Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ChristyMum]

I am a new comer and have glanced at the topics.
I wonder is the job market here in Korea is available for foreigners other than language teaching???

[peppermint]

There are other fields, but ESL is the main one, and since this is the ESL cafe, it's the one you'll find discussed here mostly

[Wangja]

I'm not in teaching, never have been.

[Ya-ta Boy]

There are hundreds of thousands working in the dirty, difficult and dangerous jobs, but that probably isn't what you are asking about. There are quite a few who work in editing jobs for publishers and the like. There are some working in companies, like JongroGuru.

If you are asking about jobs in engineering or architecture, a foreigner has to prove that he/she has a talent/service to offer that Koreans can't. That is difficult.

[diablo3]

there are researchers, engineers, computer programmers, arts people, businessmen, bar owners, etc. Many alternative kinds of work other than teaching.

[laogaiguk]

I dont' know about here, but when I was looking into working in France (pre EU passport holding days) Computer Science and Engineering were the only degrees that were acceptable for working in France sans EU passport (might be different now). Maybe the same here, if the job market is big enough???

[Yo!Chingo]

Not too much I'm afraid, but if you'de like to get your feet wet and see if you would even consider teaching (it's not hard) check out my post on this forum. It's a part-time gig with housing for 6 weeks. That's a rare deal my friend.

[tzechuk]

If I were living in Seoul, I wouldn't be finding jobs in teaching either... lol...

[ChristyMum]

As I am not from country of English speaking, even if I would like to teach, I think no one want me.
I don't like teaching job too....

[laogaiguk]

[ChristyMum]

deleted

[ChristyMum]

I would love to but....I must stay in Korea....
I got marry with a Korean and I found very boring here...
I really want a job

[tzechuk]

[mindmetoo]

Unless you're a professional, the pickings are slim for an ESL teacher with a BA, zero experience, who wants to do something more career oriented. Korean companies are not exactly begging for white people with no skills to come show them the way. You also have to remember for any soft jobs that might involve writing, marketing, PR, publishing, etc you're competing with a lot of Korean Americans/gyopo with solid Korean and English skills.

There's been a lot of discussion whether or not it's worth trading your 2.1 mil a month/5 hour a day hagwon job for an office job that might require you to be there 10 hours a day, start at 8 am, wear a suit, no free housing, a longer commute, and pay that is only marginally better.

All 'n' all the best thing to do is make friends with Korean translators. You help them with the tricky stuff and since they have their finger on the jobs pulse, they'll help you find stuff.

[JongnoGuru]

Non-ESL-teacher foreign spouses of Koreans... Most I've met fall under these categories:

-- People with professional backgrounds. Maybe no professional experience, but they've some certificate to do this or that. They come to Korea for a variety of reasons. Some get sent here by a foreign company, some hit a downturn in their careers elsewhere, some are fresh out of school and have no work experience. They get here, get married to a Korean, and over time they manage one way or another to attach themselves barnacle-fashion to the hull of a Korean company. Losing a job or quitting a job doesn't mean they go home, oh no. God forbid they'd ever do that, the little sh1ts. No, they just move from one Korean company to the next. All told, these people are a blight on the landscape, but short of poisoning their kalbi-tang I guess we're just stuck with them. ()

-- Homebodies, Voluntary. The mother raising her children and managing the household. And depending on the circumstances, "managing the household" can be no small feat.

-- Homebodies, Involuntary. The foreign spouses who stay home simply because there is no opportunity to continue the career they had before Korea, before marriage, and the employment opportunities that exist are either unappealing or require qualifications the foreign spouse doesn't have and cannot realistically acquire in Korea. My advice? Move to a country that allows you to continue your career. Or, better luck next lifetime.

-- Dudes running bars/restaurants in Itaewon & wherever else. Total scumbags. ()

-- Older folks. They're retirement-age or on the cusp, but they've made Korea their home so there's no more talk of "going home". Of the few I know, a couple have launched second careers and are making more now and are busier now than ever before.

-- Former US Military. I gather that a lot of these foreign spouses are, in fact, working in the ESL industry, or in any case doing something that depends primarily, if not exclusively, on their speekee or writee da engrishee qualifications. But I have known some with technical jobs where English was no more than a means of communication w/colleagues.

Suggestions:

1. Set up a company with your Korean spouse and work there. What field of business? I've no idea.

2. Turn a hobby into a paying career. While corporate Korea may not offer very many opportunities for foreign faces (and I don't personally see why it should be expected to), Koreans at large have been known to seek out and pay a premium for products & services just because there's a foreign face standing behind the counter to give it that... extra endorsement of "veracity" or "authenticity" or "3rd-world exoticism" or "advanced-nation credibility" or just plain "foreign thingness".