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larossi
Joined: 28 Mar 2015
Location: Australia
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 Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2015 8:12 pm Post subject: Overwhelmed - help! |
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Hi all!
I am very new to this whole ESL gig, but I am excited to hopefully get a job teaching later this year in August/September. I am female, from Australia, 29 and hold a Masters Degree. I have been reading a lot of conflicting information regarding working in Sth Korea - some say there are still plenty of jobs with good money, others that say the market is very bad. I was hoping someone could respond or message me and maybe give me some tips/help on starting out? Is Korea even the place to be anymore? Any help at all will be greatly appreciated! |
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Underwaterbob
Joined: 08 Jan 2005
Location: In Cognito
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| Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2015 8:21 pm Post subject: |
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The market is definitely worse than it was not long ago, but there are still quite a few jobs for the taking. Especially for young, attractive females. The hagwon industry in particular discriminates heavily in their favor.
Another factor to consider is your accent. Australian accents are not the accent du jour in Korea, some places might not hire you if you have a thick accent. Most will overlook this if you happen to be a young, attractive female. Heaven forbid you look Asian though. |
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larossi
Joined: 28 Mar 2015
Location: Australia
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| Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2015 8:24 pm Post subject: |
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| Thank you! No I definitely don't look Asian, I have an Italian background and I don't have a heavy Australian accent at all. I don't like to say I'm attractive but I am ok! Can you explain what Hagwon means? Should I just contact recruiters and see what's available?? Thank you again. |
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Yaya
Joined: 25 Feb 2003
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2015 10:23 pm Post subject: |
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Yeah, well, you could get a job at a university's language program but conditions have been steadily deteriorating and such. You might consider corporate communication as well.
Apply for positions in Korea (not hakwon) but also apply to other countries, esp. China, where the ESL market seems insatiable for teachers lately. |
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Underwaterbob
Joined: 08 Jan 2005
Location: In Cognito
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| Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2015 10:55 pm Post subject: |
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| larossi wrote: |
| Thank you! No I definitely don't look Asian, I have an Italian background and I don't have a heavy Australian accent at all. I don't like to say I'm attractive but I am ok! Can you explain what Hagwon means? Should I just contact recruiters and see what's available?? Thank you again. |
Hagwons are private academies. I don't know exact numbers, but I'd guess that most English speakers teaching here are in hagwons. Working conditions in hagwons range from deplorable to decent. Good recruiters will weed out the deplorable ones. Many recruiters are themselves deplorable and will foist any old shit job on you in order to make a fast buck. Make sure you research any job offers you get. Don't sign a contract until you're sure.
EPIK is another route open to you, but it's not doing so well these days. EPIK seems to be doing its best to hold onto the people they've got, but public school budget reassignments have seen a lot of EPIK contracts not renewed in recent years and very few new hires. Through EPIK (and GEPIK) you would be working in a public school: generally better conditions than a hagwon with the added caveat of having to work directly with co-teachers who are not always easy to work with and much, much larger class sizes.
Then there are the university positions like Yaya just mentioned.
He also mentioned China, which these days might just be a better bet. |
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larossi
Joined: 28 Mar 2015
Location: Australia
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| Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2015 11:03 pm Post subject: |
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| Thank you both you've been very helpful. I'll have a look into China and make sure I post any contract I might receive. |
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tanklor1
Joined: 13 Jun 2006
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| Posted: Tue Apr 07, 2015 12:30 am Post subject: Re: Overwhelmed - help! |
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| larossi wrote: |
Hi all!
I am very new to this whole ESL gig, but I am excited to hopefully get a job teaching later this year in August/September. I am female, from Australia, 29 and hold a Masters Degree. I have been reading a lot of conflicting information regarding working in Sth Korea - some say there are still plenty of jobs with good money, others that say the market is very bad. I was hoping someone could respond or message me and maybe give me some tips/help on starting out? Is Korea even the place to be anymore? Any help at all will be greatly appreciated! |
Are you blonde? |
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Stan Rogers
Joined: 20 Aug 2010
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| Posted: Tue Apr 07, 2015 12:39 am Post subject: Re: Overwhelmed - help! |
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| tanklor1 wrote: |
| larossi wrote: |
Hi all!
I am very new to this whole ESL gig, but I am excited to hopefully get a job teaching later this year in August/September. I am female, from Australia, 29 and hold a Masters Degree. I have been reading a lot of conflicting information regarding working in Sth Korea - some say there are still plenty of jobs with good money, others that say the market is very bad. I was hoping someone could respond or message me and maybe give me some tips/help on starting out? Is Korea even the place to be anymore? Any help at all will be greatly appreciated! |
Are you blonde? |
Yes if you are blonde everyone will like you even if you aren't a very good teacher. Everyone that is except your non-blonde co-workers who will secretly hate you for getting a better work schedule and a little more money than they do. |
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tanklor1
Joined: 13 Jun 2006
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| Posted: Tue Apr 07, 2015 12:44 am Post subject: Re: Overwhelmed - help! |
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| Stan Rogers wrote: |
| tanklor1 wrote: |
| larossi wrote: |
Hi all!
I am very new to this whole ESL gig, but I am excited to hopefully get a job teaching later this year in August/September. I am female, from Australia, 29 and hold a Masters Degree. I have been reading a lot of conflicting information regarding working in Sth Korea - some say there are still plenty of jobs with good money, others that say the market is very bad. I was hoping someone could respond or message me and maybe give me some tips/help on starting out? Is Korea even the place to be anymore? Any help at all will be greatly appreciated! |
Are you blonde? |
Yes if you are blonde everyone will like you even if you aren't a very good teacher. Everyone that is except your non-blonde co-workers who will secretly hate you for getting a better work schedule and a little more money than they do. |
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=od3cjyHctjo |
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PRagic
Joined: 24 Feb 2006
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| Posted: Tue Apr 07, 2015 10:16 pm Post subject: |
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Female, youngish, with an MA? You should apply for every university position on Dave's job board with decent pay and conditions. You never know!
SNU, from what another poster remarked on a different thread, is hiring, and they've been known to hire directly from overseas, especially if the MA is in a related field. Not the best job in Korea, but steady work, a place to live, and a lot of paid time off in the winter and summer breaks. Can't hurt to try. |
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PRagic
Joined: 24 Feb 2006
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Yaya
Joined: 25 Feb 2003
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Wed Apr 08, 2015 12:05 am Post subject: |
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| larossi wrote: |
| Thank you both you've been very helpful. I'll have a look into China and make sure I post any contract I might receive. |
You could also try the Middle East but... |
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duhweecher
Joined: 06 Nov 2013
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| Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2015 2:13 am Post subject: |
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Stay where you are and get a Ph.D. for a real job in Korea.
Otherwise, realize you're going to do a year-long vacation while play teaching with kids who could care less what you're teaching.
Internalize that fully & completely and you should be able to have a great time. Overthink it and you'll spend a year wondering "What am I doing here?" |
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World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
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| Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2015 4:16 am Post subject: |
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| duhweecher wrote: |
| get a Ph.D. |
A few years ago: "Get an MA for a real job in Korea." God damn! (!_!) Talk about education inflation! |
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duhweecher
Joined: 06 Nov 2013
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| Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2015 2:54 pm Post subject: |
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| World Traveler wrote: |
| duhweecher wrote: |
| get a Ph.D. |
A few years ago: "Get an MA for a real job in Korea." God damn! (!_!) Talk about education inflation! |
Or maybe just saturation. Yes, we're now talking get a PhD these days. With Hallyu and all the foreigners in the country now...get an MA has been replaced with get a PhD. Sort of makes sense to me considering the Fukushima effect coupled with the international attention to Korea, influx of foreigners into the country, and general view that "South Korea is the next Japan" as it was mentioned recently in US media (I've heard this both on the Simpsons and on Modern Family--yes, judgement me...but my viewing habits aren't the point). Not to mention that globally there are higher numbers of PhD's moving into lower level education (secondary and post secondary) these days especially at better schools and institutions. The field of education is moving toward PhD or bust these days in post-developed countries (and countries that think--most times--that they are post-developed when it comes to education, e.g. in Asia: Korea, Japan, Singapore, HK, and the like).
So I guess my whole "real job" point centers on being some place where the students and the environment/ society has a modicum of respect for your position and knowledge. But to be honest, I don't really know what I mean by "real job." Maybe I should have just said, to feel comfortable *as a teacher* working in a school that has a higher probability of respect. Oh whatever...you know what I mean. |
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