Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Weetbix Kid]

Has any one had any experience with this?

I'm a Kiwi currently working at a hagwon on Geoje Island, but next year my (dutch) boyfriend and I are looking at going to the Netherlands to live.

Does any one know whether there's many teaching gigs or even decent working gigs in general??

I have looked into it a bit, and know about the requirements for members of the EU to be first hired etc, but would love to hear any one else's experiences!

Cheers!

[sojourner1]

I've been to Holland several times and most people I met spoke really good English, but I'm sure they have many English teachers. Most likely people from Great Britain if not Dutch people themselves are teaching in their schools. I've never heard of Non-E.U. citizens teaching there.

Holland is very lovely. Good luck to you.

[lohengrin]

I lived in Rotterdam for quite some time. English is taught in the schools by regular teachers with full teaching qualifications, and you need to be registered as a teacher with the Dutch authorities. If you have a teaching qualification from another country (at least a B.Ed.) you need to do a one semester bridging course. You also need to speak fluent Dutch to teach at their schools.
As to other jobs, sure, lots of opportunities, but keep in mind without qualifications you're competing with the North African and middle Eastern immigrants who work for peanuts.

[Weetbix Kid]

Ahhhh, that's a shame! I had a nasty feeling that this may be the case!

Thanks very much

[the ireland]

Geoje kicks ass!!! i miss yongudong (the restaurant with the pink chopsticks in gohyeon) and i miss the happy woman who works in the bakery across from duksan apartments!!

[charger]

I lived in Holland for a year and I don't know how much luck you will have finding work. Regardless, if you spend more than 3 months in a calendar year there you need to have a resident permit which is 433 euros last I checked. I went to school there and never bothered getting it, and they don't cross reference it. But if you are trying to find work good luck though., You are competing against the best english speakers out there and against EU citizens.

[Weetbix Kid]

The Ireland I have very sad news for you

Pink chopsticks is GONE! (we called it that as well) in it's place is a soy ice-cream place. How metropolitan is Geoje getting! terrifying.

[snowgoose]

Surely your Dutch boyfriend would know something about working there. Of course, not as a foreigner trying to get a job, but he must know what the job market is like there and so on. From what I hear, the Dutch pick up English faster than anybody else and overall speak with the most native-sounding accents (the French mostly have horrible accents it seems to me). The Netherlands would seem like one of the countries with the LOWEST need for English teachers. When you consider how hard it is for Koreans to learn (Korean is so different to English, while Dutch is one of the most similar languages), how long it takes to get to a reasonable above-basic level, how separated it is from other English-speaking countries, and how much Koreans consider educational advantage to be important, you can see why Korea is the number one market for English teachers.

I heard the EU overall is hard to find work in, work that covers your living costs anyway, unless you're on some exec or special skill posting. Perhaps your boyfriend should ask you to marry him, then you'd probably at least get residency status....

[Weetbix Kid]

Yes, I think you're right Snowgoose.

We've really given up on the idea of going to Holland, as I can't bear the thought of going back to admin work, and it seems that's all that's available for me at present. (along with tulip tending - no joke)

We've talked about getting married, but it'd be nice to get married because we're ready to, not because it'd solve bureaucratic problems. Guess we're kinda romantics.

Thanks for your comment.

[snowgoose]

In fact, throughout history and in most of the world, marriage is quite a practical thing. Doesn't mean it can't be "romantic" but really, that doesn't have a lot to do with the actual business of being married. In many ways, practical reasons ARE an important motivator. And on the other hand, it would seem that while some might object to practicality, a lot of men really don't want to get married for the very practical reasons that it limits them and what they can do, for example, move out tomorrow and leave a note on the table. If they were married, why, they'd be called upon by the law to divide assets, answer for themselves and their actions etc. Losing half a house is NOT a practical matter?Hmmm.....

Isn't it romantic to want to marry someone and then take them to live in your country and show them that place? And, also, they'd be able to do something USEFUL with their skills etc, hell, maybe even a job they'd LIKE, rather than digging ditches for a pittance....oh, wait, that's far more romantic, you're right.

You could always suggest going to a place where YOU can choose from a reasonable range of jobs that you'd like, and your bf can't. Maybe he can dig ditches or something, search uselessly all day for jobs, while you sympathise by telling how great your job is and how well it pays etc....Really, why didn't he look into options for you before suggesting such an idea? I would, if I were him - that's caring.

[the ireland]

[Weetbix Kid]

We've been here for 4 months, and are pretty happy here, heaps of waygooks to hang out with etc etc, how long ago were you here?

Actually the people at Pink Chops would spend most of their spare time staring longingly at the window, getting excited everytime a waygook walked by, and then crying bitterly when it wasn't who they expected. You I assume?

[the ireland]

[I_Am_The_Kiwi]

I had 2 friends from NZ work in holland last year. They do NOT speak dutch themselves but found work rather easy working for international corporations.

One was doing data entry for a GPS compny - only job he could find - the other was an accountant. Work is there, and id say you could get it. But unlikely to be teaching.