Korean Job Discussion Forums

[kentucker4]

Anyone got any good links and companies? All the ones saw require in person interviews and seem tough to get. Any ideas?

[pest2]

http://www.altiacentral.org/modules/tinycontent/index.php?id=28

They're supposed to be in Korea some time... doesnt say when.

[kentucker4]

[Easter Clark]

Try gaijinpot.

Or you could try the Japan Forum here on Dave's. Nice folks over there!

[oskinny1]

Too bad NOVA is gone, I am sure they would hire a guy who in 4 months saw Bigfoot, got married to some girl he just met and pulled a runner.

[Smee]

I've been looking through a couple Japan forums . . . man, depressing. Looks really crowded over there, and the fact that more foreigners speak Japanese than Korean looks like it's more competitive for anything beyond grunt-level teaching work.

[I_Am_The_Kiwi]

http://www.letsjapan.org/forum/

and

gaijinpot.com

your 2 best bets for anything and everything Japan.

ignore the neh sayers, go to Japan. Its way better than Korea.

[IncognitoHFX]

[farrepatt]

I taught in Japan for a year and virtually none of the foreigners I knew spoke Japanese. We did get free weekly Japanese lesson from our coworkers though so most people I knew were actually trying to learn at least some Japanese.

The company I worked for (GEOS) didn't ever give me the impression they cared much if their teachers spoke Japanese either. Though the screening process was a lot more intensive. I basically had to do a 2 and a half day interview before being offered the job. It was really strange getting hired for my public school in Korea with only email exchanges.

I absolutely love Japan and kind of wish I had gone back instead of coming to Korea. I'd highly recommend it anyone, especially if your interested in Japanese culture.

[Smee]

One of the big programs---NOVA or JET, I don't remember----hired only via interview sessions at designated locations in the applicant's home country. I remember I was in Korea and considering trying to apply for one, but no way was I going back home, then flying to New York or Dallas or something just to interview for the chance to be an English monkey. Other schools and hagwon seem to still hire via email. Just giving those forums a glance, though, it looks like there's more competition there than here. Plus with the start-up costs being what they are, it might make more sense for somebody to get that teaching experience in Korea rather than plopping down thousands of dollars as soon as you walk off the plane.

My point about the language is that back home---no-name university in the states---people were studying Japanese because of their interest in anime and porn, whereas nobody had any idea about Korea or Korean. People seem to start off at a higher level, though I think they slow down with the difficulties learning the alphabets and kanji. And my impression tells me you have many more Caucasians in Japan who can speak Japanese fairly well than you have Caucasians in Korea who can speak Korean well. I've also read, though, that you're more likely to have people ignore your Japanese than people ignore your Korean.

[I_Am_The_Kiwi]

[Easter Clark]

Plus, you own your visa.

[yawarakaijin]

I never thought I meet anyone who thought Korea was less of a headache than Japan.

Number 1. You own your visa here. Take a crappy job with one of the many dispatch companies ( westgate comes to mind ) they will set you up in a public school and with an apartment no hassles. Technically your contract is only for 3 months or something like that but if you do a good job you can easily stay longer. They provide you with a visa and from there if you dont like it you are free to look around and find something you like better.

After that the world is your oyster. There are so many small mom and pop english schools around that once you are set up in a city it is easy to find something that matches your style. Tokyo and Osaka might be tough going but my god there ARE other cities in Japan. Small town life isn't so bad here either. I'm currently paying about 600$ for what is called a 2LDK here in japan. Basically its a living room, kitchen/dining room and two other rooms. The same apartment could cost me up to 1,500$ or more in Tokyo.

The exchange rate is currently kicking ass and for whatever you may read and hear Japan is really not so expensive. When I was here in 97 a rice ball cost 100 yen, today they cost about 110 yen. There seems to be almost zero inflation here. A minimum salary of 250,000 yen is quite substantial if you are a canadian, kiwi or aussie.

[kentucker4]

I really want to teach there, but the idea of flying for an interview to another part of the states of Candad is flat out ridiculous. I just don't several hundred dollars to throw away on a plane ticket for an interview that is not a gauranteed success. Hell, plane tickets are expensive now a days and I don't exactly have money to spare with my newspaper job here.

Also, can you teach in Japan with a DUI? That rule in Korea is absurd.

[sojourner1]

Darn, he's not coming back to Korea, but at least he's still on here. I hope he gets an opportunity to do something more than work an $11/hour job as that's only about 16,000 take home for working a solid a solid 52 weeks a year at 40 hours a week. $11/hour is consider better than average ($7.50/hour) back home, but none of these jobs provide much for benefits and perks. Teaching in Korea is a golden gig compared to that which the OP already knows. I just had to make this post longer. Didn't I?

You can play around with Japan and have the time of your life if you have money to play around with. Japan is more about a pleasant and interesting cultural exchange rather than coming to save money so you can travel and have cash in the bank like a poor boy never did before. Not to say it's a lot of money, but it's more than a poor American boy can get at home as the OP is feeling the hurt having gone back to a typical American JOB paying peanuts with little or no benefits where you live paycheck to paycheck. I too was going to go to Japan, but the money and costs part prevented me from doing it.


Enjoy you your sojourn in Japan if your bank account is healthy enough.