Korean Job Discussion Forums

[bmaw01]

Hello All,

This is my story. I'll start from the beginning. In 2011 I went through a recruiter and she got me a job fairly quickly. The school was new and they needed a foreign teacher because the teacher they had was horrible. They brought me in and luckily it was a decent school. I worked there for 2 years and left on a good note. That was back in early November (2013). I went home and spent the winter taking care of my father, working as a substitute teacher, and helping around the house. It's now getting close to summer and I decided that i'd like to spend one more year in Korea. I contact the same recruiter and she told me of a hagwon that needed a teacher. I told her great. I'd like to apply for the job, and I'm going to be in Thailand starting in the 2nd week of June. I got all of the paperwork in order and flew out to Thailand to visit my girlfriend.

I'm currently in Thailand. About a month ago she shot me an email and asked me if I had everything in order. I told her I did. My apostilled FBI check and apostilled degree were all ready to be sent out. She didn't respond back. I tried contacting her a few more times thru Facebook chat and she wouldn't look at it. I tried again at the end of July and she told me that she was sorry but she was on holiday. I tried again Monday and she told me that she was sorry, and the hagwon that she mentioned hired another teacher. She told me she will look again and will get back to me shortly. She hasn't

I went with another recruiter called ACE. An ex-coworker used them and had success. I emailed them and the recruiter told me to send my resume and pic to them. I did plus a few more items. such as contact list and references. This was 5 days ago. I have since emailed her today and two days ago to give me an update. She has not contacted me yet. Maybe she's busy. I don't know...

I don't know what's going on. Maybe it's my age? I'm going to be 45 years old in two weeks. I look about 7-8 years younger, but I'm still 45. I have a degree in teaching and 2 years experience working as an ESL teacher in South Korea. Could it be my last job? I have 3 wonderful references from my superiors. You know what's funny. They posted a pic on Facebook and every foreign teacher was under the age of 25. I was thinking about my old job, but I don't think they want an older teacher as well.

I have a few job opportunities in Thailand. I just turned down a job today because I thought the ACE recruiter was going to get in contact with me.

Thoughts?

[Squire]

Maybe. Why not try Hong Kong for better pay and a better place to live? Seems a waste of a teaching degree working jobs in Korea you're getting via a recruiter

[wonkavite62]

I sympathise deeply with your situation. As far as I can see it, you have done nothing wrong, made no mistakes. You could however, consider looking at many different recruiters at once. State schools are also an option-and you may like to consider applying NOW for jobs beginning in March. GEPIK (through the recruiters Korvia Consuting) is the group that deals with state schools in Gyeonggi Do. EPIK is also possible, but again, you'll have to apply now for jobs starting in March. You are certainly able to apply now, because you have ALL your documents.
It may seem like a while to wait, but you might be able to do some short-term work in the meantime, I think.
My situation is this. In 2006, I was offered a chance to teach at a public school in SEOUL! I was not expecting success! But I turned down the job because there was no guarantee of accommodation being available. Oh how I WISH I had not done so. I would have loved Seoul.
In fact I did other stuff in other places. I came back to South Korea in 2013. It was a public school, but in a dull part of the south coast. It was also a technical, or vocational high school. There were still a lot of enthusiastic classes. But a couple-just a couple- of classes were disruptive. That is probably why my contract was not renewed. It is also true that high schools and middle school jobsare being cut.
If this had happened in 2006, I would have easily found another job in Korea. But not now. I really do think the current situation of higher unemployment among E-2 visa holders is quite unnatural. It's anomalous. It just would not have happened before 2009.

[OBwannabe]

Yep, it's tough for an old pimp. I'm still barely shy of 40 and I can't find a job through a recruiter and I'm already in Korea. I've pretty much been forced to re-sign at a job that's okay, but in a city I really don't care for. Life could be worse, but damn it's hard to get back to Seoul or Busan.

[radish kimchi]

[Weigookin74]

[Weigookin74]

[Smithington]

OP, your age might limit the jobs open to you, but it will not disqualify you. There are plenty of people in the forties (and fifties) teaching here. When applying just be flexible about where you are willing to work. Don't be insisting on "central Seoul" or Itaewon. Be open to a country-side job or one in a small town. That will increae your chances of finding work significantly.

I work in the countryside, but I can be in Itaewon on Friday night in 90 minutes. It's no handicap whatsoever. And fresh air to boot.

Good luck in the search.

[PRagic]

Use ANY AND ALL recruiters out there and put your CV up on any jobs portal you can find. If one recruiter blows you off, so what?

[ttompatz]

op:

There are lots of issues and the smallest one is the recruiter.

YOU are a commodity and their jobs is to sell you to a school / hagwon and receive a commission for their effort.

Public Schools aren't really in hiring mode at the moment. There are budget issues and government policy issues that they are trying to contend with as well as being out of the hiring cycle. It is summer and schools are out. You are too early for next March PS intakes and too late for Aug intakes.

Lots of hagwons aren't hiring due to economic pressures and government policy issues that are affecting them. Enrollments are down and lots of teachers who are here aren't leaving. They either stay where they are or make a lateral move from one job to the next.

At 45 and qualified as a teacher is likely isn't an agism issue.

Try Hong Kong or Taiwan. As a qualified, licensed teacher your options are wide open.

Vietnam is another decent choice for real teachers with salary packages approaching those of Korea.

China is always an option and the term will be starting soon so the demand is certainly there. 10-15k RMB should be pretty easy to find for a qualified teacher.

Lastly, as a qualified teacher, you should be able to find something in Thailand at 35k thb with no problem at all. Even 50k-80k is doable without much trouble at the moment for a qualified teacher.

There are LOTS of tourist teachers departing Thailand due to visa issues (they can't get one and working as a tourist is not longer tenable with the immigration crackdowns).

.