Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Hilos]

Hi all,

I am thinking of going to teach English in Korea and was wondering if people had any advice about whether I may be a bit too old or not? I am ciurrently 29, and would be 30 or 31 when I went over there. I don't really want to end up as the old fogie with a bunch of 21 year olds.

I have been thinking about it for a while, and something about Korea seems to appeal to me.
I'm actually a qualified teacher of geography (been teaching 4 years and currently a HoD) but fancy a change and don't see many actual subject teaching jobs come up in Korea.

Also, does anyone in the UK know the best way to get the EFL qualification or a company to look for placements through? All the ones I seem to find online are American (not that there's anything wrong with that of course, just wondered if there were any UK based ones).

Any advise people could give would be much appreciated.

Many thanks,

Chris

[edwardcatflap]

I'm curious why someone in your situation would want to teach EFL here. There are a hundred countries more interesting to live and work in, many of which would have jobs for Geography teachers in international schools, I imagine. There's a reason why the country is full of fresh graduates, because Korea is one of the few countries that actually prefer teachers with very little experience or qualifications. The wages generally reflect this. They also generally prefer North American females. There are people of thirty upwards here but most of them work in universities or have married visas that enable them to work multiple jobs and have a decent life style - eg not have to live in a cramped one room studio and take all kinds of crap from Korean bosses on a daily basis. Which will be your lot. If you meet them socially they will look at you slightly oddly, not really understanding why you're here. As will most of the kids in their early twenties. Unless you've got some kind of ties with Korea, I'd advise you to give it a miss.

My advice would be if you seriously want to change careers and move into TEFL, get properly qualified according to what the jobs you'll want to do in the future require. If you just want to take a few years off working in a foreign country, look at international schools elsewhere. My sister who was in your position, did this for two years and got a job in an international school in Spain and was able to rent a house with a swimming pool. When you've been
in Korea a couple of months, you'll see how much a better deal that was.

Of course people will come on here and tell you not to worry about anything and go ahead and everything will be fine but the fact that you asked the question yourself shows you've probably already done a bit of research and seen what I said has a large element of truth.

[drydell]

Edward is right - you have got to be Head of Department after getting QTS in 4 years teaching and want to revert to possibly be a human tape recorder at an entry level ESL job.. You should look to international schools and I certainly wouldn't limit myself to Korea if I were you. Can I ask?.. Are you feeling burnt out already ?.. Is it the kids?

[Chaparrastique]

29 is far from old, I know 55 yr olds teaching esl here.

If you worry about what silly 20 year-olds think then you'll never do anything.

There are plenty of schools in the rural countryside that will employ you where you will not have to suffer the company of recent grads.

The people who get locked into the whole conveyor belt of living their lives according to the white-picket-fence career path expectations proscribed by western society lose a part of themselves in the process.

Life is short, do whatever you want.

[Hilos]

Thanks for the feedback.

To answer your question no I am not feeling burnt out, and in fact I actually really enjoy my job. The kids, although a handful, are a good laugh and the school I work at is excellent. In all honesty I just fancy a bit of a change.

My first choice would be to teach geography at an international school, but there are not many places which actually appeal to me. I don't know what it is about Korea but i've always had a bit of a strange fascination with it (history as well as modern day society and culture). My only real experience was a brief stop over a few years ago but i've always wanted to go back.

I know i'm in a good position with regards to my job as it is, but I figured I was still young enough and committment free enough to do something different for a couple of years and then head back and carry on. There don't seem to be many other opportunities for teachers in Korea apart from ESL, so thats why I was looking into it.

I guess I will have to have a think about what you have all said and see if there are some better opportunites out there.

Thanks

[ontheway]

[spaceman82]

I don't think your age will be a problem at all. There are plenty of people over thirty here (myself included) and many much older. It is true, however, that most of those people are working at places other than hagwons. Also, if you're not into drinking, it might be slightly harder to find people to hang out with--but certainly not impossible.

In regard to everything else, I think it's great that you're living life and doing what you want, rather than staying where you are just because you have a stable position. Especially so if taking a couple of years off won't hurt your career at all. At the same time, hagwon teaching may not be exactly what you'd expect, so be sure to do a lot of research (especially into the sometimes unstable working conditions and the lack of respect given to hagwon teachers) before hopping on that plane. Good luck whatever you decide to do!

[Shimokitazawa]

Advice?

Don't do it.

But not because of your age.

[Chaparrastique]

[the_test]

[Stain]

[bibichoo]

If you can responsibly move to another country - why not?

Even at 50, 60, 70+ years old, as long as you have your health (both physical and mental), I think it's great to want to try something new and out of your comfort zone.

I understand it might feel awkward to be older and feel you've "demoted" yourself to an entry-level position. You may want to watch the Youtube channel of Seoul Tee - he went into the EPIK program when he was in his mid/late 30s, and he seems to be having a perfectly lovely time.

You're 29. You're fine.

[Chaparrastique]

[PRagic]

Definitely not too 'old' by any stretch of the term. With your background, you may even find it easy enough to work your way up into a long term position you truely enjoy, especially if you've already knocked out your Master's degree.

One word of caution would be to have a definite financial plan and then to stick to it. A lot of the guys I know (not being sexist, just that the only I've met have been guys) who've done stints in the middle east have said that there are a load of ESL elder statesmen over there trying pump up they're savings directly prior to retiring. They don't like it there, but they have little choice. The guys I know just did it for a year to change things up a bit after mulitple years in Korea, Japan, and China. Money wasn't too big of an issue.

Working in Asia, an all but guaranteed revenue stream coupled with the potential to party like a college student for 20 years and access to some of the best vacation spots in east and south east Asia had left them penniless at 50+ years old. Not an enviable place to be.

So come on in, the water's just fine. Just know what you're getting yourself into, what you're giving up by coming over, and where you'd like to be 10 or 20 years down the road. Time definitely does fly by just that quickly.

[PRagic]

'THEIR' savings, not 'they're' savings. Yikes.