Korean Job Discussion Forums

[KwardBound]

If you don't have a Professor you keep in contact with or an employer, who can you get to write your recommendation letters? Who have you used in the past?

[amcnutt]

Is this going to be your first job ever?

[DeMayonnaise]

[oldtactics]

Did you do any extracurricular work during school? Or were part of any clubs or groups?

[amcnutt]

[northway]

The OP is too busy saving to get recommendations.

[sojusucks]

You can ask just about anyone to give you a letter of recommendation. It doesn't have to be a professor to get a job teaching in Korea. But it does help if it is someone with credentials and status. It really can be just about anyone, even other teachers and family members. Just make sure they say something positive about you. With some people who are very busy, it helps if you can type out a general reference letter and just ask them to sign it. It can be just "He's a good person who works hard and will be a good worker" kind of letter. Employers in Korea are not very picky. No one in Korea is going to call your former boss at Dairy Queen to verify that he likes you and thinks you will do a great job. Think about it.


But, OP, looking long-term, it's good to make a positive impression so that someone is available to say something positive about you wherever you work. This will become more and more important as you advance in your chosen field.

[KwardBound]

I had rec. letters written before when I was in College, but that was like 3-4 years ago, and to be honest, those same people might not be so happy about my going to Korea and say that I'm "over-qualified". Anyway...since I graduated I've been traveling and working as an independent contractor. So, I've had alot of bosses, but I'm only under their watch for a 3-4 day period and then most I never see again. So, while I understand what you mean about having just about anyone writing it, it would be better if it were from someone who just knew me for 3-4 days.

BTW, Cheaposaurus Rex is not an actual screen name. I just threw it in the title of one of my posts cuz it brought a chuckle to me.

[grant gerstners]

I really had to dig for my letters of reference because I am middle-aged and it's been over 15 years since I took any university class.

I used a retired minister--actually not retired but on disability, and not very active in his profession. I had become acquainted with him through mutual friends in a social group, and he was glad to prepare the letter for me. It was a very good letter, too, with his credentials and affiliation on the letter head. He gave me several signed originals of the letter in case I needed them in the future. I had gotten the impression (maybe from reading on this forum) that a letter of reference from a minister or other clergy can sometimes carry some weight in South Korea.

Plus, in the 8 months prior to my job application, I had done volunteer work tutoring immigrants with a literacy group in my home town and one co-volunteer familiar with my work was a retired university professor. She prepared a letter for me and also provided me with several signed originals, all but one in sealed envelopes. The half-time volunteer coordinator in the literacy group also wrote me a letter of reference.

Other people I solicited were former classmates from high school and college, who are now faculty at colleges and universities, and who I've known for over 25 years. They at least remember that I was a good student with good grades and that I was a decent-enough human being. They expressed willingness to write letters of recommendation for me but by then I had already gotten three letters and only needed two.

Consider also older adult family friends; perhaps friends of your parents who have been kept up-to-date about your accomplishments and development over the years.

[amcnutt]

[KwardBound]

Maybe "over-qualified" is the wrong thing to say. Its just that most people around me think that Korea or another country's ESL program is just something you do for 1-2 years after school and then you return to the U.S. and get a real job. They don't consider that there are"lifers" in Korea. I am interested for the money. I am saving a decent amount in NYC, but my rent isn't covered and my schedule is very sporadic. I want to try to have a more formulaic schedule (at least for 1 year's time) so that I can focus on some personal goals.

[bobbybigfoot]

Reference letters can be a real pain. Heaven forbid you have a falling out with an employer, or a supervisor doesn't like you too much, or they are too lazy/not interested to give you one.

Good luck Op.

[toadkillerdog]

Just do your own letters. Its not like anyone is actually going to read/understand them. Much less contact the writer.

[whiteshoes]

I know what you mean, I was also an independent contractor in the oil and gas industry, but when the economy fell so did my chance to get jobs.

I came over 4 years after I graduated, and I left a job that paid a lot, when I was working. But everyone understood the draw to leave, I'm sure that your professor would be the same way. The whole, "Wild Oats" thing.

Or, just tell your old professor that you're looking to get a new job, and that you don't know the field but you need a general recommendation letter. A "To Whom It May Concern" kind of thing.

[DosEquisXX]

Forge them. Not like they're going to call these people to check up on the letters.

But once you're in country, it will pay to get a letter of recommendation from your employer: like a co-teacher or your vice principal/hagwon owner.