Korean Job Discussion Forums

[joltaxt]

Getting a job in Seoul proved to be difficult, but it was worth the effort and time. I believe it took me alittle under two months total. Totally worth it though because in the end I got the job I wanted, and didn't settle for a one I wanted halfheartedly. I thought it would be nice to give a bit of advice for other rookies looking for a job in Seoul as it's very competitive.

- Experience helps. I worked one academic year in a public school my last year of undergrad. I had no idea it would help me the way it did when looking for a job in Korea. I got my foot in the door with plenty of interviews/recruiters and honestly wouldn't have without the teaching experience (because this is Seoul we're talking about, not Bumblefuck, Korea). If you have ANY experience working with kids, put it down and make it standout and go into detail about what you did. I'm not saying exaggerate it, because I didn't, but potential employers seeing that you've worked with kids goes a long way.

- Apply directly to the school as much as possible to avoid recruiters. This is how I got my job. A lot of the jobs here are ads from the schools, not recruiters. Those are the best ones imo. A couple recruiters once gave me jobs in cities on the complete other side of the country, no competence whatsoever, you don't have to waste time haggling out the good jobs from them. What you see is what you get with the direct-ads.

- Be adamant with recruiters about "only Seoul." I've never seen people so heavily scrutinize my every word. I'd go as far to say "if you say Seoul or a big city, you will NOT see one offer for a job in Seoul." Don't budge about working outside of Seoul, be polite, and you'll get interviews. They have jobs in Seoul despite what they will initially tell you. The persistent people get those jobs. Sometimes I'd get offers from "near Seoul" jobs claiming to be half an hour from Seoul, little did they know I did my research and plenty of times the actual commute time was twice as much!

- Follow up on interviews. If you don't hear back from them in a few days, be persistent. My job didn't get back to me after a few days, I was concerned, wrote them expressing I really was interested and got offered the job. Sweet.

- Be prepared to take less salary. The job I got is still more than SMOE would have paid me, but 100-200k less than hagwon jobs in satellite Seoul cities. But having lived in cities like NYC and Tokyo, the lower salary was definitely worth it in retrospect (i.e. cost of living in Queens vs. the city). I'm the type of person that loves to explore all corners of the city I'm in, and the tiresome commute of living out of Seoul would have meant Seoul on just weekends, not weekdays. I don't know about other potential teachers but I'd gladly take less money to live in the city than outside (i.e. Bronx, Manhattan; Saitama, Tokyo, etc.) Again if you plan on spending a ton of time in the city, it's definitely worth it in my experience.

- Don't be scared to wait, the right job will come. I honestly got jobs outside of Seoul without even interviewing with anyone from the school. I didn't take them, because many people suggested not taking jobs you don't want/that Seoul FFF formula being posted constantly/etc. Be persistent, apply to as many jobs as you can, and I'm sure you'll get what you want. I'm no Tom Cruise, social butterfly, and I barely have a year of experience and I got the job I wanted. It's possible when you have the right attitude.

Anyways, I thought it these tips would be helpful for other potential teachers looking to work in just Seoul. Not meant to be bragging or anything, just wanted to help. I leave in two days and am 1000X more excited than if I were leaving for another part of Korea. Hope that helps, goodluck and peaceout.

[sulperman]

Is it really that tough to get a job in Seoul these days?

I remember when I was first applying for jobs about 4 years ago it was the same deal, recruiters just trying to push everyplace else on you. I just checked the job board and it looks pretty much the same as it did back then.

http://www.eslcafe.com/jobs/korea/index.cgi?read=40516 (tons of Seoul jobs)

http://www.eslcafe.com/jobs/korea/index.cgi?read=40525

http://www.eslcafe.com/jobs/korea/index.cgi?read=40552

Just a few ads I picked out in 30 seconds. Maybe people wouldnt recognize a lot of them being in Seoul as they just say Mokdong, Sadang, Kangnam/Gangnam and things like that, but these are all in Seoul, and there are a lot more. Might be a bit more competitive, but based on what I've seen, anybody can still get a job here.

[sulperman]

Just thought I should mention as well (as I am not trying to be a dick) that I originally wanted to be in Busan but was pushed (very easily, I might add) into taking a job in another city. So well done OP for sticking to what you wanted.

[Big Mac]

Yeah, really. I didn't know it was that hard to get a job in Seoul these days. In the past I've never had problems getting job offers from Seoul. I guess things have really changed....or maybe this poster just has an inflated sense of himself.

If you're Canadian or American, in the past at least, you would get many job offers for Seoul without even trying.

[rookieglobetrotter]

Thanks OP that post was helpful. I am finishing up my first PS contract, but I have the problem that the most powerful coteacher/main handler is giving me negative feedback to prospective employers although I know I've done a good job. I am also a non-white American with a SA gf. I have tried emailing some employers on the ESL Job board my CV, picture, rec letters, but haven't gotten many responses. I think I have a job lined up in Chungbuk near my gf, but I guess I shouldn't bank on any one thing here in Korea. I may just go to Seoul jobhunting once my winter camp finishes next year, but any other advice is appreciated (non-white, very bad PS eval). Even if the market is bad in the worst case scenario, I could at least find a decent cram school in February you think? Thanks.

[joltaxt]

[aishiii]

[joltaxt]

[ayxcho]

Joltaxt,

if you don't mind me asking, what ethnicity are you? white? asian? latino? and what is your major?

I'm also looking for a job in Seoul, but im Gyopo, not an education/english major, and I don't have much experience. I do have my TEFL certificate tho, but still having a tough time finding a job in Seoul.

Since you have experience that probably helped a lot. These days I feel that there are so many people in Korea already (supply increase) that the PS's/hakwons have the luxury to be more picky.

Might be easier for someone like me (F-4 Visa holder) to go to Seoul first and search. Not sure if I wanna risk that, or just settle for somewhere else.

[joltaxt]

[joltaxt]

[nomad-ish]

you can get offered a job in seoul quickly enough, it takes a bit longer to find a decent contract in seoul. it all depends on what people are looking for and how knowledgeable they are on what should be included in the contract.

[djsmnc]

Every job I've ever applied for in Seoul has been offered to me. I'm just cool like that though.

[joltaxt]

[djsmnc]