Korean Job Discussion Forums

[inbetween]

Hi all!

This is my first time posting on this forum, so please bear with me. I've been accepted to medical school, but am considering deferring a year to teach English in Korea so I can spend some time with my family and travel afterwards with whatever money I'm able to save. I was hoping to get some advice from more experienced members here as to how to go about doing this and what my best options would be. I'll start with a little bit of background about myself.

*) I'm have a US/Korean dual-citizenship and am completely bilingual (grew up speaking Korean at home). I guess this would make me a gyopo (..or am I? I'm still not entirely sure what defines a gyopo)
*) I graduated from an Ivy League university and have good standardized test scores (99th percentile and higher on both the SAT and MCAT).
*) Because my parents recently moved to Korea, housing isn't a priority, especially since one of my goals is to save at least some money prior to entering years of snowballing debt. This however, also means I would pretty much have to be in Seoul, which I realize is a pretty competitive job market.

As a side note, I lived in Korea for about 4 years during elementary school and have experienced their hagwon systems firsthand, so that's part of the reason I'm being so cautious about going into this myself without doing some more research.

One big thing I'm trying to sort through is that, given that I'm a gyopo, I'm not entirely sure whether Korean hagwons would be more or less willing to hire me. I don't have an accent of any sort, but I obviously still look Korean. Though apparently I still don't really fit in as everyone -- from grocers to hair stylists -- somehow seemed to be able to tell I wasn't "from" Korea when I visited last summer.

In any case, from what I've gathered from the threads here, test-prep hagwons seem more open to gyopos compared to other large chain hagwons like CDI or POLY. While they also seem to have the highest paying positions, however, I have a little bit of experience with Korean parents and know how, um, passionate they can be with their children's education. Since I'll have free housing, I'm willing to take a reasonable hit in income for a "better" working environment. I'd love some input as to what the working environments are like in test-prep vs general hagwons. I've also looked at more speaking-focused places like PEAI, ILE and Lex Kim, since they seem a little less draconian in having their teachers follow their exact curricula. If you have any advice in selecting the type of hagwon and which ones would be the most receptive to me, that'ed be great!

Thanks so much! Any and all input is welcome!

[tardisrider]

How can your scores be higher than 99th percentile? That doesn't make sense.

Are you male or female--do you have to worry about the military?

[inbetween]

I scored in the 99th percentile for the SAT (800/800/790) and scored in the 99.6th percentile for the MCAT (13/14/12). I'm female so I fortunately don't have to worry about the military (I already cleared the dual-citizenship thing last summer).

[ttompatz]

Dual citizen (so NO visa issues).
Housing available in Seoul.
Top 1% in SAT/MCAT
Fluently English/Korean bilingual.

Get a ticket.
Get to Seoul.
Get a job.

It'll require pounding the pavement a bit but is not that hard to do.
Wave your US passport around and you should have no problems finding work.

.

[inbetween]

Thanks so much for the reply -- what's the general timeline for hiring? And are positions generally available year round? I was planning on returning in early September, so it'd be great to get an idea of how early I need to start looking into actual positions (i.e. start looking in the spring or just apply a few weeks before/when I get there).

Also, how flexible/receptive are employers with plans to stay less than a year? I'm worried no one will want to take someone who's only planning on staying from September to March/April-ish.

[ttompatz]

[oppa637]

So you have a degree?

Why come here and teach English? Just get hired at a company. With your specs, it should be relatively easy. PM me and I might be able to help you out.

[Hokie21]

Obviously Seoul is great and it's nice you have a place to crash but housing is covered in your contract so don't limit yourself if you find a place far off from your parents.

Would you really want to live with them for a year anyways?? I understand the whole saving up some cash thing, but it's pretty darn easy to save up money on your own here. Plus it's your last year before you start medical school. Do you want to be sharing an apartment/small house with your folks looking over your shoulder?

[inbetween]

[Hokie21]

[andrewchon]

A gyopo: is any Korean/ex-Korean who is living overseas. So, in your case you are one.

[Jodami]

[faeriehazel]

Kyopos with degrees from brand-name universities are in high demand in some sectors. I don't know who told you that CDI doesn't hire kyopos, because that is definitely not true; they were one of the first major hakwons to not discriminate between kyopos and foreigners. Also they LOVE having graduates from top universities - they recently put up a job ad on worknplay advertising specifically for graduates from a certain list of schools.

Unfortunately even with your specs you might not be able to get a job at the really high-paying SAT/boutique hakwons, because a lot of those places want teachers with experience.

CDI has lost quite a few of its best teachers in recent years to the smaller hakwons, so if you apply there they'd probably welcome you with open arms.

[wishfullthinkng]

if you speak korean you should use that year to do an internship and pad your resume.

[inbetween]