Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Carlyy]

Hello,

This is my first post on Dave's though I've been reading for a few months.

My partner and I (both from NZ) are looking to move to Seoul in a few months to teach together at a Hagwon.

First step - the resume! If you don't mind, could you read what I have below and let me know if anything sounds strange?

Do I need to mention anywhere that I am applying with my partner?
Do I need to supply a full body shot or will head and shoulders do?
If supplying a full body shot, what is an appropriate outfit?

Thanks!!



Contact Details:
Name
Address
Phone
Email

Date of birth: xxxx
Nationality: New Zealand


Mission Statement:
I am a positive, friendly, creative and professional person, interested in teaching. I enjoy learning new skills and I am very adaptable. I immigrated to New Zealand as a child, so I understand the challenges of adapting to life in a new country. I am very interested in different cultures and I look forward to learning more about South Korea. I believe I have many skills and attributes that will cross over into teaching, including a qualification and experience in the creative sector. I want to use my design experience to create interesting and engaging lessons for a wide range of student age-groups.

Education:
Massey University � Wellington, New Zealand
Bachelor of Design (Graphic Design), First Class Honors, 2011
GPA: 3.77

� Extensive essay writing, research and graphic design work.
� Assisting other students with coursework.
� Making presentations to other students and teachers. This involved clear structure and delivery of information, a strong speaking voice and engaging presentation layouts.

Experience:
ServiceIQ (previously Retail Institute)
Wellington, New Zealand
Graphic Designer
April 2012�May 2013

� Design and layout of educational materials for high school students, and for adult
workplace training.
� Teaching other members of the marketing and design team how to use design software
and templates.
� Assisting with planning and coordination of events, including a graduation for school students.
� Communicating with team members, other staff members and external clients to resolve requests or problems quickly.
� Organisation and planning of large workloads, in order to meet deadlines.
� Working under pressure on a daily basis.

New Zealand Qualifications Authority
Wellington, New Zealand
Panel Assistant
October�December, 2008�2010

� Assisting with organisation of high school art and design assessments.
� Teaching other assistants how to complete simple tasks.
� Handling confidential information.
� Teamwork and communication.

Awards:
I was awarded a Bonded Merit scholarship for achieving high grades throughout university.

In high school I passed four New Zealand Qualification Authority (NZQA) National Scholarship Exams � English, Art History, Design and Fabrics Technology (Top Scholar).

[Lucas]

Firstly - thanks for all of this personal info (I should be able to make quite a bit of money, selling your info on to 'Nigerian scammers' and alike!

Tip - the internet is not a safe place!

Now for some points;

[Carlyy]

Whoops! Not sure how I missed adding in all that personal info - thanks for pointing it out!

[le-paul]

id say the lay out is as important as the content. look online for some ideas. it should get peoples attention quicker than the others in the pile itll be placed upon.

and what is a mission statement? (to boldly go where no man has gone before?) id drop that and put it at the end under a heading like supporting information.
you should start with education and recent work experience.

bon chance

[PRagic]

Sorry, but if you can't handle putting together a proper resume or CV, you might want to rethink the whole teaching thing. There is so very much information on the Internet, one has to question why you'd post it here for critique.

IF you want to mention that you're applying with your partner, the proper place for the inclusion of that little tidbit of information would be in the cover letter.

A standard passport photo will suffice. Clean cut carries the day.

Scrap the 'mission statement'. You can bring this stuff up in the interview. Never provide a potential employer with ammunition that can possibly, for whatever reason, be used against you.

Your GPA was a 3.77...out of what? 4.0? 4.2? 4.5?

You are mixing tenses in the description of your education. Keep it all past tense.

A high school award on a resume? And it's not really an award to boot! Sack that.

You have a degree and a pulse so you qualify for a hagwon job. Get TESOL certification and your opporutnities may broaden a bit.

[Carlyy]

Thanks guys, will definitely take all of this onboard.

I did do a lot of research into writing an ESL resume, and a mission statement/objective/summary kept coming up. I was confused about adding this because I've never really come across one before. Will get rid of this and just add the most relevant things to 'additional information' at the end.

Thanks

[ttompatz]

passport photo
contact information.
relevant personal information (age, gender, citizenship, etc (this isn't home so they can and do ask for it))
education (if no particularly relevant employment)
employment (in reverse chronological order) - skip the fuzzy stuff.
- employer, location, dates, relevant skills if any.
other relevant skills or volunteer work.

Keep it all simple - the fine nuances of resume writing will be lost on the non-native speakers who will be reading it and making a judgement on whether or not to call you for an interview. If they have to work to try to understand you they will just pass you over for the next one on the pile.

Get a TEFL cert (open up PS jobs rather than just hagwon jobs).

.

[Carlyy]

Great advice! Thanks.

Does anyone recommend writing a cover letter? Or is this just more unnecessary information?

[Carlyy]

Also - any recommendations for best cities to work in if we can't get into Seoul with our NZ accents?? (Hagwon jobs).


Thanks

[ttompatz]

[Carlyy]