Korean Job Discussion Forums

[broonie30]

Hi all,

I'm going to post 2 separate questions & polls on this forum which I hope will help me with my research towards my MBA in HR. I'm writing my dissertation on the link between motivation and performance in the workplace and in particular in the TEFL industry.

I would appreciate it if you could answer these two questions with the choices provided or give your own alternative. You would be helping me out massively. Thanks in advance!!

[luckylady]

IMO, this poll is defective in that one must choose only one answer; relocating overseas is never a decision that people make based on only one reason - they will in fact weigh many factors into consideration.

even if there was one overwhelming reason for looking, in the end, it is going to be that combination that led them to make the effort to leave their home country and uproot their life to move to another different country.

[broonie30]

I certainly understand that there are many factors to consider when moving overseas and I myself had to take these many factors into account. However I feel that with the majority or people here, there will be one main reason that has made them actually take that step. That is why i asked in the question for the 'main' reason so as to acknowledge that it is not the sole reason for moving abroad but the one that has driven the need for the change.

I don't imagine for a second that all the options have been accounted for in the choices provided so I encourage anybody to leave their opinion and or reason as a reply on this thread. Again, I appreciate all feedback that you can give!

Thanks

[young_clinton]

The question states the "main reason". However your sample will in no way be considered random, the sample is a convenience sample, not so good for this kind of a study.

[some waygug-in]

I voted other because there was no overall "main" reason, but a combination
of things. One significant factor was that I had a friend working in Korea who kept insisting that I try it.

[broonie30]

Cheers for the concern, however (fortunately for me I guess) the purpose of this poll was only to gauge a snapshot of the main reasons why people have decided to come to Korea. Or to discover if there was any other overwhelming reason that people wanted to put forward. The results of the poll will not form a huge part of my paper and the result will only be used for a simple reference and statistic.

Thanks for the responses so far. I appreciate as many responses as possible to try and get the clearest view of why people have decided to come to Korea to teach.

Cheers

[Malislamusrex]

I hope you are not going to write in your conclusion 'Malislamusrex quoted I love kimchi' on Dave ESL Cafe's website.'

[broonie30]

Thanks for the responses so far everyone, would love to have quite a few more though if you could spare a few seconds to cast your vote.

Alternatively, if you choose 'other' could you please take a little time to specify the reason as I would love to know the variety of motivators out there.

Thanks a lot everyone!

[Kimchifart]

You'll get more responses and more reliable responses if you go to a Starbucks in Itaewon and just ask people who turn up. I think most would be happy to speak to you.

22 is almost meaningless in terms of statistical data.

Another observation is that it's a bit of a false dichotomy (sexchotomy?), some decisions just go hand in hand. For me it was equal travel/money/work.

[luckylady]

[broonie30]

Haha, can always rely on Daves to air some highly strung individuals who believe they know it all.

Lucklady: Thanks for your help and advice, I really wish I had you at the beginning of my course and maybe you could have guided me through to a better score than the distinction pass I am looking at already! You are obviously quite the expert in MBA's, how did you do in yours? Maybe you do need to get lucky a little but more and stop worrying about my course as much!

I feel I have to explain myself further to satisfy the scrutiny of some, but will leave it at this: this poll is being carried out to try and gauge an indication of why the general population of ESL teachers in Korea have came to Korea, or to discover other possible reasons why they have chosen to move here. It is one of many ways in which I am gathering data. Face to face interviews with past & present teachers and questionnaires across a wide selection of ESL teachers in various parts of the country are also being carried out to gain a better understanding of the motivation of teachers here. This poll may or may not be included in the final paper depending on the size of response and is by no means a major part of the statistical information.

Thanks to all who have cast votes thus far, your help is appreciated!!

[iggyb]

You might want to add to this why Korea over other nations.

I think what people are saying here is a key point: The reasons people go overseas for ESL are not sharply distinct. For some, probably even a significant percentage, lack of employment opportunities back home are a clear front runner, but that % isn't close to 50%.

For the average person, it is a combination of things that leads them to hunt for a job overseas rather than back home.

But, the reasons for choosing Korea over other areas can be more clearly defined.

Money, requirements, ease of finding a job, reputation, and so on.

China is challenging Korea now as a prime place for inexperienced, fresh college graduates to get a reasonable job they can trust that will allow them to payoff loans back home and/or build some savings.

For myself, this will be the first time I'm heading overseas primarily for money. I wanted to find an ESL position in my home area in the US but didn't.

I could expand my search to the whole of the US, but if I'm going to relocate, I'd rather jump big and experience something unique.

This time, I'm putting East Asian at the bottom of my list, because I've done Korea for about 8 years total and have learned enough. Don't feel like trying China or Japan.

But, I can't afford to ignore the future and pick a place in Central or South America where my salary might be fine in the local economy but not enough to build savings. I'd love to head down there if I could afford it. Given that the vast majority of my ESL students in the US were Hispanic, it would help my career somewhat too...

But, I'm concentrating on the Middle East this time: The money is as good as Korea or much better. The number of positions is adequate for hunting. And it is a very different culture and one I haven't experienced much.

But Saudi Arabia is at the bottom of the list for the ME due to the reputation I'm finding about the ESL industry there.

A lot of things go into deciding to head overseas to teach and where to look.

People might not plan it all out in detail and take lots of time thinking about it, but I do think a variety of reasons overlap and don't separate out easily...

[luckylady]