Korean Job Discussion Forums

[HANGRY]

Some background: I have an M.A. in Linguistics, I have two years at Korean public schools plus about one year in intensive English programs working as adjuncts, plus two+ more years working at a government teacher training facility in Korea.

I've been applying to just about every university for the past month, trying to get my foot in the door. I think on paper everything looks good on my end (at least hitting the basics). However, I'm not even getting even a reply saying "sorry we chose someone else" or "you weren't selected" or "we received your application but unfortunately..".

I know my email is working. I've tested it myself. I've received replies from a Japanese uni for a rejection (as I don't have young learner experience), and I got a reply from one place saying that they received my documents (but beyond that, nothing).

I've had SeoulTech go so far as to request additional documentation from me, and then after sending it to them, I hear nothing back. I sent them a message asking for my application status or if they needed more documentation, but heard nothing.

It's just getting really dispiriting when I put all this work sending in applications to get only silence coming back at me. Is this happening to anybody else? How many applications are they receiving? Are people with M.A.s a dime-a-dozen nowadays that they don't even feel the need to respond to us? Is the uni job market completely tapped out? What could I possibly be missing?

[PRagic]

Be patient, keeping in mind some things:

1. Unlike in the N. American system, you don't need to check back with a potential employer after you've applied. In N. America, this is perceived as putting a 'go-getter attitude' out there and showing genuine drive and a desire to work with said employer. In Korea, you're just perceived as being kind of needy and a pain. No joke.

2. Yes, there is a LOT of competition, especially for the better jobs. Many applicants have multiple years of university teaching experience (counted as after having earned the MA), and a lot of people have publications and attend conferences regularly. To boot, many applicants will also have CELTA/DELTA certs.

3. Having said this, a lot of universities drag their feet until the last minute, so the people they may eventually get around to wanting to employ may have already contracted out to another school (or even another school in another country!). There is indeed quite a bit of last minute hiring, so don't throw in the towel. Be patient and make sure you have all your paperwork and docs ready to go.

4. Most Korean universities, depending on who's on the hiring committee, won't bother getting back to rejected applicants. Part of the reason is that they're getting a ton of applications for even one open position. Unfortunately, this is also true of universities in other countries as well. Back when I started my career, some of the rejections I got, if I got any at all, came in so late that I had honestly forgotten I had applied to the school to begin with! I had a freshly minted Ph.D., so I chucked in applications all over the place.

[HANGRY]

Thanks for the advice. I'll just keep plugging along and get the docs in order and a plan B lined up just in case. I guess the best idea is just send it and forget it.

[Jimskins]

I was lucky to get in at my uni in Seoul in 2010 with an MA TEFL and two years public school experience the first time I applied for uni jobs and have been here ever since. But when I was applying they were getting maybe 50 applicants per position, of which 10 or 15 would have an MA TEFL/TESOL etc. There's still a few people at our place who don't have an MA.

These days (according to those on hiring boards who have posted on here), they get about 200+ applicants for each position, of which 80~90% have an MA. We've also had a hiring freeze at my uni for the last few years.

Don't mean to be dispiriting, just telling it as it is. A uni job in Korea is hardly a badge of honor anyway. More like a poisoned chalice.

[HANGRY]

[Otus]

Your biggest barrier is probably the 2 years of previous experience teaching uni level credit based courses that some unis require. And that's pretty much a Catch 22, although like everything else, this requirement can be dropped or ignored on a whim.

Those without an MA can still slip through if they have that experience. Those with the MA may get overlooked because the BOE was putting more emphasis on that experience a few years ago. They were supposed to be easing up on it, but not sure to what extent that happened.

If I were in your situation and still hanging out by mid-Feb next year, I'd canvas hard at that time because unis here so often still need teachers at the last minute. They will then grab the first person who walks in (at least with an MA). Once you're in and if you want to make a longer haul out of it, sit tight for that first two years. MA plus two years then gives you mobility.

Good luck.

[PRagic]

If things don't pan out, you could always try to get a U job in Japan, China, Taiwan, of the ME and ride it out a couple of years before trying again. Even Cambodia or Vietnam would do the trick, though you wouldn't make or save too much.

The ME would be a boring stretch, but they fly you back home a couple of times a year, and it'd be a good way to pay off the debt you took on getting the MA.

And once you're somewhere and working, you can always keep applying to K universities.

Did you apply to SNU? I saw on the Chronicle's jobs portal that they're hiring again. Not the best job to be had, but you get a housing allowance to boot, pretty low contact hours, and fully paid breaks. Just a thought.

[Fuzzy_Dunlop]

[PRagic]

Personally never felt a need or desire to work there, and my wife flat out said they couldn't pay me enough to make it worth her while.

But I do have at least four (male) friends, long term ESL professionals, who have done stints of a year or two over there. One guy is over there now. Can't stand it, but wants to sock away some coin for a more comfortable transition back to the US.

Guess you could scoot over to the international board for better first hand accounts. All I know is that everyone I know who has worked over there has been pretty happy to get back to Seoul.

The funniest thing I heard, though, was that there are a lot of older dudes over there trying to save up enough for retirement at a reasonable age. They worked for years in cushier places, but spent everything partying, traveling, and/or on relationships gone asunder.

[Fuzzy_Dunlop]

[PRagic]

To each their own. Much too constricting and repressive for me, both in terms of lifestyle and academic freedom, and the better half is too much of a feminist to put up with the b.s. against women.

[HANGRY]

[Fuzzy_Dunlop]

[PRagic]

Alas, this provides no insight as to what your life is really like. So you're saying there is no repression in your experience? That you feel completely free with no restrictions? That women have equal status? That there is academic freedom?

[Fuzzy_Dunlop]