|
Korean Job Discussion Forums
"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Teachers from Around the World!"
|
| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
kengreen
Joined: 19 Jan 2011
|
 Posted: Thu Jan 27, 2011 7:53 pm Post subject: Thank you, Korea |
 |
|
I've only been a member of this board for a few days. But I've been a lurker for darn near a year. Let's face the truth. We complain way too much. I'm just some guy with a nonsense degree in political science. I don't know what I was smoking when I decided to major in that. I graduated in the spring of '09. The only job I could find was working on the back of a garbage truck. I did the job for four months. I got laid-off after breaking my foot in a motorcycle accident.
Now I'm in Korea making a living and putting away some money. I'm not going to complain. I'm thankful. And the work is easy. I play games and sing-songs with little elementary school kids. If it weren't for Korea, I don't know where I'd be. Even getting a job at 7/11 is difficult these days. The Indians have the market cornered. 
So I just want to say one thing:
Thank you, Korea! |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
rumdiary
Joined: 05 Jun 2006
|
| Posted: Thu Jan 27, 2011 8:31 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Try to keep this a secret. Once Korea realizes how desperate we are to find jobs they will lower the pay. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
kengreen
Joined: 19 Jan 2011
|
| Posted: Thu Jan 27, 2011 8:41 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| rumdiary wrote: |
| Try to keep this a secret. Once Korea realizes how desperate we are to find jobs they will lower the pay. |
All joking aside, I was desperate. Most of us are probably in the same boat. Toilet-paper degrees. Limited opportunities. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
redaxe
Joined: 01 Dec 2008
|
| Posted: Thu Jan 27, 2011 8:58 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| rumdiary wrote: |
| Try to keep this a secret. Once Korea realizes how desperate we are to find jobs they will lower the pay. |
Which would be pretty bad since they haven't raised the pay in the past eight years or so. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
drinkyogurtsoju
Joined: 09 Jan 2011
|
| Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2011 8:25 am Post subject: |
|
|
| You guys are screwing yourselves by keep coming to korea. If there weren't so many native english teachers in korea, you guys would be getting paid more. Why didn't you go officer? You could've gotten more money and more benefits. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
drinkyogurtsoju
Joined: 09 Jan 2011
|
| Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2011 8:28 am Post subject: Re: Thank you, Korea |
|
|
| kengreen wrote: |
I've only been a member of this board for a few days. But I've been a lurker for darn near a year. Let's face the truth. We complain way too much. I'm just some guy with a nonsense degree in political science. I don't know what I was smoking when I decided to major in that. I graduated in the spring of '09. The only job I could find was working on the back of a garbage truck. I did the job for four months. I got laid-off after breaking my foot in a motorcycle accident.
Now I'm in Korea making a living and putting away some money. I'm not going to complain. I'm thankful. And the work is easy. I play games and sing-songs with little elementary school kids. If it weren't for Korea, I don't know where I'd be. Even getting a job at 7/11 is difficult these days. The Indians have the market cornered.
So I just want to say one thing:
Thank you, Korea! |
At least this guy didnt forget his situation back home unlike many other ungreatful frogs who forgot when they were tadpoles. lol  |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
cyui
Joined: 10 Jan 2011
|
| Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2011 9:39 am Post subject: |
|
|
OP- I can't say that I would blame you for thinking this way. Easy Pay, easy job...yeah wonderful, right?
However,,it isn't going to change in 1-2 years, you will still have to come back and deal with finding a job ( only it will be worse then before because this time around, you will have a HUGE gap in employment). Most USA empolyers won't understand the whole "ESL" abroad thing. You would have been better off never leaving your country and I really don't think once you been back for a extended period, that Korean ESL is going to sound like the really great and appealing option to you that it does now. But, I could be wrong,some people enjoy doing this for 10-20 years.
Korea can't save you forever. It is only a temporary solution to a bigger problem in life.
Why didn't you try the Police Department? Pay is not to shabby if you can get on days' ( usually after a year). |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
rockymtn
Joined: 01 Oct 2010
Location: USA
|
| Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2011 11:09 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Quote: |
Now I'm in Korea making a living and putting away some money. I'm not going to complain. I'm thankful. And the work is easy. I play games and sing-songs with little elementary school kids. If it weren't for Korea, I don't know where I'd be. Even getting a job at 7/11 is difficult these days. The Indians have the market cornered.
So I just want to say one thing:
Thank you, Korea! |
Thanks for posting this. It's refreshing to see some people appreciate their experience in Korea. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
rumdiary
Joined: 05 Jun 2006
|
| Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2011 12:50 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| cyui wrote: |
OP- I can't say that I would blame you for thinking this way. Easy Pay, easy job...yeah wonderful, right?
However,,it isn't going to change in 1-2 years, you will still have to come back and deal with finding a job ( only it will be worse then before because this time around, you will have a HUGE gap in employment). Most USA empolyers won't understand the whole "ESL" abroad thing. You would have been better off never leaving your country and I really don't think once you been back for a extended period, that Korean ESL is going to sound like the really great and appealing option to you that it does now. But, I could be wrong,some people enjoy doing this for 10-20 years.
Korea can't save you forever. It is only a temporary solution to a bigger problem in life.
Why didn't you try the Police Department? Pay is not to shabby if you can get on days' ( usually after a year). |
This is a very good point. After applying for dozens of jobs I have not had a single employer seem impressed that I taught in Korea, and I'm looking for jobs in education. If teaching in Korea is your most recent job on your resume most employers won't be bothered to call your Korean boss, deal with the time change to make the call etc. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
PRagic
Joined: 24 Feb 2006
|
| Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2011 4:42 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Maybe I just know people who have their shiite together. Time in Korea has paid off because they have consistently worked to improve their degree levels and skill sets. I've known people in teaching who have prospered here teaching. I know people who have transitioned back to their home countries and gotten into non-teaching careers and prospered. I've known people who have transitioned to other jobs here in Korea and done very well by themselves.
No matter the chosen career track, they have worked their way up through the ranks and held progressively more secure jobs with more flexible upward pay options. In the end, as you get older, it's all about working smart; work less, get paid more. Tough to do if you class-ceiling it out in a public school or a crapwon in a couple of years.
There is always room here to hustle, though. You can get into writing or test prep, or if you're married to a Korean, you can start your own enterprise at any given scale.
The big question, as one other poster stated, is whether or not you want teaching English/ESL to be your career. If you think that it's not, it's best to shake off the gilded bonds of Korea and hike on back to your own country to enter the job pool. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
definitely maybe
Joined: 16 Feb 2008
|
| Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2011 6:29 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| cyui wrote: |
OP- I can't say that I would blame you for thinking this way. Easy Pay, easy job...yeah wonderful, right?
However,,it isn't going to change in 1-2 years, you will still have to come back and deal with finding a job ( only it will be worse then before because this time around, you will have a HUGE gap in employment). Most USA empolyers won't understand the whole "ESL" abroad thing. You would have been better off never leaving your country and I really don't think once you been back for a extended period, that Korean ESL is going to sound like the really great and appealing option to you that it does now. But, I could be wrong,some people enjoy doing this for 10-20 years.
Korea can't save you forever. It is only a temporary solution to a bigger problem in life.
Why didn't you try the Police Department? Pay is not to shabby if you can get on days' ( usually after a year). |
Posters keep harping on this, but I know a number of people who had extended stints in Korea and are doing just fine in the US, Canada, and the UK. No, they didn't just click their fingers and land a dream job upon returning home, but they're all living quite comfortably and earning pretty decent salaries. Furthermore, not one of them complained about how potential employers immediately disregarded them because of their teaching experiences abroad. We all know that it's going to happen from time to time, but just assuming that everyone is shit out of luck because of two or three years here is bogus.
Then again, everyone I'm referring to upgraded their position each year, resulting in actual growth on the resume. None of them sat at the same hagwon or public school for three or four years. Learn how to market and properly present yourself, and there are jobs beyond the service industry available back home when your time in Korea is up. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Devil's Harvest
Joined: 31 Oct 2004
Location: House of Knives
|
| Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2011 9:47 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I can't agree with the sentiment that most employers in western countries completely disregard teaching experience in Asia as a valuable work experience.
Sure, if you only spent a year here in a hagwon job and can't really demonstrate any personal growth or professional achievement, it is understandable why an employer may not give ESL teaching experience much weight.
However, if on your resume or cover letter you can detail your professional development, organizational and problem solving skills, initiatives taken to improve the workplace (classroom), ability to work independently, and leadership qualities, you become much more intriguing to potential employers. All of this assumes that you actually put forth some sincere effort into teaching and have a demonstrable portfolio of work that a potential employer can look at if you get called for an interview. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
pyeongtaekcody2
Joined: 26 Jan 2011
|
| Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2011 7:09 am Post subject: |
|
|
| If I were an employer, and saw on a resume/cover letter that a potential employee had dedicated a year of their life to relocate across the world and teach ESL, I'd figure they're good to go. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
akcrono
Joined: 11 Mar 2010
|
| Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2011 9:03 am Post subject: |
|
|
| pyeongtaekcody2 wrote: |
| If I were an employer, and saw on a resume/cover letter that a potential employee had dedicated a year of their life to relocate across the world and teach ESL, I'd figure they're good to go. |
Great statement. As much as qualifications are inportant to a job, many employers want to see other positive qualities such as the ability to deal with change and planning for the future (you ARE putting money aside, right?). I think walking into an interview explaining Korea as a way to experience a different culture while being able to put money aside for a down payment sounds like nothing but a positive experience to any (smart) potential employer. Then again, I'm going into education. There's no way international teaching experience is a detriment to my career options.
Edit: This reminds me of my father, who is a department head in his school. While interviewing potential candidates, there was one who specifically asked about the retirement package. He got the position because of that question (the principal liked his forward thinking). |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
silkhighway
Joined: 24 Oct 2010
Location: Canada
|
| Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2011 9:12 am Post subject: |
|
|
| akcrono wrote: |
| pyeongtaekcody2 wrote: |
| If I were an employer, and saw on a resume/cover letter that a potential employee had dedicated a year of their life to relocate across the world and teach ESL, I'd figure they're good to go. |
Great statement. As much as qualifications are inportant to a job, many employers want to see other positive qualities such as the ability to deal with change and planning for the future (you ARE putting money aside, right?). I think walking into an interview explaining Korea as a way to experience a different culture while being able to put money aside for a down payment sounds like nothing but a positive experience to any (smart) potential employer. Then again, I'm going into education. There's no way international teaching experience is a detriment to my career options.
Edit: This reminds me of my father, who is a department head in his school. While interviewing potential candidates, there was one who specifically asked about the retirement package. He got the position because of that question (the principal liked his forward thinking). |
All this "international experience" and "initative to leave your home country" might sound great in theory, but somewhere by your mid-20's it doesn't become that impressive and employers want to see hard skills, not soft skills.
I'm NOT saying you won't get a job when you return, but I am saying that your experience in Korea probably isn't going to mean that much and you won't be much farther ahead than typical university grads.
From a pure career perspective (not life perspective), I see it this way. A year awayteaching ESL is an asset in any field, mostly beause it shows you are capable of working with people outside of your own culture and you're willing to travel. That's really all companies will probably want to see out of your experience. If you plan on teaching or working with children, it also shows that you've tested the waters at least.
Two years away it won't make a difference. Three - Four years away, maybe a little less or a little more , you're not gaining any new skills and you're now starting to sacrifice career time. If you are in Korea for this long and haven't really set yourself on a career path, you should really get on top of it. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
