Korean Job Discussion Forums

[amanisamer]

ME:
I am 36. I have a BA in English, Masters in Education and 7 years teaching experience between elementary and junior high.

WIFE:
No degree. Experience working as a Preschool teacher and computer lab assistant.

I want to bring my family to Korea. It seems that we will be living on one salary (mine). We have 2 elementary school children.

What can I get in terms of a high enough salary to enjoy life in Korea with my family. I dont want to just work to survive. I can do that in the US. What can you recommend to families coming over with children and our familiy situation?

[redaxe]

You're probably overqualified for the majority of ESL jobs in Korea. My advice is to, rather than teach ESL, apply for a teaching position at one of the international or American schools in Korea. That way you will get a decent, stable job with decent salary teaching English to mostly native speakers (not ESL) and your kids will get to go to school there for free.

My uncle taught at Seoul Foreign School (http://www.seoulforeign.org/) and my two cousins studied there for elementary and junior high for about four years. They had a pretty comfortable lifestyle.

Next option would be to get a university-level ESL teaching job.

If you take a typical K-12 level or private academy ESL job, you will not be able to afford to send your kids to international school because it is very expensive (around $20k a year per kid). They would probably have to go to Korean public school.

[amanisamer]

Thank you. That is very helpful.

[Mr. Pink]

As the other poster said: why not try international schools? Also, why limit yourself to Korea in that respect? I had to take a detour and am now working in China as that was where the job opening that best suited me in terms of total package was. While I want to move back to Korea, I'll ultimately go where the best package is.

[Space Cowboy]

I agree about the international schools, and would add that you could probably secure a DOD teaching job at one of the many, many military bases here. As I understand it, you would receive a comparable salary to what you would receive in the States, but you would be given free housing and a cost of living allowance as well. The only catch here is that I think you would have to apply to work throughout the US Pacific base system (which I think they still refer to as a "Theater"), so you might wind up in Japan or the Philippines too.

If you go for a university job (my arena), you might be offered free housing, but it will almost certainly be too small for a family of four. The place I was provided, although very nice, is about 500 square feet, and is shared between myself, my wife, and my 3 year old. The money -- at least once it is taken into account that many unis offer chances to make extra money on top of your base salary -- is definitely sufficient to support rug rats, but is not enough to rack up a massive savings. We will probably move to larger housing as my son gets older; rent seems affordable outside the larger cities, but the key money situation here is a killer.

I should add that unlike the other venerable posters on this thread, I have only been in Korea for two months -- anything they could add to my advice would be appreciated. I though I would pass along what I have picked up, though. Good luck with your job search!

[nzbradly78]

OP, as one with experience with this in Korea, do your children a HUGE favour and do not bring them to South Korea. There isn't a lot for them to do, especially iif they are used to having a yard. Someone here will say "Just take them to the playground." Its not and never will be the same. The parks aren't good, children's clothing is ungodly expensive and ugly. Toys are absurdly expensive, and I'm from NZ!

Also, and this is the part that affects my children the most: Koreans touching them constantly, or giving them lollies constantly. Granted, and I say this without bias, but thanks to my wife, we have some goood looking kids. Also, be ready for prepared for LOTS of free advice on how crappy your parenting skills are.

Another thing to be aware of is that there are not a lot of foreigners with children. We have a couple friends who have kids, but we're not geographically convenient to set up play dates on a regular basis.

Sorry for ranting here, but Korea for young children is not a good place. Also, your wife wouldn't be able to work legally without a degree. It takes time to build privates to net the income your looking for.

Seriously, follow people's advice. Look into international schools. You may have missed the window, but look at www.iss.edu. Your qualifications should make you pretty attractive to them. You will also get much better benefits, working hours and working conditions. I'm applying to those myself, obviously without much luck but your qualifications are much stronger than mine. If your an American citizen, try the DOD schools. They have amazing benefits.

If you want more info on living with young kids as an ESL teacher in Korea, feel free to message me.

[ttompatz]

You might also, unless you have cultural ties to Korea, consider some of the other countries in Asia.

While the gross salary and benefits packages are not as nice as you can get in Korea the significantly lower cost of living can make a LARGE difference and the NET at the end of the month can be as good as or better than you have in Korea.

As a direct example:
We are a family of 3 (none of us Korean).

In Korea, when I was teaching, (I do consulting here now) I worked an average of 26 classes per week (public school), had a salary of about 3 million won per month ($2500) with housing, airfare, medical, pension benefits and about 6 weeks of annual paid vacation.

Average savings were on the order of $12k per year with an average of 2-3 trips per year to other countries in SE Asia. Housing was tiny for a family (compared to North America); about 400sq.ft.

In Thailand, based on a 40 hour, 5 day, 21 class workweek, I have a salary of ~60k Baht ($1900) per month, get 3-4 months of PAID annual vacation, have medical, pension, and schooling for our daughter but I have to pay ($150) for a 3 bedroom house (with modern conveniences) that is about a 10 minute walk to the school. Net savings are still on the order of $1000 per month.

In China you can find jobs with salaries in the range of 8-10,000 RMB ($12-1500) based on a 40 hour, 5 day, 20 class workweek with airfare, housing (2-3 bedroom) and school for your kids. Again, because of the significantly lower cost of living you can save a substantial portion of your monthly income (still on the order of $1000 per month) and have a very comfortable lifestyle.

You might want to look at Taiwan as well. If you are licensed as a teacher in your home country the packages compare VERY favorably to anywhere else with salaries in the $2700 range with all the usual benefits.

The point I am trying to make is to look at the whole picture and not just the base remuneration package or worse yet, as many newbies working as expats do, just look at the base salary when it comes time to compare countries and positions.

The quality of life and the net jingle in your jeans at the end of the month are more telling than simply looking at the base package.

Most places in Asia have their hiring happening in the later part of the year (Dec-Mar) for positions starting in mid spring (March-May) and late spring hiring for (mid year) positions starting in Aug-Sept.

.

[Mr. Pink]

Go international school...salaries are MUCH higher.

I get over twice what was quoted for China, and my pay sucks. Most of the better schools pay about 30,000 RMB a month, especially if you have a master's degree. That works out to 4400 US a month plus benefits.

The cost of living in China for that salary though isn't great.

I am looking at options for next year and places like the Philippines are on my radar as the cost of living is really low and for a $40000 a year salary plus housing, airfare, health care, and free tuition for my kid, I should save about 20-30k of that a year easy.

I am only saving about 20k a year in China due to having to pay my own rent. If I had housing added, it would be 30k a year. Not bad for one salary.

[goingtothecountry]

University level teaching classes pay just a tad more if not the same as teach at a hagwon. If I was in your situation, I would look to teach on the corporate level. I know someone who taught at Space Group, an architecture firm in Korea and made more than twice what most English teachers get paid.