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nationals10
Joined: 27 May 2009
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 Posted: Thu Jul 11, 2013 8:18 pm Post subject: How to start over after 4 yrs of only teaching in korea? |
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I'm returning to Canada after 4 years of teaching
English to high school students.
I'm worried about how to start over back home
because most of my professional experience is only teaching
I do not want to continue teaching but
go to career counselling or administrative work
Did anyone who went back to their home country after
teaching in Korea succeed in starting over in a different work sector? |
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YTMND
Joined: 16 Jan 2012
Location: You're the man now dog!!
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| Posted: Thu Jul 11, 2013 8:30 pm Post subject: |
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You need to follow your heart. Stop being a sheep and following the herd.
What do you want to do in life? |
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caribmon
Joined: 26 Oct 2009
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| Posted: Thu Jul 11, 2013 8:55 pm Post subject: |
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| Move to an oil town in Sasky or AB and work in a trade. If you have a pulse, and are human, you can get work. |
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misher
Joined: 14 Oct 2008
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| Posted: Thu Jul 11, 2013 9:04 pm Post subject: |
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Do you speak Korean?
I know posters here like to parrot on and on how Korean is useless BUT it is something that looks interesting on a resume. Plus it shows adaptability and linguistic ability.
4 years is a little too long. If you aren't interested in teaching, getting into the private sector will be rough. I'd say attend a tech school and get into the extraction/oil and gas industry somehow.
If you don't see yourself becoming a career english conversation teacher in the asian context, for christ's sakes, finish your contract and get the hell out of Korea asap. |
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misher
Joined: 14 Oct 2008
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| Posted: Thu Jul 11, 2013 9:09 pm Post subject: |
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You need to follow your heart. Stop being a sheep and following the herd.
What do you want to do in life?
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Just because he wants to return home and maybe get a job that isn't a joke doesn't mean he is some sheep.
IMHO most people will NEVER know what they want to do. Certainly not at his age.
HOWEVER it's perfectly possible to know what you DON'T want to do and the OP obviously doesn't want anything to do with teaching English conversation for life. Otherwise he wouldn't be wanting to get out. |
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ttompatz
Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea
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| Posted: Thu Jul 11, 2013 9:45 pm Post subject: Re: How to start over after 4 yrs of only teaching in korea? |
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| nationals10 wrote: |
I'm returning to Canada after 4 years of teaching
English to high school students.
I'm worried about how to start over back home
because most of my professional experience is only teaching
I do not want to continue teaching but
go to career counselling or administrative work
Did anyone who went back to their home country after
teaching in Korea succeed in starting over in a different work sector? |
Career counseling will require further post graduate work.
You can also get a foot in the door by volunteering at a crisis center or phone crisis line.
Getting into admin positions means experience or further academic work (or both) as well.
There is work to be found.
There is no shortcut to the top. You're going to start at the bottom of the ladder in whatever field you trained in at uni.
HRDC job bank, monster.ca, provincial gov't open positions ( http://www2.gov.bc.ca/myhr/topic_hub.page?ContentID=8b004c31-9857-0cf6-cee2-832598baad5d ), etc ...
Start looking now to get a feel for the job market in your home area and get serious about job hunting right after you land and get over your jet lag.
. |
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YTMND
Joined: 16 Jan 2012
Location: You're the man now dog!!
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| Posted: Thu Jul 11, 2013 9:56 pm Post subject: |
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| Just because he wants to return home and maybe get a job that isn't a joke doesn't mean he is some sheep. |
That wasn't what I meant. I didn't mean him returning was acting like a sheep, I was stating him asking us to tell him what to do next was acting like a sheep.
I think he should return home if it is "his" time. What he does shortly after that return should not hinge on what we tell him, but rather what his heart tells him.
The last thing I want is you guys telling me what to do next. It's one thing to ask for advice while playing a game, but when you have finished playing the game, move on. Don't be a sheep. |
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YTMND
Joined: 16 Jan 2012
Location: You're the man now dog!!
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| Posted: Thu Jul 11, 2013 10:18 pm Post subject: |
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| 4 years is a little too long. |
1st year you experience something new.
2nd year you try to pay off your debts, establish a routine based on what you learned in the first year.
3rd year you look for an anchor (wife/husband), or you move on.
4th year you ask yourself why you are where you are and why you don't have an anchor.
You still move on. That's the pattern. It doesn't matter if it is 4 years or 14 years. If the person should get out after 4 years, they should have left 4 years earlier.
I don't agree that 4 years is too long. It's true you might need education. That will delay things, but the same could have been said 4 years ago.
There isn't a magical moment a few years after coming to a foreign country to return. I returned after 4 years, saw it wasn't any better then when I left, and I came back. I returned the return 
That's right I returned from returning and now I am planning on returning back 10 years later. That's 2.5 of whatever formula you got cooking.
I am just curious what exactly is lost by coming back to your home country 10 years later? Obviously, you lost the "family" stage. You haven't raised a family in your home country and you haven't visited your existing family members as often as you would have, but what exactly are you less of by coming to Asia, teaching, and then leaving.
It's a disgrace hangup. People feel they failed. If they have to return to their home country without a boon, then they are worthless. This is the thinking.
Let's face it, our jobs were to teach our native language. We needed need high grades, we didn't need any training, we didn't need to be educated in a particular field like a banker, doctor, or lawyer, and we sure didn't come here for the money.
Reality check time. Find something else you want to do, and then do it. I don't see teachers posting here after returning to their home country complaining about getting jobs back home. Apparently, they are doing something about it.
It's the people who are about to jump the disgrace hurdle. The ones who feel they are giving up instead of moving on.
When the time is right, move on. Find something else, 4 years later, 8, or 16. It doesn't matter. |
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Ginormousaurus
Joined: 27 Jul 2006
Location: 700 Ft. Pulpit
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| Posted: Fri Jul 12, 2013 10:36 am Post subject: |
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| misher wrote: |
I'd say attend a tech school and get into the extraction/oil and gas industry somehow.
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This is my standard answer to the question of what to do back home (if back home means N. America).
If you're Canadian, technically minded, and at all interested in oil & gas, then I'd suggest looking at some of the Engineering Technology diplomas offered at SAIT in Calgary.
Four programs in particular stand out as excellent fields to get into. These are:
1. Power Engineering Technology
2. Petroleum Engineering Technology
3. Instrumentation Engineering Technology
4. Chemical Engineering Technology
Each of these are two year programs, are relatively high paying, and job prospects are good (Power Engineers are in highest demand because of the oilsands). You might end up working in a plant of some kind or out in the field.
I get ads on my Facebook all the time for "Oil and Gas Administration" through CDI college. I don't know anything about that school, but it may be a good diploma(?) to get you an office job in Calgary.
BTW, I started over after 6 years in Korea. I'm done 3 years of my engineering degree and am employed with a major oil company. It's taken a lot of hard work and I'm always the oldest guy in my classes, but it's worth it. Starting over isn't fun. My first year back all I could do was wish I was still in Korea...well, I still kind of do! Those were the days... |
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ThePoet
Joined: 15 May 2004
Location: No longer in Korea - just lurking here
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| Posted: Fri Jul 12, 2013 12:54 pm Post subject: |
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Let me just say that Ginormousaurus is spot on...I work in Calgary as an instructional designer. I can't believe how fast people are headhunted here when you come out of the SAIT program. You go through the door at Suncor or Nexen and say I have a Petroleum Engineer Technician diploma and they are tackling you so you can't get away. Another amazing program here is the nuclear medicine and radiology programs....most graduates have secured jobs before graduating their last class.
I actually had an Instructional Designer position offered to me via a phone interview before I came back to Canada and was set before I resigned at the uni I was working at there. I am continually being offered other positions in the I.D. field. Of course it depends on what you want to do, but Saskatchewan and Alberta are great right now for almost anything.
The Poet |
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robbie_davies
Joined: 16 Jun 2013
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| Posted: Fri Jul 12, 2013 2:12 pm Post subject: |
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| misher wrote: |
Just because he wants to return home and maybe get a job that isn't a joke doesn't mean he is some sheep.
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There is no such thing as a 'joke' job - wherever the jobs is located.
Earning money honestly? Then you aren't a joke. |
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Malislamusrex
Joined: 01 Feb 2010
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| Posted: Fri Jul 12, 2013 5:27 pm Post subject: |
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It depends what your qualification were before you came to Korea? Can you go back? Is it worth going back to your old profession?
If not, you have to think about what other fields you can get into, Ginormousaurus listed some great ones. There is a huge demand for people with these skills. |
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Mr. Pink
Joined: 21 Oct 2003
Location: China
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| Posted: Thu Jul 18, 2013 9:05 am Post subject: |
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| Educational admin? I would advise unless you love teaching. Educational admins are educational leaders, not just managers. I had the same dream...years later I have a B.Ed, MA and going through admin courses atm...for all that time and money I could have done a trade and be making 2x what I make now. |
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mithridates
Joined: 03 Mar 2003
Location: President's office, Korean Space Agency
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| Posted: Thu Jul 18, 2013 1:09 pm Post subject: |
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| misher wrote: |
Do you speak Korean?
I know posters here like to parrot on and on how Korean is useless BUT it is something that looks interesting on a resume. Plus it shows adaptability and linguistic ability. |
True, it's not so much that having the language on one's resume is an advantage so much as that after four years of living in Korea one of the first questions is whether you picked up the language during that time, and if not, then why, and whether this prospective employee that didn't pick up that skill over four years is going to pick up the necessary skills in the company after beinng hired or simply drift. On the other hand, half-fluency in Korean is usually good enough to impress. Chances are the person interviewing you won't know a word of Korean anyway, and even if by chance the person is Korean they'll be impressed with a halting command of the language too. |
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misher
Joined: 14 Oct 2008
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| Posted: Thu Jul 18, 2013 4:48 pm Post subject: |
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| True, it's not so much that having the language on one's resume is an advantage so much as that after four years of living in Korea one of the first questions is whether you picked up the language during that time, and if not, then why, and whether this prospective employee that didn't pick up that skill over four years is going to pick up the necessary skills in the company after beinng hired or simply drift. On the other hand, half-fluency in Korean is usually good enough to impress. Chances are the person interviewing you won't know a word of Korean anyway, and even if by chance the person is Korean they'll be impressed with a halting command of the language too. |
Truer words have never been spoken! |
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