Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Hatcher]

The government is planning on recruiting 20,000 to 25,000 new ESL instructors over the next 5 years.
My question is who would be considered Korea's competitors for teachers.
I will rank:
1. Japan
2. Hong Kong-Taiwan
3. Dubai
4. Vietnam

I ask this because the Korean recruiters dont seem to have their competition in mind. Several times I have heard them say, "if you wanna work here...." rather than providing the best package.
With their mindset, they can recruit bacpackers but no the best teachers.

[DrunkenMaster]

They don't want the best teachers.

[mastap]

Don't work here. Unless you want to deal w/all kinds of bs.
I am really regretting my decision to come here.

[SirFink]

I wonder if all the nationalistic propaganda they get from their news media fuels this attitude. "Why wouldn't ESL teachers want to come to the hub of Asia?? Why would they want to go to that pit of scum and villainy, Japan?"

[jinks]

Korea seems to be the entry point for new or curious ESL teachers. Unlike many of the positions advertised in the countries listed in the OP, Korean schools will arrange return air tickets and accommodation on arrival. This is a very attractive option for first time teachers overseas. What we might see happening is a continuous stream of new teachers arriving in Korea, then when they are more experienced in teaching English and navigating new countries / cultures they move on to other markets in other countries.

[mountainous]

CHINA, of course, is a major competitor.

Many college grads want to learn Mandarin and travel all over China.

For the highly qualified, there are some A+ jobs in China.

People are SO friendly and the food is my favorite cuisine.

The cost of living is next to nothing...there was a thread awhile back about EFL in China being a well kept secret. Japan is also a wonderful country.

[marlow]

[yingwenlaoshi]

If you can get a full-time gig in Taiwan, it's much better. Thing is, it's hard to get a full-time job like in Korea. Pay isn't going anywhere there though. I guess someone with experience could get a half-decent wage.

I'm actually thinking about going back. But I'd have to make something like at least 700 to 800 NT/hr with at least 5 hours/day. That would only pay 2.2 to 2.5 million Won/month and I'd have to foot the bill for accomodations. Taxes are a little higher, too.

This is my 4th year in Korea and I'm getting a little bored with it.

[articulate_ink]

Hong Kong and Taiwan are not the same market. The ESL situation in HK can be lucrative and would be more so if the currency weren't pegged to the ever-shrinking US dollar. The NET (Native English Teacher) program is the government-run public school placement program. The basic entry-level salary for a non-certified teacher isn't much but when you add the housing allowance (referred to as the 'special allowance') it works out to something in the neighborhood of HKD35K per month, maybe more. There are two subdivisions of the NET program: SNET for secondary and PNET for primary. There's definitely a demand for teachers and even if you don't have credentials you can still get a foot in the door (more easily via PNET, from what I can tell). If you can get the credential -- and HKU offers a part-time B.Ed program -- and you stay in the program, then the earning potential is enormous.

There are a lot of language mills (aka hagwons), as well. Not as many as here, but they're out there. The average monthly salary seems to be HKD20K, no housing allowance provided. At today's exchange rate, that's 2.5 million, a little higher than I thought. It's not an ideal salary for HK but it's doable.

Tertiary education there is harder to get into. There are several universities, all of which have language centers and all of which hire English lecturers/instructors from time to time. There's also the Vocational Training Council, which is like a territory-wide community college system. You pretty much have to have a master's degree, CELTA/TESOL, and several years of experience to even get an interview. There's a lot of competition and these jobs are not impossible to obtain. The money's a lot better, too.

The cost of living in HK is lower than here in a number of important ways. Apartments only require a 2-month deposit to get into, not outrageous key money. Rent seems to be lower than it is in Seoul nowadays, even taking key money into account. The whole key money thing skews the cost of living here so much that I've never quite gotten my head around it. Food's cheaper and the supermarkets aren't like overdecorated Soviet gulag-marts. Going to City Super there is like being back in the First World. (77 more days, not that I'm counting.) Fares on the MTR... I never really paid much attention but it goes pretty much everywhere and it's not expensive. The lack of a sales tax means you're not taking it up the *** every time you buy foreign goods. As with food, there's a much better selection in the stores.

Korea's fine as a place to change careers and get some experience, but unless you marry a Korean I cannot otherwise imagine why anyone would want to stay. There are much better deals out there.