Korean Job Discussion Forums

[gay in korea]

(my friend is using my account to post this/GiK is not the author)

So my friend is kind enough to let me use his account--- I am not the person selling the computer, btw.

I had applied for a university job in Seoul. Upper tier school, I think rated about 20th overall in Korea. I didn't get an interview. I could have accepted getting an interview and not being hired. But not getting an interview wreaks of something awful.

My qualifications:

BA, suma cum laude
MA, from what was at the time a top 20 university in the world
60 hour tesl
4 years of experience in Korea
2 years of experience at a university
Preliminary PhD research on the issue of education in Asia
Short-term work at a language centre in canada.

Now I may not have a MA in TESOL, but that's a fairly good ESL CV. And there were apparently close to 20 positions being offered.

What's your gut reaction? Is this a friend's hiring friends situation, or has the pool of very qualified/experienced teachers gone up dramatically since I last taught in Korea?

[edwardcatflap]

If they're hiring you to teach EFL, your only actual TEFL qualification is a 60 hour (presumably without a practical element) course. Might have something to do with it. Maybe Korean universities have started to look at people with qualifications in the field they're actually going to be teaching, though they haven't done much in the past.

[Depths of My Soul]

Appearance and age?

In my short time researching ESL Korea these have come up several times as "hidden hiring criteria".

[djsmnc]

A ton of applicants? They changed their mind about the number of instructors they actually need? Who knows?

[jugbandjames]

What are your degrees in?

[air76]

You say since you last taught in Korea....does this mean that you are not in country? That would certainly make a big difference....as would whether or not you are working at a university now, or whether or not you're even teaching at the moment.

You have strong qualifications, but there are a lot of university instructors here who have similar qualifications, especially since more and more folk are getting their MA in TESOL online.

Plus, a lot of the better schools require 3 years of university experience.

[Welsh Canadian]

[Steve_Rogers2008]

[the_beaver]

Applicant quality has been going way up lately. If there was nothing in the package that wowed them in terms of how you presented it that would possibly be the reason.

[gay in korea]

You are familiar with the conclusions of psychologist on those who feel the need to point out minor errors in others? and in this case it wasn't an error, since my friend wrote the first line and it was used to distinguish between speakers/writers. I would also point out that stating one's qualifications is only puffing out your chest if you feel threatened by it...

As to the rest, thanks for insight. The three years thing was something I thought of, but most of that seems to be associated with those who don't have a graduate degree. But it certainly could have been a factor.

I literally just got back to Korea for about a two week stay, which the university knew was due in no small part for interview purposes.

I was just a bit shocked by the fact that my professional qualifications (not listed here but are on my CV), plus my education and ESL experience are not minor. It's been several months since I was last in Korea, but from what I understood in 2009, my qualifications were still well above average compared to the run of the mill applications. Which is why I figured I would at least get an interview.

As for degrees; BA was 20th century international relations, with one of my concentrations on East Asia (China, Japan, Korea). MA was IR again, with work on Korea--- though not my thesis. Is it an MA in education, no, but my prelim PhD research has concentrated on Asian education systems.

Anyway, if anyone else has any ideas I am more than happy to hear them.

[edwardcatflap]

Would you want to be taught international relations at a university by someone who had a BA and MA in TEFL but had only done a 60 hour course in IR?

[gay in korea]

[frankly speaking]

You really think that your qualifications are that far above the "run of the mill" teacher applying for those positions. I actually think that your qualifications are standard to bottom for that position.

It really also depends on how well crafted your resume is. Your unrelated degrees need to be stated in a way that shows relevance to the position you are applying for. I had unrelated degrees when I started but still got some good positions because I crafted my resume in a way that showcased my skills.

I imagine that the name of your University you graduated from is not known to them. If it isn't top ten, most likely they wouldn't know it. Believe it or not, many places here don't know Cornell.

I had a hard time a few years back trying to get a Uni position when I wasn't in country. They liked my resume and I got responses but had to fly over for the interview without any guarantees. I had to pass.

Better luck next time. PM me if you want some comments on your resume.

[edwardcatflap]

[gay in korea]

The grammar point is a good one. I would say it depends on the program and the class level. If you're teaching a mandatory first year course that has no division by ability, doing pattern exercise to transform a line from simple past to present perfect or progressive likely isn't going to fly. In fact, there's an outside chance that the (vast) majority wont even know what those tenses are.

A lot of the mandate classes which are the reason departments are expanding are skill classes: ordering, directions, descriptions etc. There will certainly be a grammar component to it, but the aim is to teach usage of certain vocabulary. It would be presented and explained in terms of verb, subject noun etc, they are expected to follow a similar form, but that is pretty basic level. If they get it right they get 100%, and it the more mistakes the lower the score. But a chunk of the score is grammar exclusive. If a student in bad grammar can explain how to give directions that an english speaker would be able to follow, that's worth something.

If the classes are structure by ability, that's when the TESOL might make a difference. But that simply isn't the case for many of the programs. Incidentally, I should mention that I have studied ESL systems as part of my research.

And thank you for the help on the CV, but part of the professional work I've done is design and messaging, so I should be ok. I may change an order of something based on a comment you made, so thank you.