Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Neil]

See it as a blessing, it might take 2 weeks for a Caucasian teacher to find a job and 2 months for you.....but that Caucasian teacher will end up at a school that hires on looks/image and will probably either go bust or be a horrible place to work, whilst you despite the longer job hunt will end up at a school that hires on the strength of the teachers personality and/or experience so it'll be a more sucessful and pleasant school to work for.

[Murakano]

I would try applying for public school positions as there is not the discrimination you may well find from hagwons (might be a bit late for the August public school positions mind but worth trying).....

Someone mentioned CDI earlier and Asian Americans. That is true and if anything, CDI favor Asian Americans but specifically gyopos (Korean Americans with an F4 visa). A lot of horror stories with regards to CDI if you do consider them.

[chotaerang]

The FLTTC at HUFS (외대)has two Chinese-N.Americans on staff. They teach well so give that place a shot.

[jisun]

I'm a Korean adoptee and only speak beginning Korean, and I have run into the same problems that others have mentioned (potential employers loved my resume but stopped communicating with me after seeing my picture, and I confused the heck out of the students when I arrived). But you might be able to turn it into an asset--my first job was at a hagwon, and the owner was thrilled to find me because he assumed I wouldn't have as much trouble adjusting to the local culture as a non-Asian. (Go figure.) I've met quite a few southeast Asian women and some other adopted Koreans working as teachers here, in public and private schools, so don't get discouraged if you have trouble at first. And definitely push for a Skype interview, or send a video of you introducing yourself to recruiters if you can. Sometimes people just don't believe a non-Caucasian person can speak English until they see/hear it for themselves.

One other thing . . . be prepared for a lot of confusion and even rudeness from adults, particularly the over-60 age group, once you arrive. I've had a lot of old women yelling at me because they apparently think I'm being deliberately disrespectful when I can't carry on a fluent conversation with them. And once when I was with my co-teacher at a restaurant, she told me that the waitress (who was definitely going out of her way to avoid me) had asked if I was mentally retarded. But the students and younger adults have very few problems understanding that I don't speak their language because I grew up in America.