Korean Job Discussion Forums

[withnail]

Hi guys - anyone out there working for this university?

I admit it's a long shot for me as I'm just finishing my MATESOL and am on the dissertation phase now so will not have the MA till summer next year, but I have 12 years teaching experience in London, Korea & Japan. I have a PG Dip in Tesol - the taught part of the MA and have a year's experience as a DoS in my 2 years thus far in Korea and these guys don't seem remotely interested in my application. I'd love to work for them but I guess they're sticking rigidly to the MA in hand thing. Fair cop, I suppose. Just a bit disappointed really that all the teaching experience and sub MA quals seem to count for nought,. Any advice?

They've re-advertised their 10 positions after receiving my application twice!
yeah I know what you're going to say...

[umpittse]

I had the same trouble this past spring applying for university positions that were scheduled to start in September. I finished my Master's degree at the end of June and started applying right after my presentation. However, I did not have my degree in hand and would not recieve it until the fall convocation in October. I, like you, mass emailed my resumes and accompanying documents to Korean universties in spite of the fact that I did not have the degree in hand. However, I attained an official letter from my graduating university that stated I finished my Master's degree, I thought this would suffice, but no university responded. Finally, one did respond at the end of July. The universiy stated they wanted to offer me a position but they would need the degree in hand by September. In conclusion, as you already am aware of, Korean universities really do need the Master's degree in hand.

I now have a job lined up at a Korean college starting in March. It's not a university position but, it will still give me the 4-5 months of holidays, 12 hours of work a week and complete autonomy over my classes. So, I'm a happy camper. Good luck with your job hunt and Master's degree.

[FUBAR]

Maybe you just don't have the look they want

or.... They just haven't sorted out the masses of resumes. Wait a few weeks and they will get around it to.

[Square Cracker]

Hmmm...I was surprised this handle still works, though I am still "green."

Anyway, I am a "professor" (I only have a master's, so the professor tag disturbs me since I was only and could only be an instructor in the States) at Yeungnam. Here is the take on the policy:

They are not only hiring people with a master's degree (you MUST hold a master's degree), but the new requirement is that you must have had significant teaching experience, e.g., university-level teaching in a full-time position post master's. If you do not meet that requirement, you are not eligible for a position. I think it may be unfortunate in some ways because there are deadbeats who have experience and really good people who don't, but it is a university rule.

Yes, Yeungnam is constantly advertising for more people. It's not a quantity thing, though, but a quality thing. The university has spread its wings and has a lot of demand. However, they are adamant that they will not hire people that do not reach minimum qualifications, even if it means being short-handed for their educational goals.

I hope this is helpful. I don't usually visit the site, but had a particular issue I was seeking out tonight and happened across this thread. Yeungnam has been great to me so far and I am glad I chose it over the Seoul universities that offered me jobs. In many ways, I feel I would have been miserable there.

I came to Korea as a hagwon teacher to see if I would like Korea after having been a university teacher in the States. I not only liked it, but loved it. Like I said before, I am still green, having only been here for 14 months, but Yeungnam seems to be the best decision I have made. The people are great, the hours are sweet (next semester we are dropping down to nine full-time hours, which literally interprets to a 10.5-hour work week if you choose not to work overtime), and the job is almost devoid of stress. I could never find this is an American university with only a master's degree.

I hope this helps. Finish your master's degree, get a year's experience post master's (actually, you may want to contact Yeungnam because your vast teaching experience could potentially qualify you--we have some people who were high school teachers in the States, Canada, Australia who are professors here), and you will find a great job here.

[Square Cracker]

[BS.Dos.]

I've been doing speaking tests all this week with my 3rd graders, a number of whom are planning on studying at Yeungnam next year. They got quite animated when I asked them where they hoped to be studying.

Sounds like a good gig, if you can get it of course.