Korean Job Discussion Forums

[teacher2b?]

Hello:

(Didn't see a "newbie" forum so I'm posting it here.)

OK, I've been looking at coming to Korea for some of the obvious reasons such as the pay, free airfare, and apartment. My initial enthusiasm has been tempered, however, by some of the warnings and horror stories. That said, in the specifics of what people love and hate about Korea (in the FAQ section), I found the positives much more meaningful than the negatives, which mostly seemed negligible.

A little about me. I've got a TEFL and a Masters (in art), but no practical English teaching experience other than the 6 lessons I taught during my TEFL training (where I did very well but also worked my ass off and stressed myself out). I lived and traveled in SE Asia for a year (Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Burma), so am not likely to suffer from culture shock overmuch. Oh yeah, I'm 41 but no one ever believes I'm that old. I'm also looking to have more free time than I would working a full-time job in the States, not because I'm lazy, but so that I can pursue my art. My one concern is that my teaching responsibilities will spill over into my free time more than a regular corporate job that I'd leave at the turnstiles.

If I wanna' come to Korea, as opposed to getting a new job and apartment and furniture in the States, I've gotta be able to make that transition rather quickly, say, within a month. I've noticed at least one recruiter advertising they can find a job within 2 weeks. Right, but everything seems to hinge on which job one gets, and there seem to be a lot of schools/situations that one might be doomed-from-the-start to find one's self in. I've poured through the FAQs but am not really sure how to avoid getting steered into a crappy job (and some of the links are dead, such as blacklists of recruiters).

Other than that I'd like to avoid being overwhelmed with a big workload and tons of lesson plans to produce.

All advice and recommendations are welcome, especially at how to land a good school in a relatively short period of time.

[aarontendo]

Hi and welcome =)

I'm a newbie myself so I had the same apprehension as you did. I think a lot of the horror stories are hakwon related. Seeing as I've never worked in one I can't comment on those, but I've had a great time teaching in a public school. I rarely do anything for work outside of office hours. I would suggest trying for public school positions ^^

[heydelores]

Two of the most popular responses to questions like yours are:

1. Talk to more than one teacher at the school and/or previous teachers BEFORE you sign anything. Be sure to get an email address so that the teacher can communicate when the boss isn't right there.

2. Visit in person first if that's possible.

As for work time spilling over into freetime, well, that depends in part on how good your boundaries are and how good your boss is at respecting them.

I do some prep work on my own time, but that's my choice, and I've found that the amount of time I spend preparing decreases as I'm gaining more experience. If you use the same textbook over and over again, save your lesson plans and notes.

[PRagic]

If you are into your 'art', then it shouldn't matter where you work in Korea. I'd strongly suggest applying to one of the universities outside of Seoul, angling for the fewest contact hours. Once you get some experience, you'll be able to jockey for better jobs. Don't waste your time with an institute unless you are desparate to get over here. If you do have to go for an institute job, you can kiss 'free time' goodbye.

Just a heads up: Tell them anything they want to hear to get the job. DON'T tell them that you want a lot of free time, and that you don't want to be too connected to your work. Sure way to shoot yourself in the foot.

[rothkowitz]

An institute job might not be so bad.They'll pay your airfare,work 6 hours and you're done.aim at one that focuses on returning students.You don't need quals for babysitting.

Main thing would be housing.City housing will typically be too small to work in and renting a studio will be exhorbitant in terms of money down.

[teacher2b?]

Thanks for the advice so far. Thing is, I have to apply from here, America, and land the job before I go. Another thing is, I only have about a month, at the outside, to set the whole thing up. I think this pretty much eliminates talking to other teachers and the like.

Also, I do my art on the computer so don't need so much space. Gimmy a bed, a desk, and room to do a few pushups or yoga and I'm OK.

My alternative is a 40 hour a week corporate job in New York, so, any more free time I can have than that is a bonus. No commute is also helpful.

[trinity24651]

I found a job relatively quickly. I really believe that I'm gonna like it a lot. I will start in January. If I had already had a copy of my degree and had my passport up to date, I could have had everything done within a month's time. And I DID talk with the other teacher there...and talked via email. He really did a lot at putting my mind at ease.

I think if you REALLY get into the job hunt, put your contracts on here for the "oldies" to review and talk to teachers at your prospective places of employment - you can do it within a month!!!

[teacher2b?]

Thanks for the encouragement. Now, all my friends and family seem to want me to try to duke it out in NY and not evaporate into SE Asia again, but, seems like once one gets over the initial hurdles teaching in Korea might be a rather cozy gig.

Might also be able to do some temp gigs to prolong my overal searching time. Depends how fast I wear out my welcome with FRIENDS I'll be staying with.

[teacher2b?]

From what I've read in people's responses here, and elsewhere, it sounds like the public school jobs are the best, especially in terms of the lengthy paid vacations.

So, I'm wondering if it's possibly to hook up with one of those jobs from outside Korea, and soon. While I do ultimately want my free time to work on art, I don't mind committing the 40 hours a week to doing the best teaching job I can. The first half year I imagine I'd be pretty much investing most my time and energy in teaching, and that's fine.

So, anymore links, advice or leads will be appreciated.

[wylies99]

Just be VERY careful, and be prepared for the worst.

[teacher2b?]

[i_teach_esl]

everything trinity24651 said is true, you can do this fairly quickly... so get started already.

use caution, but dont dont worry so much about the "type" of school you'll be at, one person's hogwan hell is another's heaven. go on what the teacher who currently works there says.

search the job forum here on dave's or get a recruiter ( http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/korea/viewtopic.php?t=64530&highlight= ) tell the recruiter exactly what you want: age of students, city, housing, etc.

while that's simmering, work on getting your get your passport renewed, get copies of your offical transcripts, get your diploma notarized (sp) by the nearest korean consulate.

edited for spelling.

[Real Reality]

No Foreigners; Discrimination Legal in Korea
http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/korea/viewtopic.php?t=73314

No Foreigners Allowed: Discrimination Legal in Korea
By Christopher Carpenter, Korea Times (December 12, 2006)
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/special/200612/kt2006121219555767650.htm

Ex-pats Describe Korea's Culture of Corruption
by Kim Hong-jin, Chosun Ilbo (December 16, 2004)
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200412/200412160027.html

Seoul Expats Angry at Traffic, Visa System
by Choi Jie-ho, JoongAng Daily (December 04, 2004)
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/200412/03/200412032232237809900090409041.html

Foreigners Experience Difficulties in Living in Korea
by Jae-Dong Yu and Soo-Jung Shin, Donga.com (July 4, 2004)
http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?biid=2004070522448

Soaring Suicides
Without a doubt we live in an extremely stressful society. But the many social conditions that drive us to mental strain or anguish can hardly explain the dismaying figure of 14,000 suicides a year, the highest among OECD countries.
Editorial, The Korea Herald (October 31, 2006)
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2006/10/31/200610310012.asp

Suicides Hit Record High
By Lee Hyo-sik, Korea Times (September 28, 2005)
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/200509/kt2005092817232510230.htm

[teacher2b?]

[mrd]

Teachers2b,

I think you're the type of person that would excel at teaching in Korea: you have the right mindset, you're open-minded and you want to come for the right reasons.

I am in love with my lifestyle here. If you work at a hogwon (chances are you will) there's a good chance you'll end up happy. I start working at 3:30 (meaning I show up then, I usually sit around and socialize until about 4:00), I then teach about 6, 40 minute classes, and finish up no later than 10pm. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I finish at 9pm.

It feels like I have the entire day to myself, I go in to "teach" (read have great conversations with the cutest kids ever!) for a few hours, and then I usually go out after work with teachers from my school or from others. Eat great cheap food and drink cheap beer. Of course, I go home some nights after, and I'm home by 10:10. Lots of time left. On top of all that, the pay far exceeds the work and effort you put in. My school feeds all of the teachers during our work too: either kim bap, pizza, or bread and jam. It goes a long way in keeping the staff happy!

So it's not all negative like many of the posters will lead you to believe. Go for it, you'll love it and never look back. Just be sure to ask the recruiter to get you two email address of current and past teachers who taught or teach at the very same school as you will. That is important.

Good luck!