Korean Job Discussion Forums

[itaewonguy]

ive got better things to do than work for an ignorant, racist hakwon owner who obviously has NO @%#$# BRAINS!! and he thinks hiring a white north american only will make his hakwon successful!!!!
he is a stupid korean who has no business brains.. he just thinks he knows
the market becuase he is a korean. who is living 10 years behind the rest of us!! NO THANKS!!!!
I can see already in his post. what kind of management they ran at that school. so why would I want to work for such a place? IM not a *beep*..
I can find plenty of jobs,. leave that to the desperados who just off tboat. or people who are as low as the boss.. they will probably hit it off!!!I wil probably smack him in the face and call him too many bad words..

[ajuma]

Of course! I'm white!!!!

[Tiberious aka Sparkles]

[ladyandthetramp]

[ladyandthetramp]

[The Man known as The Man]

[marista99]

Maybe they don't say it in their ads, but most Hogwan owners, if not all, would prefer a white person. Under Korean law (with the possible exception of this international treaty thing) they're allowed to discriminate on race, at least against foreigners. That's the way Korea is, and it's really unlikely that any of us is going to change that.

Actually, in a way I find it refreshing that they're allowed to say "whites only" or "females only" because in the US everyone's so worried about being politically correct that if they do want a white or female (or black or male) person, they have to get creative in their hiring practices so as to get the person they want while avoiding the appearance of discrimination. Employers who want to discriminate are going to; Koreans are just more up front and honest about what's happening.

[royjones]

[Zed]

It's not really the drug dealer's fault either. It's the kids who are driving the market.

[Grotto]

[thegadfly]

Um, I am going to seriously, sincerely ask a question that I would like to discuss in a thoughtful manner -- this is not intended as flame bait, and if you are claiming "that's different," then I would like to have an explanation as to why....

OK, so I decide to start a business -- myself, my own money, my own savings, my own blood, sweat, and tears. I need to hire some folks to work for me, but I have a certain image I want to project, a certain market I want to attract...so I decide my business will have a strict employee dress code. (I am not saying that the dress code is the only expectation I have -- I expect a high degree of professionalism and a strong work ethic, as well -- but the dress code is the area about which I have a question.)

Is there a problem with this? I mean, would anyone argue that in MY place of business, people *I* hire to work for ME and represent the company *I* created could not be required to dress in a certain way? This isn't a public place -- I am not holding my CUSTOMERS to this standard, just the folks that I am PAYING....

So it is an appearance thing...how my customers view my employees, based on what my employees look like and how they comport themselves.

Do I have the right to set (arbitrary) standards of employee appearance? I mean, after all, I could have worn jeans and a t-shirt back when I worked at McDonald's, and I would still have flipped those burgers as well...but I had to wear the blue polyester and the stupid paper hat....

Is this kind of expectation of a particular appearance a valid business concern? Do you think it is valid for an employer (again, a private individual or entity, not a government institution, nor as a limit on public usage as a patron) to decide what she or he wants the customer to see?

If uniforms and dress codes are ok, then why wouldn't it follow that ANY visible chracteristic can be sought or discounted by an employer?

Oh, by the way, I HAVE been turned down for jobs because of how I look...I didn't appear "professional" enough for some job interviews...and as the fellow doing the hiring, I must admit to prefering folks with neat, clean, reasonably dressy clothes to the folks that walk in to an interview rumpled, stained, unshaven, dishevelled, in cut-off shorts and a hawaiian shirt half-buttoned....

[MixtecaMike]

Ditto Gadfly.

He who pays the piper...

I sure wouldn't want to work for a boss that wanted a 26 year old Canadian female and had to hire a 42 year old Australian male because I challenged him on legal grounds.

If someone wanted a Big Mac but they had to eat the Jr. Burger without Cheese for the same price they wouldn't be too happy either. (Parable of the day, LOL)

[Tiberious aka Sparkles]

[ladyandthetramp]

[justagirl]

Here's another thought. Where do Koreans get their ideas about Westerners? From the movies. Now we know that's dumb, but they don't have any other exposure to our culture that shows people interacting/talking/etc.

When you see a black person in a movie, how are they generally portrayed? I would say, "as part of a gang, in jail, in the inner city, fighting, or saying things like, 'yo dawg, wazzup!'" Now that is a huge stereotype, but if that is all one ever saw, I don't think you'd want to hire a black person to teach children. The slang/ebonics or whatever you want to call it seems difficult to understand compared to Peter Jennings, for example.

I have to constantly reinforce postive things about blacks to my students. I tell them that they are not dirty (as they so often insist, seeing the black skin), they do NOT eat other humans (as their public school teachers tell them), and they do not all carry guns and live in L.A.

Does anyone else think that Hollywood reinforces negative attitudes/beliefs about blacks? I know not every movie with a black person makes them out to be a criminal or bad guy, but a lot of them seem to. Just a thought that ran across my mind when thinking about Korea and racism.