Korean Job Discussion Forums

[chachee99]

Hi,

I have been in Seoul for a couple of weeks. I was sending out my resume to a lot of recruiters but very few email me back even though I have several years of teaching experience. Anyways, I was offered a job, but it is not that great. I am not sure if I should take it. How dry is the market in Seoul at the moment. I don't want to be waiting around for a position in Feb. or March.

If it helps, I already have my notarized degree and criminal record check in hand, which have been stamped by the consulate in Vancouver.
I am wondering if I should take this position or wait. But I don't want to wait a long time.


Any advice? Because the school wants me to submit everything by tomorrow.

[earthquakez]

If you don't want to mention the name of the school that's understandable. However, tell us the basic conditions and it's not hard to give you an assessment.

Is it a hagwon?
How many hours are you expected to teach per week? How many hours are you expected to be there during non teaching periods?
Is it split shift work?
What's the pay? If you don't want to say, then put an approximate figure, eg between 2 million and 2.3 million.
What age group/s?
Kindergarten only? Kinder plus elementary/others?
Will you have a Korean teacher with you when you teach?
Free accommodation? Single? One room? Or a real apartment?
Whereabouts in Seoul? If you don't want to say the location, then north/south/west/east etc.

BTW - I know people with good cvs who have been given the runaround by recruiters in Seoul who told them to get those documents only to be told sorry, schools don't want you. They want young North American females. As in the age group around 25, 26.

Those recruiters won't even introduce them to a school looking for their type of experience in the chance that the school will like what they see and hear.

[chachee99]

Yes it's a hogwon.
I am expected to teacher 30 hours a week. Some phone teaching and lesson plan prep work are required.
The teaching time is from 3-10pm
Pay is 2.3 + housing allowance
Teaching elementary and middle school
No Korean teacher. I will be the only foreigner at the school.
Housing allowance
The location is in Northern Seoul.

[earthquakez]

Doesn't sound that bad. Is it really far north as in not really Seoul but on the fringes?

There's no kindergarten - sounds good. No Korean co teacher is great if you enjoy teaching solo and can handle it. I meant to ask, how about vacation?

I edited my original reply to you. This seems like the kinds of jobs people I know are being told they can't have because they're not young North Americans. I wish I could tell you the recruiters who are messing them around but I won't because it's a small world.

If the vacation isn't terrible (5 days is shocking) I'd say go for it and then move on after a year if it doesn't suit you.

[chachee99]

[earthquakez]

Interesting. They seem desperate to find a new teacher but recruiters are saying schools are looking for basically very limited kinds of people, are saying that they are 'flooded' with applicants and are telling people with experience that there's nothing for them and from what I know are not even showing their cvs to schools.

I wonder if it's the recruiters who are spinning all this because young and inexperienced teachers are more acceptable to THEM, not the schools.
I have no time for recruiters but when I first went to Korea I had to use one because I just didn't know how to find schools hiring directly.

I'm sure some would be happy to see a decent English teacher walk in off the street, well presented with a good cv, but it's all about timing. You can waste a lot of time and copies of cvs on schools who don't want to see you because they're not hiring.

The market's like this because Korea never was a popular place to work until relatively recently. Before and after the IMF crisis it seems it was a kind of niche place for unusual foreigners or mostly male foreigners. In 2007/8 the fresh graduates and others who wouldn't have been interested in Korea before started to come in relatively big numbers and it hasn't been the same since.

Recruiters have become incredibly arrogant as a result. I still think they are making decisions on their own about just who they will push to an employer. If the recruiters really wanted to, they would be able to arrange interviews for experienced people. They don't want to. I think we need to give some Korean employers more credit.

[creeper1]

You are to blame for your current problem. You appear to be looking for jobs exclusively in the Seoul area. Cast your net wider. If you look at Gyeongi Do you will find some decent cities with (probably) better opportunities.

[earthquakez]

It doesn't sound like the OP has a problem. That job is in Seoul and it's better than some of the jobs around that pay less, and have more hours. I'd just like to know the vacation - that's the clincher although plenty of people are prepared to have just 10 days.

[chachee99]

Yes, it's 10 days vacation.

My main concern is why arent their jobs in Seoul. I mean I put my resume out to lots of recruiters and only one got back to me. Are jobs that scarce in Seoul?

[Junior]

[imoscardotcom]

There are tons of jobs in Seoul. Particularly in Gangnam. Take a look at Craigslist Seoul. A lot of the positions posted there are ASAP. But your offer doesn't sound too bad, either....

[earthquakez]

Again, it's not so much a jobs issue as a recruiter issue. The recruiters advertising on craigslist are part of the problem. Yes there are jobs in Gangnam etc for schools that want more than somebody who is young and looks good in their photo. But as the recruiters control the information, they are telling applicants no, the schools want this or that.

I know some people who should have been a walk-in for jobs in areas like Gangnam and the other affluent Seoul areas advertised on craigslist. The people who send their kids to hagwons there want teaching skills, know-how. But guess what? The owners of those schools are not seeing the cvs of those kinds of teachers. It comes down to those recruiters controlling information. If you could find out who the schools are, you can bypass the recruiters.

[PigeonFart]

If you're already in Seoul, then cut out the b**t**d middle man (recruiter). Visit some hogwons (yes, cold calling takes some neck) and drop in your resume. You never know, you might have perfect timing and get a phonecall back that afternoon!

[Ice Tea]

Has it ever occurred you that schools only tap recruiters when they're desperate and can't find anyone? Recruiters are a third party hired to lure teachers into lousy jobs. Those "good" jobs posted on their boards aren't real. That's the bait. They aren't responding to you because they have they're hands full playing other people at the moment. There's enough veterans floating about in Korea, that good schools don't need to seek out employees, they get sought out. That's the game.

[Iago]

To answer the question - Yes the job market in Seoul is rough at the moment. In mid 2008 I was offered jobs left right and center. I could negotiate contracts up to 3mil + housing just by saying i got better offers. It was unbelievable. Now that I have a couple of years experience, I can barely get a school at newbie conditions.

If you are from North America and or female, then maybe you will be ok. But if you are from anywhere outside of North America, then you will be at the bottom of the pile - unless u got an outstanding resume and experience.

Hopefully things dont stay this way.

Mind you - job conditions anywhere in the world are not flash at the moment.