Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ecalpemos]

I had one recruiter say that it may take longer to place me because of age( I'm 39)is this the general way of things in korea or is it just this recruiter. How hard is it to get a good position at my age, I have a B.Ed and 13 years teaching experience, 10 of which abroad but not in asia. Is there really so much resistance to age?

[ttompatz]

[Yu_Bum_suk]

If a hogwan only wants teachers under 30 it's a good indication that they favour show over substance and would not be a good place to work.

[hubba bubba]

No doubt. The places that want 22YO blond canadian girls as "teachers" isn't where you want to work.

Also, some places want younger people because it's much easier to take advantage of them. If you're 39 with a lot of experience, you will probably not tolerate the "parents say class is boring, why you bad teacher?" b.s. that employers use to manipulate people here.

I know some "older" teachers, don't worry.

[JZer]

ecalpemos, yes you should look for a public school position or if you don't mind living in the country you may be even able to find a last minute university job. Sometimes the universities in small town have a hard time getting people to commit!!

[Satin]

Post your resume with a happy, smiling picture of yourself on some of the esl websites and include your age. You will get quite a few responses. You will have to be able to say NO to most, but some good schools will also respond.

The first time I went to Korea, I did the above and landed a job at a hagwon within a week (pretty much the same quals as you). And I'm 50+++!

This time, I'm returning to work at a public school. Set hours, four weeks vacation, blah, blah. With the hagwon, you are never quite sure what will happen.

With Koreans, you sometimes just have to laught when it comes to age. I find that if you act like it doesn't bother you, they accept that you are older. About the only question I get, is, "are you healthy?" Luckily, I been blessed with good health!

Good luck and don't give up!