Korean Job Discussion Forums

wylies99 · Joined: 13 May 2006 Location: I'm one cool cat!

Does it really help to be a blonde?
More job opportunities?
A higher salary?
I've been SERIOUSLY considering going blonde while in Korea, and staying away from cameras so no one back home will have any idea that I've gone blonde.

ttompatz · Joined: 05 Sep 2005 Location: Kwangju, South Korea

jmbran11 · Joined: 19 Jan 2006 Location: U.S.

Any school that would be more likely to hire you as a blonde is not a school you want to work for. We are already nothing more than window dressing/eye candy to too many school owners.

Most of my co-workers are brunettes (like me) or redheads (only 1 blonde in 10), and we do well. Western women usually do pretty well here period.

If you want to dye your hair, go ahead, but it's not necessary for a job. Korea is crawling with ESL jobs. If your I.Q. exceeds that of a small chimpanzee, you can get a job. Just smile and show some cleavage. (insert sarcastic smile here)

ella · Joined: 17 Apr 2006

You could dye it, but would you trust any hairbutchers-- I mean, hair stylists in Korea to maintain it for you?

wylies99 · Joined: 13 May 2006 Location: I'm one cool cat!

Thanks
Hundreds of vacancies? Many are at bad schools.
I think I'll give it a try.

Wink

Will post the results.

Oilers Fan · Joined: 05 Jun 2006

Blondes rule!!!

simone · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Location: Now Mostly @ Home

Yu_Bum_suk · Joined: 25 Dec 2004

If you want a highly comptetive hogwan job (not that there are many) it would help. If I were female quite frankly I wouldn't want the extra ajosshi attention myself.

ontheway · Posted: Mon Jun 26, 2006 9:36 am Post subject:

Do you really want to work at a school that only hired you because of your hair color?

Let them see and hire the real you, and you will be more likely to be hired for your abilities at a reputable school.

simone · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Location: Now Mostly @ Home

It's not a question of which schools will hire you. In my experience, if you're a female with acceptable qualifications, you'll be hired almost anywhere that's hiring.

It's more of a question of whether the schools you're soliciting will look at you. For example, when my one year in Korea at a hagwon was finished, I got blonde highlights... within 2 months I was at a uni in Seoul, at double the pay, half the hours... and then I was a regular on a (legal) TV gig, contracted for a full year.

The producer basically told me if I changed back to brown, they'd find another blonde. I was a little hurt, but they were honest at least. Hey, that gig single-handedly paid off my student loans.

---

You're not pushing your key qualification as being blonde. You're the best candidate, plus you're incredibly good-looking. (Blonde hair almost always qualifies as beautiful, and is a good counterbalance to a few extra pounds, for sure.)

Wouldn't you, in any situation where you know you're an excellent candidate for a job, want to be in the best negotiating position possible?

Be aggressive. Get the best you can. Blond might make the difference between 2.2 and 2.4 at a small hagwon, or insisting on single housing with a working aircon... take the opportunities available to you.