Korean Job Discussion Forums

[absane]

I used to teach in Korea on an E2 visa. Stayed there for 3 years, married a Korean gal, and then left. We are now in the USA back in my hometown. Been considering going back to Korea to settle down but I am unsure how to do it. Most likely I will want to go back into a teaching gig since I liked it and enjoyed the perks. However, I am also an IT professional so doing that could be a possibility.

What routes are available to me in terms of visas? According to my wife and from what I have read, I can't get the F marriage visa unless I already live in Korea. Perhaps I could go back on a tourist visa and apply but isn't there a minimum time period?

I could also get an E2 but that will require a lot of time. When I did that years ago it took me 2 months from start to finish but that's only because I expedited the apostille process by flying to DC.

[Yaya]

I think visas will be the least of your worries. The ESL market has undergone major changes in that there are fewer jobs nowadays, even if you have the proper qualifications. As for IT, well, even if you could get a job, you'd be looking at so-so salaries and long hours.

I'd think long and hard before returning to Korea. It's not the same as it was.

[absane]

[World Traveler]

[Yaya]

[World Traveler]

[schwa]

[wooden nickels]

Over 40 years old with a BA/BS, and few to no contacts; you better have an impressive mugshot.

[Yaya]

Since the OP is married to a Korean national, he can get the F6 visa.

[Died By Bear]

[Sector7G]

[AsiaESLbound]

Believe Yaya for it was called, "Dynamic Korea," for many years meaning an unprecedented fast changing country and economy. I understand such changes Yaya talks about was coming about around a year to two years ago. I was ran off from a public school job a year ago for no good reason after doing really well at two previous PS jobs and a hagwon contract in Korea, because my job was being eliminated and it disgusted the co-teachers and the local community. In a passive aggressive culture like that, they'll deal with frustrations or failures by taking it out on the innocent involved party (foreign teacher) without saying whats actually going wrong while creating many problems out of thin air. Such could happen anywhere in the world and I expected for Korea to become a tight market with increasing negativity and crazy competition. My Korean friends I still chat with online tell me it's really getting to be a tight job market where there aren't any meaningful jobs for younger graduates while living costs continually reach new highs. Needless to say, I probably won't come back to Korea, but interested in other countries while I'll never be able to stop looking at the Korea part of this website.

In any country and time, when the chips are down, attitudes sour and the job market becomes very tight or pays simply stagnate as is the case in other places like Thailand and the USA along with dozens of other countries. This isn't only true for ESL teaching, but also for retail, call center, and numerous other positions. It's most unfortunate, I believe the coming decades will only be increasingly brutal all across the board. This isn't you're parents world anymore nor the one you grew up in.

[FastForward]

[Yaya]