Korean Job Discussion Forums

[IcySummer]

[proustme]

Pay up?

[IcySummer]

[pinklily]

Hello,
I was wondering if anyone could clarify some things for me. I hold a F4 visa and is it possible to work in Korea without going through the trouble of getting my transcripts and diploma notarized and what not and just work as an F4 candidate? If there are any reputable recruiters and/or website you can recommend I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you

[pinklily]

[glass80]

I taught English in Korea for 3 years without a degree. To land a job there I bought a fake degree online. The process and hoops I had to jump through made the experience very stressful because I was in constant fear of getting caught. If you tried to do that now you'd probably get caught straight away because it's much stricter now. I had to lie to a lot of people, even the good friends that I met. After I worked at a school for 2 years immigration got strict and started checking on everyone's degrees and discovered that I'd used a fake degree. When my boss found out he wasn't happy and I nearly ended up in jail for 6 months. I was very lucky that my boss's close friend was a policeman and he had connections at immigration. My boss had to bribe officials with 1 million won. If this situation happens to you start bribing asap, before too many people know. After I got caught, surprisingly, immigration let me continue teaching for another 2 months, but I was in constant fear that they'd come and arrest me. You can't trust anyone in that situation. I often considered fleeing the country but my boss promised me that I was going to be ok.

After I got caught I landed a job teaching privates. I made a lot more money but I didn't like it as much because of the long hours and loneliness. I got a tourist visa so that I didn't have to keep leaving the country every 6 months. Business visa's are also easy to get. If you do teach illegally in hogwans then there's a good chance that you'll get caught. One of my friends got caught teaching in a hogwan and he was back home a few days later. Try to just teach privates in houses, coffee shops, restaurants or hogwans on weekends. I used to keep bribe money on me just in case I got caught. My boss gave me a car and it wouldn't have been hard for a policeman to figure out what I was doing, however, the police don't speak English well, I know because ironically I used to teach them. Maybe that's a reflection of my teaching .

The biggest problem with teaching without a degree is having to lie to everyone about having a degree. If you're working illegally keep it a secret from everyone, no exceptions, because you never know who could rat you out.

Teaching in Korea was a great experience and I'd love to do it again but next time I'll probably have a degree.

[Slowmotion]

So I have a friend who is pretty young, about to turn 21. He doesn't want to go to college because "school isn't for everyone."

He's going to apply for an f4 visa and wants to come to Korea to teach English. I tried talking him out of it.

What are his job opportunities going to be like?

I told him I expect employers to have more demands in the future and them not likely to hold hire non degree holders as the competition gets tougher each year, but i'm not Miss Cleo.

Care to give him any advice? He'll be reading this thread.

Thanks

[saiga]

boy, i love the way this thread ended hahah (lol@last reply)

[autoseal89]

Without a degree you will be fine

[Platinumrose]

[britabroad]

It is worth knowing that if you have your degree certificate it may not be accepted without an apostille from the country it was issued in. So, you can't get it once you are in Korea without sending it back home first. You may also need a criminal record check and this should be apostilled too. I found these guys very helpful and about the cheapest you will find: www.apostilles.org