Korean Job Discussion Forums

[iggyb]

I just did a phone interview. It was a little odd.

The had not emailed to set up a time. I had given up on the position. I had not heard from them in two or three weeks.

They had asked me to interview in Korea, and when they found out I was in the US, they did ask about good times to call me, but then they never called or emailed again...

People here said it was nearly impossible to get a univ. job living outside of Korea - so I had put that position away and concentrated on others.

Then they call out of the blue...

The interview was on speaker phone with two people, and it was short.

I usually get a good feel for situations, but I don't have one about the call one way or another.

They didn't ask any follow up questions.

I was able to give good answers, I thought, to the few questions they asked: for example, they mentioned my US university experience teaching writing as a TA, and they asked if I was familiar with the difference between Korean composition and American...

...it just so happens I do - a little.

One of my research papers for that university was about the pros and cons of teaching writing to ESL students in a separate class.

A couple of the studies I read included comparison of Korean writing with that of the US and other cultures.

One was a pretty interesting study that examined samples from Korean professors writing in English who had studied abroad in an English-speaking nation and those who had done all their studies in Korea. You could really see the difference in organizational pattern between the two...

But, they didn't make any comments in the interview as follow up to any of the questions, pretty much...

...and near the end they asked what my visa status was - and was a little confused and said I had no visa status since I'd been in the US for several years.

They might have asked one or two more questions, but the interview was over soon after and it was a short interview altogether.

What I'm thinking is ----- they were looking for someone with an F-4 spousal visa to hire from overseas if they had to hire overseas...

...and when they heard I didn't have it, they lost interest...

....but I really have no feel for it.

They did say that classes started in September and it was almost the first of August and did I think I could arrange everything in time to make the deadline?

I said it should be no problem, because my wife's family is in Korea and her sister's family lives in a suburb of Seoul and I am familiar with Korea and so on...

But....something about the interview makes me think I don't have much of a shot...

But I can't give any odds on it based on what was said....

[dew22]

I just �interviewed� with them last night. I also had a bizarre experience and it sounds like, unfortunately, someone decided this would be their method for conducting phone interviews. They asked me about 8 rapid questions and after I tried to give concise, but thoughtful, answers they just moved right on to the next question with almost no reaction. The end of the conversation was almost comical as they simply said �good bye, we�ll let you know� and hung up. I also felt good about my responses, but have no read whatsoever on my chances. I have an MA in International Business and a solid TEFL Certificate, but no official full-time teaching experience. My guess is that they have many local candidates to consider and maybe just want a few contacts from overseas as back-ups. Their ad said they were hiring 15. So, maybe that is a positive sign. Still keeping my fingers crossed that there is a chance!

[Milwaukiedave]

I think you meant F-2, that is the one that is a spousal visa. An F-4 is for someone who has Korean heritage.

[iggyb]

Yes. I meant spousal visa. That is a new thing in Korea from when I last worked there almost ten years ago.

It would have helped me if they had talked about specifics in the job - like which branch you would be teaching at and what type of courses.

The woman specifically asked about my experience with college composition, so I would guess that would be part of the job...

But the interview left me with more questions than I started with.

I also haven't heard back from them in any form.

I just finished a MA-Teaching in English. I will have TESOL certificate for public schools in my state thanks to undergrad course work.

And I have a MA in Korean Studies from a good school in the US. (Actually, I came up a transfer grade of 3 credits short of the degree...)

My college teaching experience is limited to time as a TA, but I taught in Korean hakwons for 4 years - half of that only adults...

[halfmanhalfbiscuit]

Hmmm.....I never heard back in NZ (MA, Teaching Diploma, Celta, 2 years Korean public school +2 teaching adults in Seoul and Australia, can get F2 processed within a week)

Oh well.

[iggyb]

halfmanhalfbiscuit,

What is your wife's status if you get the F-2?

I heard someone say that your spouse has to give up her/his greencard and Korean immigrant passport for a Korean national overseas passport if their spouse gets an F-2...???

My wife is going to remain in the US for at least the first year (if I stay more than 1 year) to keep her job.

But, even if she were not, there is no way I'd get her to give up her permanent residence status in the US just so I could take advantage of the F-2.

...I've also wondered if - for the F-2 - I could get her mother or sister to be the sponsor...?

We had to do that with my wife as we prepared to go to the US, because I had been in Korea for 4 years and did not have a job lined up back in the States.

I emailed several Korean consulates in the US about this but of course only heard back from one and it didn't answer the question - at least not well enough that I understood...

[halfmanhalfbiscuit]

Iggyb,

I've been thinking a similar question about my wife's NZ Permanent Residency in NZ. We don't really intend to come back to NZ so it's not a big deal about whether it can be maintained or not. When we finally move to the UK, I'll be her sponsor again.

Don't know how it would have worked if I was going to Korea seperately. I went into the Korean Embassy on Friday and have appiled for my F2 though they will only issue it for 3 months. You don't always have to be there together at Immigration. My wife came with me the first time I got my F2 and we bumped into a guy we know who'd simply brought all the relevant forms and his wife's id.

Mother or sister as sponsor-don't know sorry.

[iggyb]

Thanks...

What is your wife's passport status in NZ?

As I understand it, Korea has two different passports - one for Koreans living abroad and one for those immigrating abroad who haven't gotten citizenship yet in the other country.

Is your wife on an immigrant passport? If so, when you went to the Embassy, did they mention anything about her having to change it before you could get the F-2?

What I'll probably do is wait for a couple of months once I'm in country then go to the US Embassy about it.

My wife worries too much when having to deal with agencies like that, so I'm not going to pressure her too much to find out what I can probably get myself.

Also, her father finally died this past weekend from cancer. His illness was one of the reasons I was heading over there for a year and the need to help her mother out is even bigger now.

But, it isn't the right time to press either of them about the F-2...

I'll handle it once I'm there...

But, if my wife had to give up her greencard status, I won't even think about it...

[halfmanhalfbiscuit]

Iggy,

She just has a Permanent Residency sticker in her regular passport. I've never heard of two different passports before.