here was simply a cop-out to pay off my loans quickly and that I worked in an industry that's one step above having to wear a nametag.

Son Deureo! · Joined: 30 Apr 2003

caniff · Joined: 03 Feb 2004 Location: All over the map

SD. :

I would like to start a thread about how people feel about your avatar.

numazawa · Joined: 20 Mar 2005 Location: The Concrete Barnyard

Homer · Guest

Depends how you present it seoulsista and at what job you apply.

If the job is education-related then your experience here can be valuable if you took the time to develop teaching skills here (yes even at a hakwon).

If the job is not education-related your experience might be worth nothing because, well it would not be relevant to your work field and in fact should not even be on your resume.

Resumes should be tailored to jobs you apply for and contain only the experiences that are relvant to the position you are seeking. Cramming a resume with any and all experiences is actually something that will lower your chances of getting an interview and a job.

How you present your experience is also important. You need to show how it can be valuable to your employer. If you see your experience as worthless then you might as well leave it out of the resume.

Teaching in Korea you are using and developing skills that can be useful as a teacher back home or in certain other jobs. However, you need to have actually developed these skills and not just cruised on auto-pilot playing bingo! (not saying you did that but some do).