Korean Job Discussion Forums

[anyangoldboy]

No problem...Hope everything works out for you...

Best of luck...

[gajackson1]

agb ~

much appreciated!

I think I mentioned above that I had to re-register for the Internat job forums, which is funny, because there are now 2 gajackson1's - one for 'here,' and one for 'there.'

I'm not the first - I've already run across posts from Tiger Beer & a few others who must have gone the same route.

Brunei is looking better & better; I also have a leads on companies in SA & Oman I am checking out.

Will update here as I can/have news.

G.

[gajackson1]

right now, I am looking into jobs with a company called CfBT - http://brunei.cfbt.org/bn/; they do education consultancy, recruiting for positions in places like Brunei, Oman, India & Malaysia.

I got another lead on a Uni job recruiter, over in Saudi - INTERLINK. http://eslus.com/yamamaht.html On the surface, the package they offer & the Brunei ones are pretty comparable. Lifestyle-wise, I'm pretty sure C would pick Brunei over Saudi; now I just need to start whittling things down for country, city, position, etc.

Again, I still have a few months, but it is nice to be able to start things in advance.

Regards,

Glen

[The Lemon]

I worked with cfbt in Brunei for the last four years. I only left because of better prospects elsewhere, but I highly recommend Brunei as a country to live in, and cfbt as an organization to work for. Very good people managing it. As far as the perks go, you'll love the housing, especially after Korea.

Added bonus - cfbt just got the salary increase they'd been after the ministry of education for years for, so you'll be coming in on a better deal than I had, which wasn't bad to begin with.

Now that I'm in the Middle East I'm glad I did the years in Brunei as a bridge culture between Korea and here. Pm me if you have questions!


by the way, re cfbt: " they do education consultancy" - that's what the website says.. as far as Brunei goes though, essentially they're recruiters/managers of most of Brunei's expatriate English teachers in the public secondary schools.

[Vicissitude]

[ajgeddes]

Brunei sounds awesome. Borneo is great, and you are minutes from Malaysia. You can skip over to Kota Kinabalu and Sipidan. Be my friend and then I will bless you with a visit, haha. This is something I would be interested in doing in the future if I get bored in Korea.

[The Lemon]

Brunei and the Middle East are very far removed professionally from the Korea experience. Over on the International/Middle East board there's a daily flow of Korea teachers posting: "I've been in Korea for a year. I've decided to work in Dubai. What's it like and how fast can I find work?"

These people are in fairy-land - Middle East jobs pay top dollar, and demand (and get) top qualifications. During my orientation, the other two new hires were both former CELTA trainers and ILETS examiners, and one was a director of studies at a school for a long time. Both have decades of experience both in their home countries and abroad.

I - with my BA, Ed degree, CELTA, MEd and 10 years Canada/Korea/Brunei experience - am clearly near the bottom of acceptable for these jobs, judging by those who were hired along with me. I may be in over my head - we'll see.

Brunei on the other hand is less of a lottery ticket. Their requirements are strict but clear. In short, and from (possibly flawed) memory-
1. Teaching degree
2. degree from Canada, the UK, South Africa, NZ, Australia (NOT the US...)
3. Three years experience
4. be under 53
5. A masters helps, but is not a requirement like 1-4.

The Brunei contract is superior to the majority of Korea contracts. It's writing based - the kids can speak English well, generally - so you're teaching to the 'O'-level English test, fixing habitual mistakes and marking stacks of compositions. Mind-numbing, but perhaps less so than 35 oral freshman exams at some Korean university: "Please touch your nose. Very good, Young-min."

If you're in Korea and qualify, by all means apply to cfbt. There's a shortage of qualified teachers and plenty of openings. I never regretted leaving Korea, though I'm fine for short visits to my inlaws.

Then there's the housing. Brunei gives big big houses. We loved ours - 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms - until we saw the mansions colleagues had... No such thing as a "small" place for cfbt teachers. Our new place here in the middle east is about the same size - 5 bedroom, four bathrooms - but we also get a pool (though smaller yard than Brunei and no palm trees). It's a far cry from the 15 pyong apartment we crammed into at the university in Kwangju...

[Vicissitude]

[The Lemon]

I was using "teaching degree" as a shorthand for "Qualified teacher status - Post Graduate Certificate of Education, Bachelor of Education, Diploma of Teaching or Diploma in TESOL".

As far as the country requirements go, these are new changes, as in within the last couple of months. The US was excluded up until very recently and I was unaware of the change. In four years I met 0 teachers from the US in the system. I guess that will change.

Here's another new requirement:

* ESOL Qualification such as CELTA, DELTA, Trinity Cert or Dip TESOL
So they've loosened on some things but tightened on others.

[indytrucks]

Lemon,

Would a MA TEFL/TESL satisfy the 'teaching requirements' portion of the application process, or do you actually need something like a BEd?

[KoreanAmbition]

gajackson,

I've recently been seeing some job postings for Dubai that offer housing and $4400 USD per month.

Personally, everything I've read and heard about Dubai (which I'm sure everyone else here has also) is that it is quickly becoming the elite location in the part of the world you're targeting.

I'm Canadian and hesitant about the ongoing problems in the middle-east, but if you've decided that you aren't worried then in my opinion I'd be choosing Dubai.

Dubai is the type of place you'd want to go just to see what mankind is capable of creating recently, with so many amazing things to witness. I'm not sure how long someone could tolerate it there, but I have friends that have family there and the feedback is very positive and I hear so many positive experiences about it.

As I said, housing included and $4400 USD per month seemed very strong for salary, so if that kind of salary is acceptable than although cost of living in Dubai is going to be higher than many other countries, it's a great adventure, relatively safe, and WAY higher salary than anything else I have seen through job browsing in that geographic area.

Best of luck, and hopefully I said even one thing that might be useful to you.

HEHE

[The Lemon]

Indy - I don't think the MA TESL will do it for Brunei, as it's distinct (and in many ways superior, but still different) from a teaching qualification. Basically they need the paper that lets you legally teach in public classrooms in your home country. You can apply - I'm not the decider - but they can be picky about these things.

However, you may be good to leap into the Middle East. Your qualifications are often listed by the big-name employers: UAEU, HCT, Zayed U...

Regarding Dubai - a testament to what mankind can do, sure, but the infrastructure hasn't caught up. Specifically, the roads. Live in Dubai and you may need to get used to 3 hour traffic jams in your daily commutes. Better to be somewhere within striking distance of Dubai for weekend visits but without the day-to-day hassles.

As far as instability in the Middle East goes, I think anyone who once chose to live within minutes of North Korean missiles and artillery would have no problem with the threat level here. London and New York are probably at far greater risk.

[indytrucks]

^^ Thanks for the reply, Lemon.

I actually was offered a job at the beginning of last semester at a uni in Saudi (forget the name now, but it was a new uni), had a telephone interview and everything, perks sounded mind blowing in terms of housing, medical care, schooling/shild care for my little one, etc. etc., but circumstances dictated otherwise ... who knows, the ME is something that I've been considering for a while now, and although it might not be a popular decision with my or my wife's folks, it's something to seriously consider in terms of looking after my own family.

This thread has heaps of good info in it. Keep it comin'. Good luck GJ.

[Vicissitude]

[gajackson1]

most of my efforts here are going outside the Korean forum, to the International job board, LP, & some other outside sources. Although some people here have been GREAT - here, in PM, via e-mail - on providing us additional information.

Brunei is getting closer and closer, I think - probably CfBT, although I will be looking at one of the international schools, as well.

Some others are on the list, but the more I look into Brunei, the more of a 'fit' it seems it could be for me at first, and for C if she were to choose to join me in 1-2 years.

But the info peopleare posting here is great, and thanks again!

Regards,

G.