Korean Job Discussion Forums

[punchi]

Hello,

I know caucasians are preferred for teaching positions but I still want to try! Some background info: born and raised in Canada, speak fluent english, my parents are chinese, no teaching experience, no certificates, meet the usual minimum requirements for their hiring (degree, no criminal background, good health, ect). So how bad are my chances?? I am looking for a private school position (I'm not too picky about location or age of students) around early August, if that matters.

Thanks!

PS - I know this has probably been asked before, but the forum search isn't being friendly

[andrewchon]

You're right, if ESL Korea was Hollywood you'd be struggling to get jobs as extras. However, as the Hollywood veterans often say: "it's not the money, it's the MONEY!". In many places it's about whether you're willing to work. You've got some time. Get a TESOL certification with in class training + 100 hours. SHOW ENTHUSIASM during the interviews. Check out the web for educational videos and see what an enthusiastic teachers look, sound, do. Not just the ESL teachers but other fields as well. e.g. Rod Howell teaching tap dancing. Also, my predessesor was an unlikely candidate too, but she stayed for three years. Now I have to live up to her standard.

[Hokie21]

I don't know how badly it hurts your chances but I start teaching in about two weeks and one of the other new teachers arriving is an American of Korean descent.....so no reason why you can't get hired.

[Swampfox10mm]

Can you speak/teach Chinese? That's growing huge here. Not sure what it pays, though. You could sell a school on being able to teach English and Chinese.

[punchi]

@andrewchon: Haha, funny analogy. Thanks for the tips!

@Hokie21: I think that person may be bilingual, which could help their chances? I see quite a few job postings targeting F4 Visa holders specifically (out of country koreans).

@Swampfox10mm: Interesting, I never considered that. Unfortunately my chinese is awful!

[imGosu]

There is a difference to them if your American-Korean or American-Chinese.

For us, its the same... asian is asian.

But in Korea, seems like they either PREFER Caucasian or American-Korean.

[minos]

Go public schools....unless your a very attractive women, few companies seem to want to hire asians without a very imressive looking background(top college, eteaching degree, etc.)

[Strike]

Depends who you are applying for. I work for CDI and at my training last year 50% of my fellow trainees were Asian American and at my school, two of the teachers are African-American, one is Filipino American and one is Latin-American. I have also met several other none white workers from other branches, so they clearly do not have the preference for a white face.

I would imagine the other large companies like Avalon etc are the same, but I'm not sure.

[winterfall]

Your looking at a really tough market. Even gyopos (Overseas Koreans) who aren't bilingual get a lot of crap. I've been looking 6 months for a job, went to a near Ivy, and a few years teaching experience. I can't find a job. They either say no or they want to pay me 3-400 less than a fresh out of university, no experience / credentials university grad.

[sadguy]

i'm an asian american and applied to hagwons while living in seoul in 2007. of course there were a lot of openings and i had a lot of offers until they asked to see my picture. after that, they told me they had locations in daegu, busan, etc.

at the time, i had a tesol certificate, a year of experience and a teaching degree. i could only assume they didn't want me because i'm asian. it's tough and it sucks. but like someone else said, if you're a hot asian girl, maybe they'll take you.

[fullcollapseCA]

My recommendation would be to apply for every job possible to increase your chances. It took me 2 months to secure a job as a Korean-American with below average Korean speaking ability. I know it is a pain for my Korean co-teachers to explain to each parent who questions why a Korean is teaching as a foreign teacher. Sometimes they feel cheated by the foreign teacher experience with me, but my school still keeps me around. I honestly have to work harder than my foreign co teachers. You may expect the same thing. Parents calling and asking about your background.

Sure, it can be easy to clear up, but it is still more (sometimes unnecessary) work for the school to answer these questions to the parents when they can just hire a western looking person.

If you are passionate about teaching in Korea, don't let this stop you. I was persistent and landed a job in a decent city. Good luck!

[Joe Blue]

Can't pm yet

I can give you an email where you could send your resume; they might be willing to look at your application.

Email me and I'll send it to you

blouebliksem at ymail dot com

[T-dot]

Not very if you are female and good looking.

[blahness]

How desperately do you want to teach at hagwons? If you're ok with teaching anywhere, why not try for public schools? I'm Asian American and I got accepted into EPIK fine... right now I'm just waiting on my docs so that I can send in to secure my position :/

Hagwons seem to have a bad reputation and if it's true that they prefer Caucasians... you may get stuck with a bad hagwon that will treat you like crap since your options are limited?

[punchi]

Ah, the general vibe i'm getting is it's gonna be tough! I was expecting this, but this is a bit worse than I thought. Oh well, gonna try my best!

Thanks for all the tips, I have been applying to quite a lot of companies and am keeping my fingers crossed. I am aiming for August 3rd-ish (or a bit later), is it still a bit early for the hagwon august hiring phase? Generally, I read that there are a lot more hagwon jobs offered 2 months before the date you wanna work.

@blahness: I think I prefer the smaller class sizes and different working atmosphere. I know I'm taking a pretty big gamble unless I do a lot of research on that company but yea I can see a situation where I'm stuck with just whatever I can get due to my situation.

@Joe Blue: Sure, sending one soon to ya.