Korean Job Discussion Forums

[red_devil]

First of all this is not a troll. I have a lot of gyopo friends and only one is actually a teacher, but back when i was teaching hardcore i met soooooo many gyopo teachers, and i saw a billion gyopo's posting for "teaching job wanted" and a lot were bi-lingual. It got me wondering, since a lot of these gyopos speak/understand good to moderate Korean why are they teaching? They could be working at companies making double what they make as a teacher...is it laziness? My friends work at places like Samsung or LG or finance or entertainment...surely those jobs must be better than teaching? I find it kinda pathetic. Don't get me wrong i'm not really hating on gyopos this was more of an offhand observation.

[Carla]

[E_athlete]

You raise a good point though kind of provacatively.

I think knowing a language or doesn't really matter at least where I come from. You still need a skillset and experience, both of gyopos may not have.

I am a biracial japanese canadian. By your logic I should be working at some corporation like Square-enix or Panasonic. Probably not going to happen. They rather hire some real professional translator with certications than just some guy who is fluent in both languages. I might be able to get some kind of office work or something but im not sure if I'll be doubling my salary. It's also very easy to look for a generalized job like ESL than looking at specific companies and tailoring my resume to all of them individually. I guess I really am lazy... but then again it's hard to apply for these jobs when you live abroad.

[broken76]

First of all getting a job at one of the conglomerates isn't that easy. And second of all the initial pay at a full time company is most likely less than that of a teacher. It's the upward mobility which is nice but in many cases gyoppos are only planning on being in Korea for a short period of time. Had a bilingual Korean friend (gyoppo) who got a job in Samsung making half of what he would have made as a teacher. But he stuck with it and is not making a pretty good living.

[PRagic]

Agree with the above. Have a lot of Kyopo buddies who tried the medium and large firm gigs, only to throw in the towel because of cross-cultural differences. Just because you vaguely understand them, doesn't mean that they don't get you down.

Pay is low, responsibilities that pump up the traditional resume are few and far in between, and there still exists a 'why do you want to work here, anyway?' mentality that permiates corporate cultures. It's not an easy go, but there are opportunities out there. Stick with it, and as another poster stated, you can make a decent living. But you'll never get rich 'workin for the man'.

[CA-NA-DA-ABC]

I for one would NEVER EVER work in a Korean corporate environment no matter how well it would pay. Besides, the pay isn't even THAT much better unless you start climbing up the ladder, which as another poster mentioned, isn't even a possibility for most gyopos who don't intend to stay in Korea permanently.

More hours, more stress, more forced drinking, for what, marginally more pay (if that) ? No thanks.

[iggyb]

I agree that the original poster might not know enough about Korean corporate culture.

You said that you have a number of Korean friends working in the corporate world. They all like it? It would seem from your comment that you haven't heard about problems in the corporate culture.

My first two years in Korea I taught adults only and most of the students were white collar people in banks, factory management and business management. What they described as normal working conditions --- sounded like hell.

It made sense of the stats I would read in the newspaper about polls showing the quality of life factors in Korea being lower than in other OECD nations.

The basic idea was that once you join a company, it owns you, and until you reach a certain level, if you ever do reach a certain level, you must simply "endure" what those who have made that level feel like doing to you.

It always seemed to me the biggest problem with the hakwon industry is that owners kept trying to make the company look like a Korean factory or bank or other business --- without taking into consideration that when half of your staff is from other OECD Western nations, they aren't going to put up with what Korean mid and lower level white collar workers have to "endure".

I'd guess most Gyopo are in Korea for the short term - 1 to 3 years at most - like most TESOLers. If so, it is perfectly understandable that they would choose the loose ESL market to make that possible.

I think it certainly is not a "no brainers" that they should use their Korean skills to get an entry level corporate job...

It has been years since I lived in Korea, but from reading the Korean news everyday, I still see the same kind of polls showing a perceived low standard of living among Korean adult workers...

...I doubt the corporate world has changed that much since I was last familiar with it...

[iggyb]

However, longer term, I guess I can understand the original post better.

Because, I've been around the K-blogs of expats a long time, and there are a number of non-Gyopo Westerners who didn't know Korean when they came and worked several years in the hakwon industry and then moved up into the regular business world. Many or perhaps most of the longer term TESOLer starters seem to go to the university market and find a home and stay there. But others that are longer term seem to move into the corporate or other business world. (Others move to the English language newspapers and news sites).

Oddly enough, I just realized, I can't remember them talking much about that over the years.....

....which obviously, now that I think about it, is most likely done as a form of self-protection........interesting....

[Slowmotion]

Most of them come here just to hang out and drink. Getting a teaching job not only allows them to make money to support their party habits, but make some other money on the side while not having to work their butt off.

[winterfall]

[pkang0202]

A lot of Korean companies don't want to hire gyopos, unless its an editing, Customer service, or some other deadend career path.

99% of the Human Resource people in Korea are Korean. That goes for US companies as well. Unless you graduated from Ivy League, Korean companies aren't going to hire a gyopo. Even then, you would get a crap salary, work 60+ hours a week, and be given little to no real responsibility.

I know a lot of gyopos that work at companies. Compared to teaching English, they are indentured servants. Sure they work at a company but they work overtime all the time without getting overtime pay. They get 1 week of vacation if they are lucky. Also, they will be lucky to be middle management by the time they are 40. Most upper level mgmt positions would be reserved for SNU, Yonsei, KU grads.

[Jang-Dong Gun]

[Cheonmunka]

Subject line:
My immediate response = ????

[Beeston27]

Lots of interesting points raised, but are there any websites for English speakers out there for non teaching jobs? I have some finance experience and am told that there are opportunities out there in Korea......