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robbie_davies
Joined: 16 Jun 2013
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 Posted: Wed Oct 16, 2013 6:47 am Post subject: If working in Korea became untenable. |
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Where would you go? If it became so bad, it just turned into Taiwan with the only jobs being offered were the 8-6 in a kindy hagwon offering 1.8 million - that kind of bad - with 10 people and more applying for every vacancy.
Would you try and TEFL in another country or is it Korea or bust and you would just go straight home? |
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rabidcake
Joined: 10 Aug 2009
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| Posted: Wed Oct 16, 2013 7:22 am Post subject: Re: If working in Korea became untenable. |
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| robbie_davies wrote: |
Where would you go? If it became so bad, it just turned into Taiwan with the only jobs being offered were the 8-6 in a kindy hagwon offering 1.8 million - that kind of bad - with 10 people and more applying for every vacancy.
Would you try and TEFL in another country or is it Korea or bust and you would just go straight home? |
Probably try to avoid being in the situation first before thinking about what to do. What would OP do? |
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robbie_davies
Joined: 16 Jun 2013
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| Posted: Wed Oct 16, 2013 7:25 am Post subject: Re: If working in Korea became untenable. |
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| rabidcake wrote: |
| robbie_davies wrote: |
Where would you go? If it became so bad, it just turned into Taiwan with the only jobs being offered were the 8-6 in a kindy hagwon offering 1.8 million - that kind of bad - with 10 people and more applying for every vacancy.
Would you try and TEFL in another country or is it Korea or bust and you would just go straight home? |
Probably try to avoid being in the situation first before thinking about what to do. What would OP do? |
Go to China if I was in that position, more than likely.
These days I do a year in Saudi every four years and live in Spain the rest of the time. The only way I would stay in Korea for the long haul is if I was married to a Korean woman. Any other way is asking for trouble. |
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Nester Noodlemon
Joined: 16 Jan 2009
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| Posted: Wed Oct 16, 2013 7:31 am Post subject: |
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Heck! I'll stay here if the pay drops to 700,000 won per month. I came here for the cultural experience. That's my original story and I'm sticking to it.  |
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creeper1
Joined: 30 Jan 2007
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| Posted: Wed Oct 16, 2013 8:14 am Post subject: absurd thread |
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What an absurd thread. Salaries will NEVER go that low and that many people will never chase one job (except maybe the professorship position in Hongik university) 
The EFL industry in Korea isn't going anywhere. And neither are the high salaries, prepaid airfare, free apartment, generous severence package and all those other goodies that only Korea offers  |
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robbie_davies
Joined: 16 Jun 2013
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| Posted: Wed Oct 16, 2013 8:32 am Post subject: Re: absurd thread |
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| creeper1 wrote: |
What an absurd thread. Salaries will NEVER go that low and that many people will never chase one job (except maybe the professorship position in Hongik university)
The EFL industry in Korea isn't going anywhere. And neither are the high salaries, prepaid airfare, free apartment, generous severence package and all those other goodies that only Korea offers |
Once upon a time, in the 1990's - Taiwan was the place to be. Then it was Korea's turn a decade later - now it is China's turn. 
Hooray for all those jobs in China, might go back to Shanghai myself now I have that in class MA TESOL and take your job.  |
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IPayInCash
Joined: 27 Jul 2013
Location: Away from all my board stalkers :)
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| Posted: Wed Oct 16, 2013 9:22 am Post subject: |
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Luckily for me I have a DREAM JOB in Korea where I make more than a uni professor and I work less on top. My designer custom 3 piece suits, VIP clientele and office adored with accolades and achievements of my success speaks for itself.
I work for a huge company with branches in all corners of the globe. I've already been offered job transfers to exotic locations but have always refused them--mainly due to my smoking hot girlfriend.
Too bad you scrubs that never worked your way up in this country will be fending for 1.5 kindy hagwons, cleaning toilets to avoid getting an 11th month firing, working 9-7, throwing on a hanbok and bowing to your superiors for a measly envelope with 10k won inside, and being forced to teach ajummas pro bono on the weekends by your boss. Suckers. |
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misher
Joined: 14 Oct 2008
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| Posted: Wed Oct 16, 2013 1:09 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
Luckily for me I have a DREAM JOB in Korea where I make more than a uni professor and I work less on top. My designer custom 3 piece suits, VIP clientele and office adored with accolades and achievements of my success speaks for itself.
I work for a huge company with branches in all corners of the globe. I've already been offered job transfers to exotic locations but have always refused them--mainly due to my smoking hot girlfriend.
Too bad you scrubs that never worked your way up in this country will be fending for 1.5 kindy hagwons, cleaning toilets to avoid getting an 11th month firing, working 9-7, throwing on a hanbok and bowing to your superiors for a measly envelope with 10k won inside, and being forced to teach ajummas pro bono on the weekends by your boss. Suckers. |
You sound like some of the guys I used to work with in Korea that apparently worked as "hedge fund managers" or "translators/writers" yet were still teaching English at night.
That is, full of crap.
Last edited by misher on Wed Oct 16, 2013 1:18 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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misher
Joined: 14 Oct 2008
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| Posted: Wed Oct 16, 2013 1:17 pm Post subject: |
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If I were in that situation, I guess the only place to go WOULD be China. There really is nowhere else that values Korean work experience over a year or 2 other than Korea.
I wouldn't want to live in China though. The pollution is too much.
THe Gulf might be an option if you have an MA but then again, the gulf would suck being a single guy. Wouldn't want to raise kids there either.
Korea is actually still pretty good for EFL. I honestly can't think of any other country in the world that gives you a standard of living for the pay.
TESL in Canada and the USA just pays too low. Europe the same.
Latin America would be cool I guess. Actually come to think of it, the Southern Cone (CHile especially) can be ok if you have some qualifications. |
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edwardcatflap
Joined: 22 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Wed Oct 16, 2013 3:20 pm Post subject: |
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| Most people I know who got used to the money here, went on to either Hong Kong, Singapore or the Middle East. Hopefully I'd have enough by at that stage to head to somewhere I really wanted to live. France, Spain, Italy or the UK. |
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ttompatz
Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea
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| Posted: Wed Oct 16, 2013 4:27 pm Post subject: |
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Korea is still the best place to start for entry level EFL jobs.
No place else is going to offer airfare, housing and decent pay for untrained EFL teachers who have nothing more than a degree and the right color of passport.
That said, for anyone who has gone beyond that level (picked up some additional training and credentials) there ARE decent jobs that can come out of EFL (and being a guest lecturer at a Korean uni isn't one of them).
IF you have been in EFL for a while and are still pounding out your days in entry level jobs then either:
a) you like work you do (there is nothing wrong with being a kindy teacher).
b) you are unable or unwilling to take on the task of moving forward
c) you are just killing time before you go back to your "real life" in the States to begin your "real" career.
As to the comments about people with decent day jobs still teaching EFL at night.... might be true....
I know that as the administrator of a moderate sized school in Thailand - 2200 students (earning a decent salary 50m krw/year) AND an E7 consultant in Korea (also earning a decent salary of about 50m krw/year) that I still occasionally take on evening students and spend some time teaching EFL at night.
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radcon
Joined: 23 May 2011
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| Posted: Wed Oct 16, 2013 4:53 pm Post subject: |
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| IPayInCash wrote: |
Luckily for me I have a DREAM JOB in Korea where I make more than a uni professor and I work less on top. My designer custom 3 piece suits, VIP clientele and office adored with accolades and achievements of my success speaks for itself.
I work for a huge company with branches in all corners of the globe. I've already been offered job transfers to exotic locations but have always refused them--mainly due to my smoking hot girlfriend.
Too bad you scrubs that never worked your way up in this country will be fending for 1.5 kindy hagwons, cleaning toilets to avoid getting an 11th month firing, working 9-7, throwing on a hanbok and bowing to your superiors for a measly envelope with 10k won inside, and being forced to teach ajummas pro bono on the weekends by your boss. Suckers. |
You sure are one fascinating person IPIC. One would think that a sane person by now would find some other way to entertain himself. But you persevere in continually posting about this fantasy life and persona you have created for yourself. Don't fret guy, because you will get the recognition you so deserve when you become a case study for psychological internet disorders. |
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Weigookin74
Joined: 26 Oct 2009
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| Posted: Wed Oct 16, 2013 7:57 pm Post subject: Re: absurd thread |
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| robbie_davies wrote: |
| creeper1 wrote: |
What an absurd thread. Salaries will NEVER go that low and that many people will never chase one job (except maybe the professorship position in Hongik university)
The EFL industry in Korea isn't going anywhere. And neither are the high salaries, prepaid airfare, free apartment, generous severence package and all those other goodies that only Korea offers |
Once upon a time, in the 1990's - Taiwan was the place to be. Then it was Korea's turn a decade later - now it is China's turn.
Hooray for all those jobs in China, might go back to Shanghai myself now I have that in class MA TESOL and take your job. |
WHy did Taiwan peak so early? Isn't it a poorer country than Korea? No treated drinking water, per capita wages and living costs lower, many more run down buildings. It seems to me more like Korea 10 or 20 years ago (minus the xenophobia). I don't like the concept of hourly wages for a foriegn worker and no included apartments even if they are cheap. You would see that in a poorer and imerging country like Vietnam. Either way, supply and demand, I guess.
I always thought it was Japan that was the cat's meow, then Korea took over, then maybe in the next several years, it'll be China. |
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Weigookin74
Joined: 26 Oct 2009
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| Posted: Wed Oct 16, 2013 7:59 pm Post subject: |
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| ttompatz wrote: |
Korea is still the best place to start for entry level EFL jobs.
No place else is going to offer airfare, housing and decent pay for untrained EFL teachers who have nothing more than a degree and the right color of passport.
That said, for anyone who has gone beyond that level (picked up some additional training and credentials) there ARE decent jobs that can come out of EFL (and being a guest lecturer at a Korean uni isn't one of them).
IF you have been in EFL for a while and are still pounding out your days in entry level jobs then either:
a) you like work you do (there is nothing wrong with being a kindy teacher).
b) you are unable or unwilling to take on the task of moving forward
c) you are just killing time before you go back to your "real life" in the States to begin your "real" career.
As to the comments about people with decent day jobs still teaching EFL at night.... might be true....
I know that as the administrator of a moderate sized school in Thailand - 2200 students (earning a decent salary 50m krw/year) AND an E7 consultant in Korea (also earning a decent salary of about 50m krw/year) that I still occasionally take on evening students and spend some time teaching EFL at night.
. |
I hear in Thailand, specifically Bangkok, that you have to make 50,000 baht to have a decent quality of life? But, those jobs are difficult to find or is it mostly backpackers with no degree who take low paying jobs? |
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cheolsu
Joined: 16 Jan 2009
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| Posted: Wed Oct 16, 2013 10:05 pm Post subject: |
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| ttompatz wrote: |
| That said, for anyone who has gone beyond that level (picked up some additional training and credentials) there ARE decent jobs that can come out of EFL (and being a guest lecturer at a Korean uni isn't one of them). |
What's a decent job for someone with an EFL-specific qualification such as an MA TESOL that doesn't involve teaching at a Korean university? |
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