Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Real Reality]

Just remember

Foreigners Experience Difficulties in Living in Korea
http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?biid=2004070522448

Representatives of 50 immigration agencies specializing in helping people move to 10 countries stayed busy throughout the two-day event. For consultations on immigration to the United States and Canada, visitors waited in line for up to 30 minutes. A Korea Trade Fairs official said, "At the immigration fair held in March, we had about 9,500 visitors. More and more people seem to want to move to other countries because of their unhappiness with our education system or society."
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/200309/08/200309080122117709900090509051.html

Society
http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?biid=2004071323108

[inkoreaforgood]

If you really like this country, stick it out. My first job was really rough, and between my boss and my three roommates/coworkers and living on top of the school (MADNESS), there was also the fact that I couldn't walk down the street holding my sweetie's hand either. I did the year, simply because getting a release letter from that boss seemed impossible, probably was.

Now, I have a good job, with decent money and some really good vacation time. It didn't happen overnight, but I did make it happen. There are good jobs out there, but many don't put ads up in places where you can see them. My current job ran an ad on their school's website in Korean. I was surprised they got any resumes!! Keep looking, and sorry about your luck so far.

[TECO]

Jack,

Hope you don't think I was being cheeky with you.

I really think sometimes people just need to move on to another country as opposed to getting out of the TEFL'ing 'scene' alltogether.

Jack, fact is - Korea aint an easy place for a foreigner to live compared to some of the other societies in this region.

I also know there are foreigners who do just fine in Korea. But comparatively, and for whatever reasons, it's a harsher ride.

Have you tried getting a job where you can walk to work? I find this has taken a huge amount of stress out of my daily life.

[Homer]

Tough one Jack.

Sorry about your bad experiences.

If you like it here I would give it another go.

But only if that will not make you miserable. I cannot understand why anyone would stay in any place that made them miserable when they can go to many other places that might make them happier.

[Dalton]

If you're getting paid then stick out your current contract.

I've worked at five schools here and none of them are perfect. They all suck one way or another. This place is best when you're saving money IMHO. I think Europe would be best for career building and quality of life. Japan is cool, Taiwan is hot.

I think you should decide what you want with respect to your career and living experience and read about some countries to figure out which one sounds like the closest fit. Write it all down. I want to save money so I'm happy here despite the crap.

Every country has it's own business/employee/employer culture. They all complain about what they don't like. I think you should know about that culture and turn a blind eye to it sometimes or always.

Think about a happy place and go there.

[Michelle]

I say, don't give up. Take a holiday, enjoy it and see if you feel like giving it another go.

If things have not improved for you even with a few years, I feel sorry for you.

Keep making sure you stand up for yourself. Don't stay with anyone who cheats you on pay or hours. But I think giving up is always a mistake.

If teaching is for you then you can continue, trying another country would be an option.

The problem here is finding a good employer. I have also found jobs where you do not have to work 30 hours and Saturdays. There are smaller schools and those that can allow you to job share. Especially with your experience, the world is your oyster.

[jajdude]

Sorry to hear about the bad run Jack, as you sound like a cool cat. I'd say you have been rather unlucky. There are good jobs somewhere in this country. I've heard so many times, must be true!

Anyway, good luck! Sorry I have no real helpful things to add except a bit of encouragement.

[mindmetoo]

[lepid gecko]

jackthecat, i've asked myself the same question (many time probably), and the conclusion was, I still haven't found what i'm looking for, and i'm not even sure what that is...but korea just isn't it.
i'm determined to leave feeling positive about korea. it got me what i needed, but it's simply not a country i want to live in for any longer period of time.
so i'm sticking another 6 months and then i'm outta here.

[TheUrbanMyth]

So we'll see you back here, in what...another six months?

If you really mean it, my congratulations. But I've heard so many people voice the exact same sentiments as you or even worse...and they were back for another round after spending a few months home, and finding that nothing much (in terms of getting a job) had changed.

Anyway regardless, I'd like to say Good Luck!

[JacktheCat]

[captain kirk]

Wow, Jack, three jobs in one year? The job I had before this one had its quirks. The job before that, too. And so on down the line and the quirkiness was the shifting, unseen mullings of the management which is unnerving and, I believe, has occured in every job I've had. I'm a product, like a gizmo, which produces results. I can be replaced with someone who appears and catches their eye as a possible supreme dollar generator. How they look, grease the bosses, their age, their nationality, their recommendations. I stay at the job realizing that my worth is transitory and dependent on who's available to take my place as well as whether I'm a functioning cog keeping the haggie pulling in the cash.
A second foreign teacher arrived and I asked him, 'so what are you doing here? Are you here to replace me or work with me?'. I had a wicked toothache that morning compounded by this guy being a love interest of the head Korean teacher, apparently. And he laughed that I was 'paranoid', bla bla. He's a guy who 'lives in his head', major in political science, not long out of Uni, and relates with people close to schmoozing. Call it survival, call it greasing here, greasing there. It's also the bosses. They have bills up the yazoo and, it seems to me, are always looking for ways to squeeze out of being behind and lacking.
From my experience the contract is for a year but it's based on whimsy, 'popular opinion', perception of your performance, and who's available in the offing. But they do want to avoid paying for a visa run too soon after hiring. To be somewhere six months is something. After six months a month notice or, in lieu of that, one month's salary is owing. That's law.
Look into the next job by visiting the school. It's a more effective way of getting a job, anyway. More of a sure thing. Hired from a distance they might not like you and you them once you get there. Whether a teacher can get along in the politics, with the bosses, other teachers, etc.
For other countries Taiwan, I've been there a year and a half, is just as 'fickle'. But hey, we're not 'teachers' in a formal situation of being unionized, having seniority, certificates, etc. The bosses either. A Korean teacher was 'singing' 'have a juice bottle courtesy of a mother's gift, teachers' and I laughed inside at the word 'teacher'. Maybe our job is more difficult and rewarding than a teacher in the formal sense. More 'on the fly' than the prestigious implications of the title 'teacher'.

[Blind Willie]

I had the most fucked up first year in Korea. My ass is still sore from the serious pounding I took. It was so bad, that it fucked up my second year as well.

So, why did I come back? Free rent, easy savings, and the ability to head to Japan or Taiwan at a moments notice should my current hagwon go to hell.

If you got the money to go to Japan, or a nicer nation, go for christ's sake. Stop killing yourself

[lepid gecko]

[TheUrbanMyth]